Stephani Stephenson on wed 24 oct 01
Chris Clarke wrote.
"I stumbled across Chris Henley's site a couple of weeks ago and have
been
very happy with the handmade tools he makes. "
Hi all
I wanted to echo Chris and Dannon's comments about Chris Henley's tools.
What I also like is that Chris makes tools not only for throwing but for
other ways of working with clay .
.
Tile makers, press molders and slabbuilders will also find some of his
tools helpful.
Many months ago I saw some drawings of architectural clay tools from
19th century and early 20th century,
Nothing fancy, just some specific clay tampers and the like.
So I took the drawings to Chris and he fashioned some tools for me. What
a difference!
I realized I had been 'making do' with whatever was lying around for
some of my processes. Standard clay tools weren't always useful.( I had
a favorite piece of driftwood for this, a blunted 2" X 4" for that....)
Though I can build and saw and join anything with 2 X 4s , etc., my
woodworking skills and tools do not extend beyond that... (i.e. I think
like a scavenger , not a woodworker...). So thankfully Chris was there
to say...'I can make that!"
For example, Chris makes trimming knives ,modeling tools and paddles
come with varying angles, useful for finishing work, and work on
preparing clay models for molding or work with handbuilding techniques.
If you do work with press molds or hand made tile ,the tampers or 'mold
beaters', in different sizes, are quite useful. This is the new tool
which has been so useful to me.
The wood is not only beautiful, it is of good quality , holds its edge
well, and fits the hand nicely. I would describe them as 'sturdy ,
elegant, and sensitive'...
(For purposes of full discosure, yes Chris gave me some tools to test
out, and yes, I do like using those tools!)
So , it is great to see some of you have found out about them!
sincerely
Stephani Stephenson
Carlsbad Ca
mudmistress@earthlink.net
steph@alchemiestudio.com
http://www.alchemiestudio.com
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