Tokens ~ Education ~ How To Make A Bull's Eye Plug

How To Make A Bull's Eye Plug

written by: Valerie Hollis Without Frames

Note ~ I titled this section "How To Make A Bull's Eye Plug" because the end result gives the overall appearance of being a Bull's Eye. However, in actuality, the logs created in this tutorial are Spirals -and not Bull's Eyes at all!

Step 1

In order to create a Bull's Eye Plug, start with a Skinner blend that has been rolled out on the thickest setting of your pasta machine. (I used a Graduated Skinner Blend in this tutorial. To learn how to make one, please see "How to Make a Graduated Skinner Blend.")

Step 2

For demonstration purposes, I am going to create 2 bull's eye plugs. One of them will have a dark center and the other will have a light center. So, in this step, I am cutting the blend in half. Each half will be used to make one of the plugs.

Step 3

After cutting the blend in half, it should look like this.

Step 4

Pick up one of the halves and set the other half aside for now.

Step 5

Fold the blend in half lengthwise. (Note: If you're using a wider blend, fold it into thirds)

Step 6

It should look like this.

Step 7

Pass this through the pasta machine, light OR dark end first, on the thickest setting (#1 on an Atlas).

Step 8

It should look like this.

Step 9

Now pass this through the pasta machine on a medium setting (#3 on an Atlas) to thin and lengthen it.

Step 10

It should look like this.

Step 11

Pass it through the pasta machine one more time on a thin setting (#5 on an Atlas), and it should look like this. (I've loosely folded mine in half for the picture.)

Step 12

Choose which color you would like to have in the center of the plug. I'd like white to be in the center of this plug, so I am going to trim the uneven edge from the white end of the strip.

Step 13

Begin rolling this up.

Step 14

Continue rolling...

Step 15

When you reach the other end of the strip, trim the uneven edge and roll to the end.

Step 16

Now you have a Bull's Eye Plug that should look like this. In this case, the lightest shade of the blend is in the center of the plug.

Step 17

To create a Bull's Eye Plug with the darkest shade of the blend in the center, repeat steps 4 - 12. . .

Step 18

Then, select the dark end of the strip. Trim the uneven edge and begin rolling it up from dark to light.

Step 19

After you've rolled up the strip, you should have a Bull's Eye Plug that looks like this. The darkest shade of the blend is in the middle.

Step 20

Now we have 2 Bull's Eye Plugs to work with!

Step 1 began with a 2-dimensional sheet of clay. We have turned that 2-dimensional sheet into a 3-dimensional log, or "plug." By reducing, enlarging, dividing, recombining, blending, wrapping, lengthening, narrowing, stretching, compressing, or reshaping (or any sequential or simultaneous combination of these), we can use it in different applications to produce different effects. Wherever you "plug" this into your design, it will yield a result that is shaded radially from light-to-dark or dark-to-light.

Following is a picture of beads that I made using these Bull's Eye Plugs:

In the following section, I will demonstrate how I divided, recombined, and reduced these plugs around another cane:

Making a Cane with Bull's Eye Plugs

Another popular way to use a Bull's Eye Plug is to create a Leaf Cane with it. Follow the link below to see how I demonstrate that:

Making A Leaf Cane

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