Boiling sculpey

[HairyAsHell]

Dip it in the boiling water and let it cure a bit and then let it sink to the bottom. or use a heat gun to cure it slightly before boiling. Sculpey sinks. It wont float and get knocked around.

[Teriha]

I have been happy with the ease of boiling so far, but recently I have been working on a sculpt for a friend. It has again made me think of how people are unsure if boiling cures the clay as well as an oven does, so I was thinking:

If a piece has been boiled a couple of times while being worked on, maybe one could do the final curing in the oven to complete it? Would it be possible to mix these two ways of curing like that, or would it damage the figure more than it helps?

[Darth Kinetic]

bump for updates?

[CHUCKYBABY555]

Originally Posted by Darth Kinetic

bump for updates?

What kind of updates. Do you have any questions?

[Genezilla]

This is a great topic - and commendations to those who have replied.

I too have questioned the long term durability of the boiling method. The sculpey website recommends baking at 275F (or 130C), whereas boiling water reaches 212F (or 100C). I wonder if that difference in temps have any impacts on the long term durability of the sculpey.

I would be keen to know if anyone has tried boiling their sculpt and had issues a few years later on.

[CHUCKYBABY555]

I have boiled pieces from over 5 years ago and they are going fine.

[davox]

That part about "sculptures with armature and foil could break with boiling" has me worried

[Niinui]

Originally Posted by CHUCKYBABY555

Hi, i posted this in another thread but felt it should maybe have its own thread. I have boiled my sculpted parts in water. I place the parts or entire peice if your pot is large enough in hot tap water then turn put it on the stove and let it come to a boil. I let it boil about 10 minutes then turn the heat off and let the water cool down naturally. Then remove from the water and let cool naturally. The peices are rock hard and completly set. i think the heat of the water surrounds the peice and let it cure uniformly and gets right into the center of the clay, and the plus is no burnt edges and Ive never had any cracks. Id like to know if anyone has ever tried this method?

I once talked to a girl who cured her rather intricate sculpey sculptures the same way. The result was great, so I think, for the right kind of sculpture, this is a good way to cure it and get an even-colored look on the final piece.

[davox]

Does anyone know if boiling sculpey with ball bearing steel eyes on the character could break anything?


What about sculpey that has been on a shelf for almost a year? it hardened and it's kinda crumbley... does that mean it could break on boiling?

[davox]

Well I boiled my sculpture and everything went great! I had a couple small cracks on a big part of my sculpture but it's probably my fault for using a tight container instead of having plenty of room for water to boil comfortably.