eclats d’Email DVD

If you have not seen the new dvd from Europe check it out. It can be ordered from Thompson’s Enamel.

It completely amazes me how long man has been enameling and yet how differently we all go about this.  Rio and GRS would really not like how simply the artist work, really minimalist in their tools.

I truly believe the ones making money today are the suppliers not the artist. We really need to rethink, the tool does not make it happen.

Robert Moussant’s work in grisaille is beautiful! Great work and information.  And a link to order,  www.emoluxe.com

The Association for the Study of Jewelry and Related Arts

The Association for the Study of Jewelry and Related Arts wil be presenting its 5th Annual Conference Saturday, May 15, 2010. In New York City

www.jewelryconference.com/

Having Excellent Speakers! Check it out.

Enameling on Argentium 970

This seems like a wonderful opportunity to use Argentium instead of fine silver for applications such as plique a jour. I am anxoius to experiment with the Argentium in this medium. I have enameled on the 925 and it justgot cloudy,  and did not see the advantage of Argentium verses Fine Silver, for cloiosnne, but for the application of plique a jour it is a stronger surface.

I hesitate to use fine silver in larger pieces and have use 18k gold in it place because of the durability. But with the cost of gold these days Argentium could come in very handy. Sterling sliver is not one of my favorites due to the fire scale developing during the enameling process. There are acids one can use to remove this but then there is always the problem of discoloring your enamels.

Argentiun; from the website of G&S Metals. And BTW is the only place I have found selling Argentium 970 .

What is the Difference Between Sterling Silver and Argentium in Settings?

The most important difference is that Argentium can be hardened, which should increase the durability of the setting. One hardening procedure is to use soft sheet and then heat it in an oven for 4 hrs. at 400º F of 1 hr. at 580° F. Argentium is harder than standard sterling when it is work hardened as well.

ARGENTIUM

The silver of the 21st century – stays bright and beautiful and is ready to go when you are.
Argentium silver, the way silver was meant to be; forever bright and beautiful
What is Argentium silver and where did it come from?
Peter Johns, a professor of silversmithing at Middlesex University in England invented it in 1996 and  labeled it AS.
Argentium is .925 or 97% silver and qualifies to carry that trademark.
GERMANIUM

Germanium is the element that makes it tarnish resistant and firescale free.
Germanium is not found as a free element in nature. But is mined from zinc ores, coal and germanite.  It is a metalloid, as are silicon, manganese, boron and sulfur.  It borders between metallic elements and non-metallic elements and is found on the periodic table as GE.  It replaces 1.2% of the copper and seems to have a bleaching characteristic when alloyed.
Germanium is used as:
As a transistor element – as a phosphor in fluorescent lamps, infrared spectroscopes – lenses and flutes.
Fire Scale is prevented when Germanium constantly diffuses to the surface where it combines with oxygen and forms a thin layer of germanium oxide – GeO2 that is impervious to oxygen.
Technical Data Sheet
Melt Temperature is 60° F lower than standard sterling silver.  If it looks light yellow or orange, it’s too hot!
Harder and More Durable – Argentium Silver can be made nearly twice has hard as annealed standard sterling silver by simple heat treatment – even in a domestic oven at 450° F for 2 hours.  Typical hardness of rapidly quenched pieces is 70 DPH.  Flasks cooled to room temperature can approach 110 DPH and heat treated castings can approach 125 DPH! (Approximately twice the hardness of standard Sterling silver!)   To obtain this hardness, place the castings in the over at 580 F for 45 minutes.

Laser Weldable – Unlike ordinary sterling silver, Argentium Sterling Silver can be laser welded, opening up new avenues in application and design.
Casting:  It is very important not to over heat.  Use a separate crucible to avoid contamination from other metals.  PLEASE DON’T MIX SILVERS.  We use a very “happy” pink sticker which says, “ARGENTIUM – DO NOT MIX”.  Do not use silicon carbide.
There is a learning curve to casting Argentium:  a lower temp. to adjust to.

Sterling Silver: Melt Temp  – 1475°F   Flow  – 1650°F

Argentium Silver .925:  Melt Temp – 1410°F   Flow 1610°F
Argentium Silver 97%:  Melt Temp – 1724°F   Flow 1724°F

