I have a large gold medallion that is encased in acrylic. I’d like to remove it from the acrylic…any ideas on how to do this?
Acetone. It will dissolve the acrylic, but will not react with gold.
Might take a while, though, depending on the thickness of the piece.
If the casing material is brittle, hit it with a hammer. You can freeze it to make it more brittle. It will shatter and shouldn’t be ‘glued’ to the medallion. If the medallion has an ornate surface that bits of material stick to, use a toothpick to pry them loose so you don’t mar the medallion. Don’t forget to wear eye protection when using the hammer.