The designs are created by combining many colors of clay, wrapping them with contrasting colors of clay, stacking them, shaping them, and cutting then reassembling them into a large complex image. The cane is then carefully stretched and reduced in diameter so that the pattern inside becomes smaller and smaller, while the detail is retained. When the cane is sliced in cross-section, the intricate pattern inside is revealed!
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Q. How many slices will I get from a 1 inch cane? A. Usually 40-65 slices depending on how thin and accurate you slice. Each piece you purchase here at the BeautyTech Shoppe is approximately 1" in length.
Q. How much should I charge?
Each cane can yield up to 60+ slices..
You should upcharge at least $2 per nail this service using 2-5 slices per nail.
Approximate cost - $0.30 upcharge - $2.00 == profit $1.70
An order of 28 canes - your cost $70-$90 - can produce upwards of 1200+/- slices
@ 5 slices per nail -- 240 nails @ $2 upcharge per nail == $480.00
@ 3 slices per nail -- 400 nails @ $2 upcharge per nail == $800.00
Check out more great examples of Nail Art Designs using Clay Canes by some members of the BeautyTech site in the Photo Gallery
Q. What about that "white" clay surrounding the design? A. Some pictures you see are of unbaked canes and it appears the design is surrounded by white clay. The artists actually use translucent/transparent clay to surround the design, for the main reason of holding the design together and maintaining the design as it is rolled and reduced. When the canes have been baked, the "white" will become almost clear if sliced thin enough. Without the "white" transparent clay surrounding a design, the petals of the flowers would get crushed when reducing or slicing. The transparent clay will not be transparent when the cane is used raw.
Q. How do I slice the canes? A. Click HERE to view the demo video, the youtube page will open in a new window.. just close it when you are done.
www.BeautyTech.com/shoppe sells a Slicing Blade to aid in precision slicing. Hand slicing the cane requires the sharpest blade you have available - otherwise the cane's shape is distorted by the dragging of the blade, and the clay itself may smear. The blade also must be tall enough to cut through the cane.
BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN SLICING CANES WITH BLADES Remember you are working with very sharp blades, and they need to be sharp to get nice thin clean slices for easier application, you can cut yourself very easily with razor blades.
You can avoid having the blade distort the clay by slicing with a slight back-and-forth motion, letting the cane roll freely on the work surface; this distributes the pressure of the blade over the cane's surface instead of putting it all on one spot. It takes some time and patience to get real thin slices.
Make sure you are not all caffeined up! Steady hands are important.
Work slowly.
Use an exacto knife with a handle and a STRAIGHT blade (Exacto knifes traditionally come with a angled blade).
Keep your blade exactly perpendicular to the cane. ---|
Hold the blade at the very slightest of angles when slicing --/
(#4 & #5 will make more sense as you start slicing)
Work in a well lit area.
Turn off any overhead or table fans. (haha this hould be rule #1)
When slicing you cane grab the big c-curve stick (or something round a bout the same size. set you slice on the stick to give it that cure, to help it a long faster put it under you table lamb, just make sure to give it some cooling time to hold that shape before you take it off the stick and store. Posted by artdesigninc, Buffalo, NY
I finally got out my fimo decided to start cutting some slices. I warmed it up in my hands like I read to do, and proceeded to cut. No luck..try again, a big chunk comes off...mutter under breath, roll it in my hands again til the friction from the heat starts to form blisters...try again, another chunk..and another..and yet another. GRRR... so I'm thinking "everyone is right, this stuff IS hard to cut!"
Then I glance at package the cutter came in and see "Now includes blade cover that's also a handle"...
So I take the handle cover off....OH! There's the blade! I'd been cutting with the wrong side the whole time!
Turns out it is pretty easy to cut now that I know what side of the blade to use!!! Posted by Colleen, NY
Aug 21st, 2008 I had shot a little video at the Long Island Networking Day to demonstrate clay cane slicing but when I looked at it it was fuzzy, so I shot another one and loaded it to youtube.. hope this visual helps everyone. Click HERE to view the demo video, the youtube page will open in a new window.. just close it when you are done.
Q. What kind of blades are used for slicing canes? A. It's critical to use as sharp a blade as possible when slicing a cane, because you could cut yourself when using dull blades. www.BeautyTech.com/shoppe sells a nifty tool - Slicing Blade with cover and - to aid in precision slicing. Canes should be sliced using a NEW single edged razor blade preferably.
Prior to slicing, it is recommended that the cane be lightly warmed to soften it slightly.
Very small canes may not need initial warming, but it will still help with the slicing process. Warming also depends on the type of clay used to create the design, some baked clays slice easier than others. Do some experimentation. Don't forget that partial slices can be used in your designs also.
DO NOT USE A COFFEE CUP WARMER
DO NOT USE THE MICROWAVE OVEN
CANES CAN HEAT TO THE POINT OF BURSTING INTO FLAME
Warming can be done by rolling the cane between your hands for several seconds. Another method is to hold them under your lamp, heating pad or warm water for a few minutes. Cut about 8-12 slices and rewarm the cane before proceeding. You should be able to notice a difference in the cutting as the cane cools down and needs rewarming. In general - when properly warmed, the canes should cut almost like a hot knife thru butter. If they canes get too warm, the images will blur, and you run the risk of destroying the design when slicing.
