So Enamelling?

[Kwant]

Hmmmm I could try that, though I was not using silver clay but fine silver 1mm sheet.


I only say that as it is not going to be as porous as silver clay so I wonder if the bond will be as good, but having never tried it, it is certainly worth a shot. Thank you .

I think I am going to have a go with that tomorrow, if I torch fire the piece with the silver clay slip and wires to fusing temperature I can see now how that will work, then continue at enamel temps in the kiln :0)

[mark]

Yes, this was using fine silver as the backing and cloisonné wire. The art clay overlay stuff was used instead of solder and flux. We used the kiln for both the enamelling and the fusing of the wire to the backing silver. 800c was the temperature we used.

I suppose it depends to an extent on what you're doing, but it saves the need to clean up solder and flux before enamelling. If you are doing complex things then it is tricky to get the fine wire to sit nicely flat so you can end up needing to go through several stages of fixing the wire down.

I know th silver slip stuff is more expensive but for me as a beginner time and ease of use win out.

[Kwant]

Mark I am about to put this to the test in fire as it were. A very kind soul, the grubby fingered Princess of the polishing machine otherwise known as Wallace, has given me these two opals. One is a black one the other a jelly, both of which profit from a black background so the idea is to have black enamel behind the stones. Here are the stones in their bezels on the drawing of what I am attempting. I will let you know how I get on:


Black opal enamel info by kwant, on Flickr


Though in this instance it is not cloisonne wire but fine silver cut to fit and hopefully allowing a little extra to take into account the layer of enamel.

[Kwant]

Needs a final polish but it is what I was after:


Opals over black enamel by kwant, on Flickr

[Wallace]

Less grubby fingered than earlier (as I am now at the keyboard :p)

Lovely your vision matched the outcome - does it need polishing? The lovely texture contrasting with the shiny (and very lovely stones :p) is really nice. Yeah, I know, I polish nearly everything! lol

[Kwant]

No you are right it does not which suits me coz I am lazy :0)