Piotr's First (Presentable) Polymer Clay-Handled Pick
Problems:
--pick blade is a little too long
--pick blade did not stay centred in handle after compression in push mold
--handle wasn't well protected when finishing pick blade
--pick blade wasn't well protected when finishing handle
--edge of handle not well polished
I already have ideas on correcting most of these problems.
However, I think I have moved beyond the "made by 2 year old" appearance of my initial efforts. I think I can make this medium work but I have lots of work to put in.
Producing this pick involved many steps and I will put together a tutorial when I feel I have a good method to impart. But for the curious I'll give a brief description on the method.
-- The handle is based off of the SouthOrd Max Yield picks. I sacrificed one of the picks and removed the branding and used epoxy clay to fill in the void left by removing the branding.
-- I used hydrostone to create a push mold of the handle
-- After molding I had to trim the mold seam with an exacto knife
-- After baking the clay I had to sand the handle with wet and dry (400, 600, 800) to smooth it out
-- I had to use a Dremel with a small drum sandler and a hand file to shape the handle
-- I used a soft felt wheel and "Pollack compund" to polish the handle
All of this can and will be refined and I have only just begun learning about plastic polishing and I think I can make the handle much more shiny. I will also work on improving the contouring (trying not to infringe on Legion303s deeply contoured design).
The pick handle material looks and feels like the Peterson dipped handles only more firm.