Will, I am working with impressions made into pink sheet wax. But I
do not use my rolling mill to do it, I use a screw press . I spray
the wax surface with silicone spray that is meant for wax release in
a rubber mold, put a fresh green leaf vein side down on it, and
enclose it in a sandwich of the waxed (or perhaps plastic-coated)
paper that comes in the pink wax box to separate the wax sheets in
shipment. Experiment with how much pressure to use, as too much
squishing is bad. I also use the screw press to get impressions of
the plastic photo etchings made with Model Master (see Rio Grande) 3M
materials. The impressed wax sheets can then be cut with scissors,
welded with wax tools, and made into more 3-D designs for casting. I
have been having a lot of fun with it. I think it will work just
fine with paper, too, as long as you can get the paper to peel off of
the wax after pressing it. My green leaves create some juice that
sometimes helps release the leaf residue , though they sometimes get
stuck if they are too dry. Using the silicone spray is the key to
having this work at all, as I found through much experimentation. I
think your results would be much more controllable with a screw press
than with a rolling mill, because of how a mill will tend to push the
wax ahead of itself instead of just impressing it from the top. Know
what I mean? I was going to keep this technique to myself for a
while, but I just cannot resist the power of Orchid’s sharing energy!
- M’lou Brubaker www.craftswomen.com