fingerprint jewelry

[mama3]

Hi,  I am trying to make fingerprint jewelry.  So far I have been putting my children's prints directly into the clay but I have heard that it will work better to take their print in either mold putty or wax.  I am confused how you then make the reverse mold which you would then stamp into the clay.  Naturally I want it to look as if the print is pressed into the clay.  I read somewhere that you pour an acrylic into the mold but I'm not sure where you get this or exactly what it is.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  THANKS!

[Metalman]

Hi,  I am trying to make fingerprint jewelry.  So far I have been putting my children's prints directly into the clay but I have heard that it will work better to take their print in either mold putty or wax.  I am confused how you then make the reverse mold which you would then stamp into the clay.  Naturally I want it to look as if the print is pressed into the clay.  I read somewhere that you pour an acrylic into the mold but I'm not sure where you get this or exactly what it is.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  THANKS!

Hey - this is great -

• 1] My first question is 'how many times will you do this?' - if it is only a couple of times and the children are nearby - them I would work directly with their hands. If you are using the metal clays - they are very nontoxic so this should not be a problem. Ultimately - working out these 'direct impressions' will give the best detailing - anytime you make a mold or cast - you lose a little bit of detail - the better the molding - the less detail lose but it is rare that a 'reproduction' is as good as an original.
• 2] If you wish to have the molds and 'a stamp' of their fingerprints  - here are my thoughts:
  I would take the 'Five-minute cold putty molding compound' [R&T# 87-041 ] and make careful molds of the fingerprints. You may need to do this a couple of times to get really good at getting 'perfect detail' of the finger tips. You have to knead the putty and press the finger in so there are no lines or splits in the mold material. [if you wish, I think you wax idea should work]
  Then: I would use a hard casting resin or other pourable material - again experimenting and direction reading will be critical to getting quality casts out of these molds you have made. You can't press material [like polymer clay] into these Extra Fine detail molds because the pressing distorts the details. You have to pour in a casting materials that will harden and grab the finger print detail. I think the EasyCast epoxy resin [R&T#82-500-08] will work great for this. You will want to make or prepare a small knob or handle to include in the resin so that it becomes a hard, detailed stamp with a handle.

FINAL note: This may take a couple of tries to get it just perfect but you shouldn't have any real trouble - please send in you questions if you need to

Metalman

[mama3]

Thank you soooo much for your reply.  I will try that.  I have another question...When I reuse the unfired clay it seems to loose its elasticity.  It cracks really easily (even when it has lots of moisture).  If I do happen to get it rolled out without any cracks as soon as I put in the hole (for the jumpring to be inserted later) it cracks.  Could I be doing something wrong? 

Thanks for your help!

[Metalman]

I am assuming from your question that you had some clay that dried out and you re-hydrated it to use again as clay form. Depending on how you got the clay moist again , you could have this sort of problem. I almost never recycle dried out clay back into clay.- I use it as paste for building up forms over cork-clay or leaves or seed pods, etc. So I use it as paste.
If you want to do the clay thing - try mixing a third to a half of fresh paste [not recycled] with your recycled clay. This will add fresh binder back into the mix - hopefully giving it better elasticity and avoiding the cracking.
I know that the way I recycle doesn't have the smoothness and durability that fresh paste or clay does. [I put all dried bits, sanding dust and dried clay in a small cover plastic container and add water - this dilutes the binders - then I leave it open to evaporate off but I i still find the binder and the smoothness is not up to par]

[RitaD]

Metalclay artist magazine Vol 2 Issue #1 has an article on this process... It lists the pros and cons of 3 different methods, as well as tips for each.  If you are still interested in this process, I'd try getting a copy of this issue.
www.metalclayartistmag.com