Statement: Ceramic Earwear.

[phallumontis]

i was pondering making plugs out of clay.

i could make virtually any shape
[not quite, but close]
i wanted for 50 cents a pound.
(cheap lol )

clay has a nice weight to it, i think,
[and it does]
and i like heavy-ish jewelery.

there's food-safe glaze, so i figure it should be
safe for skin-contact.
[not sure, but we'll see]

it just seems too good to be true.
i can make my own jewelery.
[its twue its twue]

any thoughts? concerns? ideas?
[edit]

SoooOoo ... it only took, damn, 3.5 years
eek
but i finally made some earrings. Actually out of clay. yay.


and i have a little home made collection
exclaim

The glaze is lead-free/foodsafe,
i asked the ceramics professor and a chem. grad student about safety, and neither were terribly concerned about leaching or anything...
we'll see, i guess pirate
(definitely wouldn't use them in a fresh hole, though)

the glass ones, my boyfriend made.
not bad for a first, 2nd, etc. try i think.
there's two more pairs: he's wearing one and the other went to the big jewelry box in the sky...
Obviously, they're not perfect.
who knows what gauge they are, none of them are exact pairs.
but we did make 'em and they were free.

 

[Kingshortpants]

You could always buy tunnels made out of a peircing grade metrial and put your home made jewlery threw them.  

[phallumontis]

Kingshortpants

You could always buy tunnels made out of a peircing grade metrial and put your home made jewlery threw them.

so do you think the glaze or the clay would irritate my ears?
there's glass plugs, and thats basically what glaze is,
and even if glaze wasnt an option,
one can burnish clay pretty smooth,
ive seen stone plugs too ... clay is kind of stone-ish.

im just trying to get information/opinons, not be argumentative.  

[LittleGreenGirl]

I don't see why you would have a problem. Especially with food safe glazes... for easiest washing. I mean, if it's plain, I could see someone arguing that it would be difficult to sterilize, but I wouldn't think that glazed would have any issues. Plus, i'd just really like to see that... and maybe get a friend of mine make some for me.... *ideas*  

[Aetherna]

The only possible health hazard I can think of that clay plugs could pose is that they may somehow irritate freshly stretched piercings (whether glazed or not.) This thought was brought up by recalling how some individuals have problems wearing Kaos (silicone) jewelry; whether for stretching, in newly stretched, or sometimes even fully healed piercings. Please note that I am not making a direct comparison, I am simply trying to stir up ideas to help think the process through.

I recall people wanting to make plugs using Fimo clay, but regular clay itself is chemically different. As mentioned previously, using a food-safe glaze should do a good job but I wonder if it the sealant would be "chemically inert". The article concludes that Fimo should be okay in healed piercings for short periods of time. I would approach glazed clay plugs with the same caution unless you can find an individual who has made a number of clay plugs and can provide all the advice they can. Or you do not mind to experiment on yourself.

I really think you should try submitting your question to BME QOD. I did a search, and found 2 question/answer entries.
Mind you, the original question was dealing with non-toxic modeling clay. By the pricing description you mention, I'm under the impression that you're referring to a different kind of clay. There was a follow up question that did not specify a certain type of clay. (Please note that the questions are ordered from newest to original)

SO, if you do ask BME QOD, I suggest:

a) Mentioning that you've read the other QOD entries.
b) The exact type of clay and glaze you wish to use.

This way, you'll hopefully get some more insight to your question because some questions are viewed as redundant and can go unanswered. It never hurts to ask - yours is certainly not a silly question.

I hope this provides some useful insight biggrin  

[phallumontis]

Aetherna

The only possible health hazard I can think of that clay plugs could pose is that they may somehow irritate freshly stretched piercings (whether glazed or not.) This thought was brought up by recalling how some individuals have problems wearing Kaos (silicone) jewelry; whether for stretching, in newly stretched, or sometimes even fully healed piercings. Please note that I am not making a direct comparison, I am simply trying to stir up ideas to help think the process through.

