Any series of articles about complex caning would be incomplete if it did not show you how to incorporate multiple patterned logs into your cane. This article shows you how to make a cane with 5 flowers in the pattern. In this example I show how to use the slices on a bead, but you could obviously use it for whatever type of jewellery you’d like. 

Materials

• Complex cane (the red millifiori cane tutorial shows you how to make one)
• White clay

Tools and equipment

• Stiff blade
• Flexible blade
• Roller
• Sharp object like a darning needle to make holes
• Sheet of glass
• Oven
• Wet/dry sandpaper in the following grits 600, 800, 1000

Method

Condition your white clay. Roll the clay into 4 even sized logs. 

Cut 5 equal lengths from the flower cane. Place the canes as shown in image 1. You can place the designs in any way you like the only thing to remember is that the group should be round. If you don’t have a round placement the pattern will distort. You could obviously go for a square arrangement but then your patterned canes should also be square.

Reduce the cane. Image 2 shows a cut-through of the reduced cane. Roll the cane between two sheets of glass to get a smooth finish.

Put the reduced cane in the freezer and cut slices to incorporate in your jewellery. I decided to make beads. In that case place a slice on the top and bottom of round piece of clay. Image 3. Roll until smooth.

Image 4 shows the bead after it’s been baked (but before it’s been varnished). The bead on the right is a variation I made with a red base for the bead.