Five Essential Tips for Polymer Clay Canes for Beginners

In this post you’ll learn five essential tips (plus a bonus!) for making polymer clay canes for beginners.

What is a Polymer Clay Cane?

A polymer clay cane is a log or tube of clay with a design running through the length of it. When you cut crosswise slices from the cane you end up with a repeat of the design.

Canes can be as simple as two contrasting sheets of clay rolled up jelly roll style or very complex with multiple components involved. They can be made with the help of an extruder or by shaping the clay with your hands.

Individual slices can be used to make beads, small jewelry components, or sculptural elements such as leaves or flower petals. They can also be tiled together to make a veneer to cover larger objects or cut with shape cutters.

1. Choosing the Right Brand of Polymer Clay

Technically, you can use any polymer clay to make a cane but some of them are better suited for cane work than others. My personal preference is Fimo Professional but there are other brands that work well too.

Softer clays don’t hold crisp details as well, but they’re alright for simple designs. Firmer brands of clay, such as Fimo Professional and Kato hold details well and slice better without distortion. Sculpey Premo is a bit softer than I like to work with but I’ve had good success with it and I’ve seen it used often.

While you can combine brands within one cane be mindful of the fact that you want all the clay to be of the same consistency. Softer clay will move faster than firmer clay when reducing a cane which can lead to distortion of the design.

This also applies to clay within the same brand line. Fresh clay is softer than older clay so it may need to be leached—sheeted and pressed between sheets of printer paper with a book or other weight for an hour or so—before you use it with the older clay.

2. Size Matters

Height. I’m referring to the height of the cane as you build it.

I find a height of 1.5” – 2.0” easiest to work with when you begin to reduce the cane, especially when you are new to the process. I wouldn’t recommend going shorter than 1”. Shorter heights make it more difficult to get the clay moving when you begin to reduce the cane.

Once you get a feel for reducing it’s fine to build it a little shorter. Personally, I don’t go under 0.75”. 

Save yourself a bit of grief and opt for a bit more to grab on to.

3. Packing a Polymer Clay Cane

Fill in your cane well, with as little gaps between components as possible. If you have large gaps with no clay in them, then as you reduce the clay will, of course, move into the empty space and your design may end up distorted.

This means taking time while you are filling in the background. Make triangles to fill in the gaps between flower petals rather than rolling a round snake. 

Build out the corners of and sides of square canes a little further than you actually want and then trim the sides neatly with a blade before reducing. I’ve tried forcing a rounded corner into a sharp corner with disappointing results.

4. Reducing

Larger canes and canes built over a few sessions should be left to rest before reducing so all the clay has a chance to firm up. Smaller canes that are quick to build can be reduced right away.

For both round and square canes start by gently squeezing the cane from the middle and working your way out to the ends. You may be tempted to roll round canes on your work surface right away, but don’t. You’ll end up with more waste on the ends than necessary.

Use an acrylic rod or brayer to roll the sides of square canes to help keep them square. Once you’ve got a bit of length you can gently pull and twist the cane back and forth to stretch it out further. When your round cane is getting closer to the length and diameter you need, roll it on your work surface to round the shape.

The most important tip when reducing is to have patience. Rushing this step leads to distortion and more waste than necessary. To be honest, I still forget this tip from time to time.

5. Slicing a Cane

After reducing your cane the clay will likely be too warm for slicing. I know you want to see how it turned out, but after that initial cut to have a look, let the cane rest and cool down. The size of the cane will determine how long it should rest. Smaller canes won’t need as must rest as larger ones.

For a clean cut and crisp image a sharp blade is necessary. And make sure you are cutting with the correct side of the blade! I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve accidentally cut into a cane with the dull side of the blade and ended up with a blurry image.

Keep the cane close to your body so you cane look straight down on it as you slice. This way you can keep an eye on the blade and make sure it’s cutting straight down and not at an angle.

Position your fingers on the blade at a width just slightly wider that the cane itself. If you hold the blade too far out you’re more likely to cut at an angle.

Aim for slices of a consistent width. If you are making a veneer with the slices this will help reduce distortion when you burnish the seams. Check for even slices before burnishing your veneer and shave off any high areas first.

Turning your cane after each slice will help the shape from distorting. Give round canes a quarter roll and flip square canes onto a new side with each slice.

Bonus Tip: Practice, Practice, Practice

Groundbreaking, eh?

But seriously, the only way to get better at something is to practice and that goes for polymer clay canes as well. You may find your first canes to be quite disappointing and want to give up. But do that.

Start by choosing a few simple canes (search Pinterest, there’s oodles) and make them. If they suck, make them again. Repeat as needed until you are happy with the results and then move on to something more challenging.

Unsurprisingly, my first canes weren’t great. But I found what experienced polymer clay artists were making fascinating, so I was determined to keep going. I think the best thing I did to improve my cane skills was commit to making a cane each day for thirty days. I saw a big improvement over the course of that month.

Now, you may not have the time to make a cane every day for a month but if you make a commitment to yourself to practice when you do have the time, I promise you’ll get better.

So, take these five essential tips for polymer clay canes for beginners into consideration and have fun!