I recall people wanting to make plugs using Fimo clay, but regular clay itself is chemically different. As mentioned previously, using a food-safe glaze should do a good job but I wonder if it the sealant would be "chemically inert". The article concludes that Fimo should be okay in healed piercings for short periods of time. I would approach glazed clay plugs with the same caution unless you can find an individual who has made a number of clay plugs and can provide all the advice they can. Or you do not mind to experiment on yourself.


I hope this provides some useful insight biggrin

it does, and thank you smile
(incidentally, i learned some funfacts while browsing thru the QOD;
did you know that the hollow needles didnt remove a tube of flesh? i didnt.
so doublethanks biggrin ))

im just going to make jewelery for me,
because im cheap, morally opposed to credit cards, and miles away from a parlor that sells any big jewelery.
also, i love clay. its fun and easy for me.

my first concern is roughness ...
clay is pretty porous.
ive burnished pots to near gloss,
but it hard to say how good it will feel in my ears.
im assuming my inner lobe is more sensitive than most of my skin.
ill just have to try that for myself ... see how it goes.
based on what ive read, im thinking that regular earthenware clay itself
isnt going to be a problem unless its just too rough.
if that is the case, then ill have to delve further into the glaze issue.

Quote:

I wonder if the sealant would be "chemically inert".

that is what i am going to ask when/if i order glaze.
(triplethanks) lol  

[Aetherna]

I haven't kept up with the QOD, but I do remember reading about someone trying to settle a bet with a friend regarding piercing needles biggrin Perhaps that's the same question you read over? It was interesting to learn ^_^

My experience with clay is very limited, so this may be a silly question. How would taking an extremely fine grade of sandpaper to dried clay work? Keeping in mind you'd have to clean the clay of dust before glazing and whatnot. Aside, would multiple layers of glaze help to create a more uniform surface or would that just "intensify" any minor bumps present?

I think the stretched skin may be a bit more sensitive - the skin most likely is not as resilient as the skin on your hands for example. The skin on your lips is the most sensitive - it's so thin it's actually translucent, hence why peoples' lips are pink (you're seeing the muscle, if not mistaken.)

I hope the glaze manufacturer's input on the glaze quality will be helpful and I really wish you the best of luck - clay plugs would be very nice to see biggrin  

[phallumontis]

Aetherna

I haven't kept up with the QOD, but I do remember reading about someone trying to settle a bet with a friend regarding piercing needles biggrin Perhaps that's the same question you read over? It was interesting to learn ^_^

My experience with clay is very limited, so this may be a silly question. How would taking an extremely fine grade of sandpaper to dried clay work? Keeping in mind you'd have to clean the clay of dust before glazing and whatnot. Aside, would multiple layers of glaze help to create a more uniform surface or would that just "intensify" any minor bumps present?

I think the stretched skin may be a bit more sensitive - the skin most likely is not as resilient as the skin on your hands for example. The skin on your lips is the most sensitive - it's so thin it's actually translucent, hence why peoples' lips are pink (you're seeing the muscle, if not mistaken.)

I hope the glaze manufacturer's input on the glaze quality will be helpful and I really wish you the best of luck - clay plugs would be very nice to see biggrin

well, all my clay experience came from high school ceramics class.
and we were taught that sanding/general ******** with clay was a nono.
the trick is, taking something really smooth (called a rib) like metal or plastic, and rubbing the clay when its kind of in between wet and moldable, and dried out and hard. i think thats when all of the smoothing has to be done.

im not sure if adding multiple layers would reduce or minimize bumps..
all i know is that there's pretty much only one glaze firing,
so that'll be a little trial and error whether or not i need more or less than normal.
im hoping i find bodysafe glaze.
then i could make plugs with little designs in them
using slip and clear glaze.
but even if i cant, and straight clay works,
ill be able to make any kind of ear things i want
all by m'self.


and yes, it was the same question biggrin  

[Aetherna]

PoppyTea

well, all my clay experience came from high school ceramics class.
and we were taught that sanding/general ******** with clay was a nono.
the trick is, taking something really smooth (called a rib) like metal or plastic, and rubbing the clay when its kind of in between wet and moldable, and dried out and hard. i think thats when all of the smoothing has to be done.

