I’ve been doing jewelry pieces in keum bo style for awhile now and
have been struggling with a suitable technique to cut certain shapes
and designs out of the gold foil. I had read a previous thread from
2003 that dealt with this topic and there were a couple of good
ideas. But I am curious to revisit this idea knowing that there are
so many more people involved in this technique and also with the
availability of new technology. I’m especially interested if anyone
has played with these new scrape booking machines like the Cuttlebug
or one of the many others that are market these days. In theory they
would seem like an awesome possibility, but don’t know if it would
work with the foil.
I’d be interested to here if anyone has experimented with these
gadgets or have come up with any other creative ways to work with
foil.
Thanks, John DuBois
I have tried this using a milling maching. The milling machine can
cut pretty much any pattern, but the prblem is how to hold down the
gold foil.
I tried using two sided tape, on top of a wax tablet, and a .005"
milling tool. This worked ok, but I could not figure out how to get
the gold foil off the tape! I tried every solvent I have around here
(includint actetone, alcohol, lighter fluid, even drain cleaner) and
waited for weeks.
It’s still stuck to the tape! any suggestions welcome.
John, the way I was taught to cut designs in gold foil was to take a
piece of paper, fold it in half, draw the design on one side of the
paper (near the folded side). Then slide the foil in between the two
sides of the paper, letting it rest on the folded side (this helps
prevent it from moving while you’re cutting out the design). Hold
the paper-and-foil “sandwich” up to the light and do a visual check
to make sure you have the foil under all of your design. You can then
hold the foil securely while you cut out the design with a small
pair of scissors. The paper gives the foil added support so it won’t
tear as easily. I was taught this technique by Celie Fago in one of
her PMC classes.
(Thanks Celie.) Hope this helps.
I took a keum boo class with Gwen Bernecker this summer and she
provided several punches (sold for scrapbooking) in various shapes
which the students could use on the gold foil. They cut very well,
with crisp designs, but the selection of punches is very limited. In
my neighborhood it’s mostly hearts and flowers.
Mary