kiln enamelling pmc and fusing glass

I'm probably getting my kiln today. Have decided on the Paragon SC2. I'm struggling to find enamel, mainly due to ignorance. I saw a vid on wet packing and that looks to be what I'd like to do, however, not sure what to buy for using wet packing on pmc ? I've picked up that I wld need 80 mesh but that's about it. Also, does it really end up as silver in texture ? Don't want to fork out for a kiln and find that the clay looks like molten playdough ! [-o<

Also wondering if Warm Glass supplies are reasonable for the purchase of dichroic glass ? Looks like it may be a really expensive way to work but would welcome feedback on that.

Welcome to the forum. If you are wanting enamels and supplies try Milton Bridge Ceramics, see; http://www.milton-bridge.co.uk/index.htm

James

Hi Snowdrops. There are a lot of threads on here about enamelling. The Paragon kiln is a good choice. I'd recommend Vitrum Signum for your enamels and equipment. I'd also recommend Linda Darty's excellent book as being the best of them all. Yes, your pmc will end up looking like silver as long as you don't have your kiln too hot and end up melting it. Good luck with it and if you get stuck, please ask.

Quick replies, thank you both very much :ta: Will look up the links.

I use Vitrum Signum and Corby Kilns for my enamelling supplies. Corby kilns are very competitively priced on the Soyer enamels which I use almost exclusively, but they don't do the entire range of colours. I've never enamelled pmc but I believe you must burnish it first as it can be a bit porous, so you'll either want a hand burnisher or a tumbler if you can stretch to one.

I use W G Ball for enamels and find their website easier to navigate than Vitrum Signum - just my opinion...

The PMC looks like silver in texture only if it is finished to some degree. If you roll it into a ball like you would plasticine and press something into it, then it ends up looking exactly like silver plasticine rolled into a ball and with something pressed into it. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your design. One of the good things about PMC is you can do stuff with it that would be difficult to do using traditional metalworking techniques.

One of the good things about enamelling it is that you can make raised designs more hardwearing. I enamel my fingerprint rolls and pebbles for this reason.

Yes I have a tumbler, wasn't sure whether the pmc finished product could go in, so that's really helpful thank you.