I’ve been trying to figure out how to emboss copper better, not being thrilled with the design options available using the folders made for my Big Shot embosser. I have been curious if steel texture plates for actual rolling mills would work. These are NOT cheap, so I just started with one in case it didn’t work. Obviously, my embosser comes with instructions and attachments that work with specific folders, so I knew adjustments would be required, but DUMB LUCK, the plate I ordered fits perfectly into the “sandwich” that I’ve been using with the folders. Now, there were some hiccups and at one point, I thought well there’s $40 down the drain, but I discovered that if your copper blank gets stuck to the steel plate, stick it in the freezer, and it pops right off! My second try, I started with a frozen plate and the blanks didn’t stick. I’ll let a smarter person than me explain this magic, but I’m pretty dang proud of myself for coming up with it on my own after my googling proved that I’m the only person ever to be dumb enough to run into this problem. Apparently, this is why you are supposed to use metal as wide as the plate, but I have pre-cut blanks I want to emboss as well as sheet metal, so I threw that advice out the window.
Besides the blank getting stuck to the embossing plate, I wasn’t thrilled with the impressions. I have read about annealing and watched several tutorials, but I only have a small butane torch. I don’t think it gets hot enough, but I decided to try it. I don’t think it gets hot enough, but the impressions on the blanks I heated are definitely better than the ones I did not. The photo below is not great, but I can see the difference between top (untreated) and bottom (heated). I did not have a pickle pot, and the copper was splotchy and red, so I ended up adding more heat to fire color, then I sanded the top to bring out the copper color on the raised impressions.
As expected, .8mm pewter picks up impressions extremely well. Below are inked and sealed discs and triangles. The discs were cut using my Bigz Die for the Big Shot embosser, and one was so stuck I thought it would never come off even after freezing and thawing several times. I ended up prying it off using a very sharp sculpting tool. I will probably try it again anyway.
Fun experiment, probably not worth the $40 spent on the texture plate, and I am hesitant to invest in another one right now, but it remains an option for future consideration. Now on to making the jewelry using these creations!