Baking FIMO, cork and wood?

[magno]

So, I'm in the process of sculpting my first piece with FIMO. I've never baked clay on an armature before.

The Fimo is on an armature that is anchored into a wine cork and there are two thin pieces of hobby wood between the cork and the FIMO (so I can rest my fingers).
Most of the online videos I've seen of FIMO sculptors, I see that they use this piece of wood too.

Is it safe to bake this wood in the oven?

Is it safe to bake it in a Halogen oven?

I'm nervous that I'd have to pull the mini off the wood unbaked. That would destroy it.

FIMO says to bake at ~250degF for 20 minutes.
The general flash point of wood is ~500degF. But this hobby wood is thin laminate style wood. The kind you buy at Hobby Lobby.

Thanks in advance.

 

[freakinacage]

hmm not sure about that. If it were plain untreated wood, I'd maybe risk it but have it soaked in water and resting in water while baking

 

[magno]

I fear the humidity from the baking will affect the clay. I can test it out with a heat gun. I did this yesterday with green stuff with Vaseline on it and it created a melting affect, that was more pronounced than green stuff without Vaseline.

 

[Einion]

Is it safe to bake this wood in the oven?

Probably - as you've seen, plenty of people bake their polymer clays attached to some wood so it can work fine. But like most things, best to test for your application.

If you do get some scorching or another adverse reaction don't be afraid to try baking for longer at a lower temp, many people in the polymer clay community do this to help prevent scorching of the clay itself as well as to minimise cracking.

Is it safe to bake it in a Halogen oven?

This might be a problem, since halogen ovens don't heat the same way that a conventional convection oven does. Plus the thermostat might not be accurate enough for the low temps involved. Again, testing to see is your best option here... you'll soon find out if something goes amiss.

Since you're new to this, I should mention that whatever oven you use if you want to err on the side of caution don't use it for food after you've used it to bake polymer clay. And ideally you shouldn't be in the room during the baking.

Einion

 

[Sproket]

I've baked (and re-baked) polymer clay sculpts that were based up onto both wood and cork with no problems.
As Einion said you could try baking for longer at a lower temperature, whatever you do I'd also recommend trying it out on a test piece first.

 

[QuietiManes]

I have no idea about halogen ovens, but for regular ovens, I've baked all kinds of woods for various reasons, during various artistic endeavors, you should be fine as long as you keep the wood away from the element. Of course, you need to keep an eye on it but you're far out of the expected "danger" zone under 300 F. Ideally, keep the cork/wood/clay off the rack too, put it on a glass baking dish, ceramic tile, whatever.

Polymer clay doesn't absorb water as far as I know (it's super slow if it does), soaking it and the wood in water for a few minutes before baking shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

I've used both a hair dryer and a heat gun to cure FIMO. With the heat gun, be careful with how hot you get it how fast - it can blister.

 

[Wouter]

I' ve baked a couple of fimo minis. (armature+greenstuff, cork and flat piece of wood) I do 30 minutes at 110° and it works fine. I do recomand baking the cork first next time becaus they oftenly expand a little. Although I wouldnt worry abbout that this, it's just a good tip for next time!
On the halogeen oven. These are just as god as regular ovens if not better for baking fimo. I know Aragorn Marks (rakham sculptor) uses a halogeen oven to bake his fim minis.

 

[magno]

Word. There was no issue baking the wood and cork. None at all.

New question.
I baked some test FIMO pieces and tried putting on new layers of FIMO and it doesn't stick easily. In fact, it easily slides off or cracks off with even the slightest pressure.
using a smidgeon of water on a brush to blend the two surfaces doesn't help either.

Is there a medium to use to adhere fresh FIMO to baked FIMO? I've read that alcohol is the stuff to use. Is this true?

 

[Einion]

If you try a search I think you'll find one or two prior threads with tips on getting fresh polymer clay to stick to baked clay. One or two are going to seem like "What? That can't work..." but they really do :agent:

Einion

 

[magno]

Well, I'll be damned. Vaseline works like a charm. Now the engineer in me is gonna have to go and do some material science research and figure out how the hell a petroleum jelly will wet and adhere to baked polyvinyl-chloride.

 

[Einion]

See, told ya! It really does seem to defy logic doesn't it?

Einion