# enameling?



## Jinxie (Jun 13, 2007)

I ran across some stuff when i was looking for mosaic ideas...it looks fabulous!

Anyone tried it? Expensive to get into? hard to do? the kits look expensive, but craigslist has been awesome finding used stuff cheap or free to experiment w/.

thanks!


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

I enamel metals. mainly copper and silver altho brass and bronze as well. It's an "immediate satisfaction" thing. put powdered glass on the metal, put it in the kiln or forge and in 2 minutes....lovely color.

can be as simple as above. or it can get real complex and detailed. It's pretty easy to start up...but you need metal pieces to enamel, the right kind of enamel for the metal(copper, silver, gold take one type; brass takes another and a kiln or forge (or even propane torch) to fire the piece in. There are a lot of ways to enamel...it's a really fun (and can be profitable) adventure. It's also WAY COOL for a small group of friends to do together.

google for some pics. I'm time pressed, atm, or i'd send you more.


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## Jinxie (Jun 13, 2007)

is it expensive to get into? ie could i go to hobbylobby and find everything I needed or is there alot of special order stuff involved? The webpages I surfed, described the steps but more in the format that people already knew what they were doing lol.

No kiln, but a propane torch would work? just any old type? Hubby has friends that weld...I could probably beg their castoffs from em lol. Thanks for the tips, if you have any sites saved that were/are helpful to you, I would love to view them!


Thanks!


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

hi again  I'm finally back from the wilds. 

let's see here...propane torch does work for enameling. Since it's open flame, and you're melting glass over it, it can be pretty dangerous...so be careful with it.

I've no idea if Hobby lobby has enameling stuff. Offhand, I'd say probably not. But you could look in the "stained glass" section.

If you look at, say, http://www.enameling.com/ , you'll see all the things that you can eventually get into. the prices there are pretty realistic.

It can be expensive to startup, simply because you'll want at least a FEW colors of enamel and they can be pricey (reds are most expensive). A simple enamel kiln will run maybe $140.00 new. check on ebay for them, too. The kiln will fire at 1500F for copper enameling.

You'll need something to fire the piece in/on. A firebrick(or similar heatproof thing). Enamels. Copper shapes. sifter for enamels. (much smaller mesh than regular sifter, btw). something to hold the enameled piece when it's hot (usually a "fork"...you want something that's kinda long handled so you don't get burned by the heat)

Basically, you'll need a metal shape as your base. (copper is usual, altho you CAN use the bowl of a silverplate spoon, for example...the copper shapes are real inexpensive tho.) 

Clean the copper shape REAL well (using kitchen cleanser like ajax). You don't want any soap or grease or anything on the copper. The copper will look pinkish. The first thing I have students do,is simply sprinkle the enamel (ground glass) onto the shape, covering it kinda thickly. that piece is transferred to the kiln, and in 2 minutes (you can see the glass melting...when it's glossy, remove from kiln/fire) and that's it. well, transfer to a firebrick or something similar to cool down. That's your first enameling experience. 

the above is just so the studen can see what will happen to the powdered glass. it's pretty magic, actually. anyway....my beginners start off using a stencil, or just moving the enamels around on the copper with a sifter, or a small knifeblade...sprinkling one color in spots over another...maybe firing one color and then putting more enamel on a section and firing again....

then they move into cloisonne, or champleve.

My suggestion is to check out some of the enameling books at your library, or buy one or two on Amazon or bookstore. There are some excellent ones for beginning enameling. Enameling.com has a really nice "how to enamel" booklet, too.

after i settle in a bit, I'll put up a few pictures of one of my "beginning enameling" classes so you can see a couple of "first projects" they did.


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## Jinxie (Jun 13, 2007)

Hi there again =)

Quick question, i noticed while poking around the site you gave me that they sell starter kits, they mention that they come w/ the furnace...are they talking about the kiln or something different? All the kits were under 200, and if that's including the kiln that's a hell of a deal to try it out!


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Jinxie said:


> Hi there again =)
> 
> Quick question, i noticed while poking around the site you gave me that they sell starter kits, they mention that they come w/ the furnace...are they talking about the kiln or something different? All the kits were under 200, and if that's including the kiln that's a hell of a deal to try it out!


That's WITH the furnace  yup. good price.

Another site you might want to take a look at is thompsonenamel.com. Their version of the beginner's kit is at http://www.thompsonenamel.com/products/supplements/beginner.htm

If you can afford it, get a kiln that looks like a cube with a front door. The heat will stay in better, better insulation than the hotplate type, and pretty easy to use. The hotplate type is darn easy to use, tho.

Btw: 2 oz of enamel is a LOT.  It doesn't take much to make a lovely color, and you'll be working on things that are maybe 1 to 2 inches in diameter to begin with. With the beginner's kits, they put together the colors most often used, in the quantities used to get a good start...to see if you like it or not. You can always order more of the colors you like, later. There are also color charts in various places on the web (thompson enamel has a color chart for theirs) Thompson enamel is one of the largest enamel makers in the US.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

there we go...finally found a few of the pics. These are from a class I taught a couple of years ago. These are a few of the medallions some complete novices made during a 2 hour class.


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