I've been asked to assist a co-worker's son with a school history project concerning ancient greeks. I thought it would be cool to make some clay imprints. Does anyone have experience making imprints? Anyone know of what clay I could use that will harden naturally or through heat that won't leave residue on the coins?
But this clay has a tendency to stick to the coins. I know. I use it all the time when I take pics of my coins. Plus this clay will not harden.
Why not use foil to make imprints? Just put the finished foils in something so they dont get smashed/ruined.
Ummm, was it Martin that was making clay imprints recently? (I know Doug has made them in the past) ... I have not made any clay imprints of my coins (even the thought of wrecking my sweet coins makes me freak-out!!)
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=29974.msg528599#msg528599 Making plaster casts is fun IMHO but requires a little practice so start early and plan on making some mistakes. Read the above. I wrote an article on the process which was published in the Celator magazine years ago but I do not have an electronic copy to offer now (that was before the current computer). I even made some using a two part plastic resin instead of plaster which made almost jewelry grade pieces which I boxed up and have now misplaced to my regular embarrassment. Also in that box are many casts I made twenty years ago I would love to have now.
This is the process from the old catalogs, incl British Museum - make a tin foil impression of the coin by pressing thin foil over the coin, then pour liquid plaster of paris in the mould and you will have a replica of the coin. they would use this process for the old catalogs because the casts would photogtaph better.The "thin foil" is the foil they use on chocolate bars, btw.
I tried using polymer clay to make molds and copies. Some of the molds looked fine, others warped or had bubbles but I suspect slow cooking would help avoid warping, and not mooshing the clay as much would help avoid air bubbles.
