Practising with silver clay is getting pricey!

I've been practising (and tis getting expensive :-) ) with various cutters, thickness of clay and engraving tools, just trying to improve my technique with silver clay.

Most articles I've read seem to suggest that a thickness of 2mm is fine but I felt that was to thin for fingerprints as by the time you press your imprint into it, the clay spreads out to thinly - then again 3mm seems to thick to try and work with - it just feels awkward, so I'm thinking about trying 2.5 mm.

Just wondering what thickness other people use? and with clay being so expensive what's the next best medium to practise with?

Could you practice with polyclay? Or if you want to be nearer the same medium, how about bronz or coppr clay? Both are significantly cheaper and there are now versions that don't require kiln firing if you don't have that option available.

I usually practise on copper clay or Fimo :-)


Melanie

http://www.spinysharklythings.com

I practice with fimo and have a piece of fired silver that I'm using to perfect my polishing technique. I also stained the fimo with coffee so I could see the results I would get in the clay. I'm currently working with 2mm clay for fingerprints and seems to be fine.,, just the polishing that's holding me back