Q. What are the different methods of applying/embedding slices for nail art?
A. Some clays are VERY brittle after baking so be careful when you order and know what you are getting. www.BeautyTech.com/shoppe purchased canes from several different designers. Each uses their own combination of clays from different manufacturers. Some experimentation will have to be done with the different designs to see which method of bending them to conform to the nail works best with each design. As you use them. Please be sure to let us know what worked best for you so we can add your advice to this FAQ, email: sales@beautytech.com with your comments.
After embedding/applying you can add hand painted or color gel/acrlic details such grass or flower stems. You can even dress them up with rhinestones or mylar bits! Your imagination is your limit!
The thinner the better.
Nail Glue can be used to help adhere the slices, especially in non-enhancement nails - polish only.
If you slice incorrectly, you can still use that piece in your design.
A. Embedding in Acrylic enhancements
Apply a thin layer of clear acrylic, acrylic glitter, or color acrylic and then use clear acrylic over the fruit to build the nail. Posted by Loni Jensen-Preato, Las Vegas, NV Place the sliced piece on the wet uncured acrylic. Wet the slice with your brush to soften just a little bit. If the sliced piece is a bit too thick, it will 'bend' back to its original shape, help the slice to keep your desired shape by slightly pressing it in your acrylic. Sometimes they need a little help. When you are using canes with a translucent 'background', be sure to place the slices into wet acrylic to get it as translucent as possible, or dip it into your monomer/liquid to avoid getting dry spots between the acrylic and the sliced cane. It will look like lifting if you get air trapped rt dry spots between the slice and the acrylic.
A. Embedding in Gel enhancements
Apply thin layer of Base gel and place fruit where you want on the toes.. cure
Apply another layer (final one) of gel, be sure to really cover the fruit and glitter. I float the gel over the fruit making sure to fill in any low spots or dips the fruit has created. cure Posted by teesnailnv, Ontario Canada Inlaid the fruit right into the free edge gel. I also dropped a bead of sculpting gel at the same time to lay the fruit, cure, then another bead of gel. Must cut the fruit extremely thin...I think shaving it off the cane looks best as it becomes almost transparent and not so perfectly shaped. Posted by rosegriffith, Canada
A. Embedding in Nail Polish
You need to make sure the slices are paper thin, so you can bend to the nail shape.
Posted by Darl, New Hampshire
Use enough topcoat to make it nice and smooth. Posted by idonls, Oklahoma
I have done this several times and I think the key is making sure the fimo is extremely thinnly sliced. It also helps to warm the slice (held up to a warm light) before placing, and I add a drop of glue that I use normally to adhere a crystal or gem.
I did not have good success with using a UV cure gel topcoat though. For some reason it got cloudly near the fimo. So I just double topcoat with China Glaze or Out the Door fast drying gloss.
The same way you would apply a crystal. I add the glue drop to the nail and use pinpoint tweezers to place the gem or the fimo slice over the drop of glue and press down. I give that a minute to dry before putting on the top coat. This prevents the glue from turning white under the clear coat. Posted by Miss V, Vicki, Florida
I use glue also.. you can use a brush on glue or the nozzle but just a little dot of glue on the nail after you polish your color, then quickly place your clay and hold in place with either an orange wood stick or I use a toothpick.. glue dries fast, then finish with your top coat! Using glue definately makes it go faster and easier... Posted by pfct10nailzz, Amy, Texas
Q. How long will the unsliced baked cane or slices last and how do I store them? A. Canes purchased at www.BeautyTech.com/shoppe will be baked and ready to slice for nail art use. Baked ready-to-slice canes and slices should be stored in a dry place such as a cardboard jewelry box. Properly stored we do not belive there is any "shelf-life", meaning they will not degrade or anything over time. Raw polymer clays have a shelf life of between five and ten years if stored properly. Wrapped and stored canes made six years ago are still usable but not as pliable as they were within the first year. Storing canes in the refrigerator or freezer is not advisable as this causes the plasticizer to weep out of the surface of the canes and causes less pliability. Use plastic wrap or sandwich bags to store raw cane lengths and unpackaged raw clay. Over time some plastic wraps will interact with polymer clay. Saran with Cling does not interact and that is what we use to store canes or cover works in progress. Also, as polymer clay will interact with some hard plastics, do not store raw clay in plastic containers without wrapping the clay. Deli-style parchment paper also works well between the sheets of clay as it will not leach the plasticizers, but waxed paper will cause leaching over time.
Q. Do you slice the canes ahead of time? What do you store them in? Will they dry out sliced and stored? A. (Posted to www.beautytech.com/fourms)
I sliced mine and placed them in one of those craftmate containers you can get at Michaels or Walmart with little compartments --TheNailDiva I slice mine up and store them in these containers: http://www.sunburstbottle.com/s.nl/it.A/id.702/.f -- Iluvnailz I used to think it was neat the way the client got a big kick out of all the things we do to prepare for their nails...they loved to watch and keep calling us artists and scientists etc etc...but it got to be too much on time like you mention...so now I have them all cut up and in storage jars and just let them peek at the selection while I am prepping the other hand. -- Tammy2 -- Tammy Warner The High Road to Education
The ones I have to slice, I do all up ahead a time also and have them in divided "tip" boxes. -- rusty1 I slice all of mine the second i get them from the mail box... its some weird therapy for me. i spend about 5 hours one night slicing away. my husband thought i was insane! I store my canes in those tiny zip lock baggies and then in a tin that michaels sells for giftcards. i have about 50 different canes and i use two of the tins. --CherryBombBarbi
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A. Usually 40-65 slices depending on how thin and accurate you slice. Each piece you purchase here at the BeautyTech Shoppe is approximately 1" in length. 
