Enamelling

[Latibah]

Hello all,

I've been using powder enamels on silver, melting them with a hand torch. The effect is ok on very small pieces, but it's bumpy, and I had trouble melting it on anything larger than a centimetre or so. Does anyone have any tips about doing this without using a kiln? Is it possible or should I just use the cold resin version? I'm rather charmed by the idea of using the real thing.

Thanks

[caroleallen]

Enamel really should be stoned back and then re-fired to get it nice and smooth. If you're not keen on doing that, you could wet the enamel, paint it on and then tap the piece from underneath to get it fairly smooth.

[ps_bond]

The guild of enamellers DVD shows a torch-fired kiln made with a tin can, a tripod and a chunk of ceramic wool. Looked quite effective.

[Latibah]

Thanks! Caroleallen, which stone should I use? I have a Dremel and it has a fairly fine stone attachment.

I will look out for the guild of enamellers, ps_bond. The device you mention sounds like a pretty cool DIY set up, I will give that a go too.

[caroleallen]

You could use alundum stone, though I much prefer to use diagrit which I get from Vitrum Signum.

[Latibah]

You could use alundum stone, though I much prefer to use diagrit which I get from Vitrum Signum.

Do I need to start with the roughest and go down the grades?

[ps_bond]

The DVD is here. It's not complex to build, the worst part is locating a source for a small amount of insulation; I can probably help if you need.

[Lucie]

I Sooooo want to have a go at this now

[caroleallen]

Yes, you do start with the coarsest and work down to the finest. It works best if you have a raised edge around your piece.

[Latibah]

So, you grind it down until you have as smooth surface as possible, and then re-fire? And firing will restore the gloss, so you don't have to polish it or anything again after that? And the Diagrit is used by hand, not in a machine?

I'm sorry for all the questions, I'm very inexperienced and I don't want to buy the wrong tools.