It was on my birthday list and my wonderful husband gifted me with this nifty piece of equipment! This manually operated machine is called the "NEVERknead™" and it is extremely efficient! Anyone who has ever worked with polymer clay knows how important it is to condition the clay before it can be used. It's a task that requires strong hands and a lot of kneading! Depending on the stiffness of the clay, it can be excruciating to one's hands, wrists, and forearms. Polymer clay has an incredibly long shelf life (I confess that I have some blocks of clay that have been around since the early 90's!) and it becomes extremely hard and crumbly with age as the plasticizer dries out. Fortunately, with a bit of liquid clay softer and a lot of "elbow grease" polymer clay can be reconstituted to a smooth and pliable consistency. This is when the "NEVERknead™" comes into play. With the turn of a lever, the "NEVERknead™" exerts 1/2 ton of pressure compressing the clay. Then one simply rotates the clay after each turn of the lever until the clay is in working condition. It's also a great tool for blending clay colors! Until now, I had been slicing small sections off a block of clay and passing it through the rollers of my "D.R.E.A.M. Machine", which I don't think is a particularly good idea. I had tried using a food processor to condition my clay, but that was a messy proposition and the results produced hundreds of little crumbles. I feel like GoldiLocks having tried other methods and now I have found one that is "just right"!
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