im not sure if adding multiple layers would reduce or minimize bumps..
all i know is that there's pretty much only one glaze firing,
so that'll be a little trial and error whether or not i need more or less than normal.
im hoping i find bodysafe glaze.
then i could make plugs with little designs in them
using slip and clear glaze.
but even if i cant, and straight clay works,
ill be able to make any kind of ear things i want
all by m'self.


and yes, it was the same question biggrin

Ah, right, I recall ribbing now XD My experience with clay was basically a chapter in my high school art class. We did not have access to a potter's wheel, and it may be hard to rib small objects using one, but it may worth a shot if you do have access (or at least a fun experiment XD).

Using slip on the outer surface may also help to improve smoothness, now that I think of it.

Oh, I did a quick google serach for "ceramic body jewelry" and came up with this: Art-Tech ceramic. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a manufacturer website, just that body jewelry one, so it may be a dead end unless you have heard of that stuff. It seems that the ceramic is just used where it does not come in direct contact with skin. Ceramic seems like an interesting medium to create plugs and even other unique forms like hooks, spirals etc.

Oh, a neat idea tossup - have you heard of Etsy.com? Artisans of all mediums sell their wares on that site. If your plugs were to be A.O.K, you could sell them there, pending that you make clear that some peoples' skin may not tolerate the jewelry (just one of those obligatory liability warnings... Kaos even has such a statement.)

I must cut this post short - hope to catch up later!  

[astrosnik]

Regular clay is even more porous than poly-silicate materials like SuperSculpy. Absolutely do NOT use it for internal jewelry. Any glazes and applications, as well as component chemicals, will leach out inside your skin. It will absorb and trap bacteria.

and yes there've been posts on the old QOD and Modblog showing horrible horrible ears and such with infection and dead tissue where people were using clay jewelry. Just don't do it.  

[Aetherna]

I'm very relieved to hear a response from someone more learned. Thank you.

It doesn't bother me knowing that what I wrote is now useless - knowing a solid response is better than dead end brainstorming. I am, however, somewhat saddened by the fact that I most likely misled PoppyTea with my input.

For that, I appologize.  

[phallumontis]

astrosnik

Regular clay is even more porous than poly-silicate materials like SuperSculpy. Absolutely do NOT use it for internal jewelry. Any glazes and applications, as well as component chemicals, will leach out inside your skin. It will absorb and trap bacteria.

and yes there've been posts on the old QOD and Modblog showing horrible horrible ears and such with infection and dead tissue where people were using clay jewelry. Just don't do it.

crying aww. shoot...
that sucks. i dont want to ruin my lobes.

and dont worry, Aetherna,
your input only lead to further research on my part.
i drew my own conclusions. smile  

[Pink Haired Pirate]

That is quite the nifty idea.

As far as health issues my mind goes to the natural red clay that tribes use for their lip plates.

Then again I don't know the women's life expectancy.  

[phallumontis]

Pink Haired Pirate

That is quite the nifty idea.

As far as health issues my mind goes to the natural red clay that tribes use for their lip plates.

Then again I don't know the women's life expectancy.

thats kind of how i saw it...
there's all kinds of old, indigenous jewelery around,
(some even for sale on the good ol' interweb)
i figure if it was good enough for them, it probly couldnt be that
bad for me.

but i've pretty much ruled out glaze. if i cant get the clay smooth enough on its own, i don want to risk weird chemicals seeping into my ears.
and i havent been able to get a definite answer from anyone as to glazes inertia.

but, i've hit a roadbump, as i cant figure out what kind of clay to use in my kiln. (cones and whatnot is confusing the hell out of me... xp )
so, i dunno, my fantastic idea is sort of on the back burner...  

[Aetherna]

This would be an extremely far stretch, but for the sake of mentioning it:

If you happen to be able to get into contact (phone, email) with an aboriginal artisan who works in clay, they may be able to help you out. @ @: At the very least, provide some interesting information.