I have to say, I absolutely love making canes out of Kato: the way it handles, the colours, the crispness. Wow! Kato recently introduced a new formula clay which is so easy to condition. What a pleasure! It is saving me so much time and effort. At present I am busy working through blocks of old Kato with some new formula clay added in. I love the old formula clay too ... once it is conditioned! The best way to do this is to give it lots of solid whacks with a big rubber mallet (Google "Jana Whack" to see what I mean). Another added benefit of Kato is that your hands keep clean because of its firmness. This is a big plus in my book as I hate having goo building up on my hands while I work.