Silver PMC clay advice- Fingerprints

Hello! Ive joined the forum to get some info on this one project Im doing with Pmc3. My mother is dying and we have always done art and crafts together, in fact she purchased the clay herself to try but never got around to it. So I want to make some fingerprint pendants for us kids. I attempted it a few days ago but the fingerprint was basically invisible- there was only the finger indentation. Truth be told her fingerprints are on the faint side as it is... is this a typical problem? I was wondering if the clay is too dry- will I get a better fingerprint if its softer? Any suggestions? I may only have a few weeks left and I know I could send her fingerprint off for someone else to make them, but for the sentimental reasons I stated above, I would at least like to give it a decent shot myself. Thank you so much for any input offered!

Hi there, Welcome - though so sorry to hear the situation you are in.

I don't have a lot of experience with PMC and found it quite fiddly. However, I think the professionals use a special modelling clay to take fingerprint impressions first. You would then have a mould you can use over again. Ux

I have not used pmc although from what I have seen of it I would not think it would take finger prints well, many years ago I met some one who used to etch fingers prints onto silver sheet

There are lots of posts about this subject. Go to the search box top right and use advanced search. Then put in fingerprints and press search now. Dennis.

I have never done it, but I was wondering how I would solve the problem if I had to do it. I figured I would use a two part moulding material then try and make a finger from it using plaster of Paris and then use that to make fingerprint impressions in PMC.

Then I tried what Dennis suggested and found a post by someone who tried something similar and suggests it works perfectly! [See Below]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by daisychain

When I made 3 pairs of cufflinks for my God-daughter's mum to give as Christmas presents I didn't want to try and press a 12 month old's finger into the clay that many times - definitely would have caused a tantrum!
I pressed her finger into the two part moulding material and then made rolled a "finger" from polymer clay. I made sure that the end of the polymer clay was completely smooth and then pressed this into the mould of her finger, baked it and then used that to make the impressions into the silver art clay. It worked perfectly!

---

There's a big business in precious clay fingerprints if you search online. I'm wondering if the clay was bought a while ago that it has dried out considerably. I've only used it a few times and when I checked an unopened packet it's now solid and I don't think you can reconstitute it.
As Dennis said there have been previous post that might give a little help but I wonder as your Mum is now very ill whether her fingerprints will be viable, I remember sadly how much everything deteriorated with my Mum and I'm sorry you are in this position. If the clay seems quite dry it might be worth buying a new pack once you've found out how to do it. Maybe try your own fingerprint as a guide to see what it should look like then reform the clay with that in mind and try and take one from your Mum

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CJ57

I'm wondering if the clay was bought a while ago that it has dried out considerably. I've only used it a few times and when I checked an unopened packet it's now solid and I don't think you can reconstitute it.

---

This was posted a while ago:

http://www.cooksongold.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3057

However, there is a new product that might make the task even easier :)

http://www.cooksongold.com/blog/new-...ous-metal-clay

Thank you:)

Please forgive my ignorance but some of the terms here are over my head- could you direct me to a name or brand of modelling clay that would be appropriate for that?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JWelch

Thank you:)

Please forgive my ignorance but some of the terms here are over my head- could you direct me to a name or brand of modelling clay that would be appropriate for that?

---

I've not done it, but try a silicone mold kit. I have seen them on Amazon. Or you could try Fimo - it is almost impossible to keep fingerprints off this!

PS - definitely worth checking the clay hasn't dried out over time, as suggested above. I found it dried very quickly out of the packet.

You will note that one member says in an old post that she would not try this with children under 5 years. What is not mentioned is that elderly people also have indistinct fingerprints, because their finger tips have worn shiny over the years.

Check it out with an ink pad or maybe a washable felt tip.

I have not done anything with clay for years, but if finger prints exist, or even if not, I would not bother with further in between stages, which gradually degrade the detail.

I would choose a metal clay and use a newly opened batch which is soft and pliable. You also need a release medium, of which Tiger Balm is frequently suggested. I suspect that is just an overhyped greasy product and a very thin application of Vaseline would do. Dennis.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dennis

in between stages, which gradually degrade the detail.

---

This is what I was suspicious of myself. I think what Ill do is take an imprint with something like Femo as insurance, but attempt to make the jewelry with a direct imprint to get as much detail as I can, knowing it will probably not be much.
Ive ordered fresh clay and upon more research, will be rolling it out twice as thick as I was at 5 cards thick. Thank you all for your support and patience!

Will be thinking of you. Hope you are successful.
Find some really nice hand cream and give her a gentle manicure. It will be very soothing and might plump up her prints if done a few hours before.

Hi there

I'm sorry to hear about your mum :(

I work in metal clay so know a bit about this. To be honest I don't think taking prints directly to the clay works that well especially if the print is faint - if it were me I would take the print using black ink, scan it, enhance contrast and size on the computer then make a photopolymer plate (https://www.cooksongold.com/Precious...prcode-700-612, you can buy the uv light to cure the plates inexpensively on amazon)

You can then use that with your clay and should get clearer results. You can also make a print of her whole hand if the fingerprint impressions are still faint. Also you can use the photopolymer plates to capture her handwriting and transfer to silver clay, if that appeals to you. Again it's the same process of scanning and enhancing etc.

An alternative method not mentioned as far as I could see, is to have the pendant laser engraved from a scan of an ink fingerprint. You could still have a slight dip in the pendant to give the impression of being pressed into clay or it could be done on a flat piece. If you use a company with the right laser engravers, it will cope with a slight curve no problem.