When investment casting, a pour temperature of 1780-1880°F (971-1027°C) and a flask temperature below 1250 F (677 C) is recommended.  If casting without a protective atmosphere, the use of boric acid flux or graphite powder is effective.  After casting the metal, a minimum of 15 minutes air cooling is required before quenching, says Peter.  However, many of our customers recommend letting it cool until you can pick it up and then quenching it for best results.
Polishing: To avoid contamination from other alloyw in the workshop, a separate wheel should be used for Argentium sterling only.  If this is not possible, thoroughly rake wheels before using.
Soldering – Argentium Sterling displays a lighter color when heated.  If the metal looks yellow or light orange, it is too hot.  It is important to avoid overheating this metal.  Use Argentium silver solders for best compatibility.
Price – Yes it’s more expensive 15% – 18% higher than standard sterling silver.  But all those who are already using it, tell us it’s well worth the extra money.  The cost savings is in the finishing.
Fabrication:  Easier to work with.
Enameling: NOT KNOWN
Antiquing: Use hydrochloric or muratic acid.
Remelting scrap may result in brittle castings.  There is no need to keep your silver scrap separate for refining.
AS Logo – if you are interested in the AS stamp, visit the Argentium web site to read about licensing.
Cost:  Averages approximately 15% to 18% more than Standard Silver.
But will reduce your costs due to:
No cyanide needed for stripping
Cost of managing the toxic waste of the cyanide processes
Healthier working environment.
Less deep polishing
No need for plating or lacquering to prevent tarnish
Less labor costs associated with reduced finishing and
polishing times.
Thus increased profitability for silver products.
The ability to harden Argentium Sterling makes certain designs possible that may have been with regular silver.

Two types of Argentium, 925 and 970

With the help of the enamlforum group where some have tested enameling on the argentium and are willing to share their  finding.

“I have done enameling on Argentium 970 with good success. The  standard Argentium 930 has too low of a melting point and problems with slumping. There are some photos of my test enamels on cast  Argentium 970 in this forum. I’ve also fabricated enamel cups from 970 sheet and it works well, however, it’s only available in casting  shot so I roll my own sheet. Rio carried sheet for a short while, but doesn’t any more. I sand off the germanium oxide just before enameling and fire it like fine silver. By the way, Argentium has it’s own quirks. I’d suggest Googleing it and reading up on how to use it, it’s different than standard sterling.” Jim at the   enamelforum@yahoogroups.com

Enameling on Palladium

Enamelling Palladium: Exploration

Rachel Gogerly recently had the opportunity to extend her knowledge and skills enamelling Palladium, a ‘new’ metal to the jewellery industry, which as yet has little technical information recorded on how well or not it enamels.
This opportunity came about with the introduction of Palladium hallmarking in the UK this year and to commemorate this, the Wardens of Birmingham Assay Office commissioned a new Badge of Office for their Assay Master Michael Allchin. Designed and made by Silversmith and Palladium expert, Martyn Pugh, it was the first Palladium piece to be marked in Birmingham.
The design included various symbols, including the depiction of the atomic structure of Palladium and at its centre, the Anchor, which has been the town mark of the Birmingham Assay Office since it was founded in 1773. Flames on one section of the badge (representing cupellation, the traditional method of fire assaying) required enamelling and it was this section that Rachel was invited to create vibrant transparent colours of red, orange and yellow.

Starting with no experience of working with enamel on Palladium and not knowing if it could be enamelled or to what quality, a number of samples and some experimentation were required to establish how best to proceed. There were four main questions Rachel wanted answered, ‘Can Palladium be enamelled? And if so, what preparation is required? Can consistent good quality results be achieved? Finally, how does Palladium influence the appearance of transparent enamel?’
In conclusion, Palladium enamels very well and like copper, can be hard fired. Unlike Silver and Gold, it does not melt if left in the kiln for a few seconds longer!! However, it does influence transparent colours greatly, making them more muted –flux looks grey on Palladium (see image 1), so it is likely that foils will need to be used with certain colours especially reds and yellows.

Subsequent samples allowed exploration of preparation methods, the best one being cleaning the surface thoroughly with a glass brush to remove any oxide dirt and grease. Standard pickles and nitric acid do not clean the Palladium metal surface in any way. Brightening the surface with engraving before enamelling the Palladium also helped to give more ‘life’ to any transparent colours used.

Because the colour of Palladium was influencing the colours significantly, it was necessary to use Gold foil under the enamel to get the vibrancy of the reds and yellows required to represent flames for this particular piece. The advantage of being able to fire the Palladium at a high temperature, between 950’ – 1000’c, meant it was easier to get the foil very smooth before applying the subsequent layers of colour.

Both the initial coat of clear enamel (flux) and the foil were hard fired and good clarity of colour was achieved by further hard firings when applying the all the remaining transparent enamels.

info from, www.guildofenamellers.org

And check out Rachel’s amazing work at her site www.craftmaker.co.uk/rachelgogerly

Those Wires Can Be Hard to Stand Up!

Question – what do you use as a glue (besides Klyr Fire) for Cloisonne Wire?  I heard of something called “no spit” or vac u coat??  Appreciate your comment.  Debra Long

Hi Debra,

If you are needing a solution stronger than Klyr Fire try tragacanth. It is available on line and the best results I have had, is if I add water to the powder and let it sit over night to get a good creamy consistency. It does not take that much. And after firing, it turns to ash so brush it off before applying another coat of enameling.

If this is not enough to hold the cloison wires for your application I move to fusing the wires to the fine silver.

Thanks for the visit!
Patsy

Some enamelists use lily root powder for vertical surfaces. It can be purchased from Coral Shaffer at Enamelwork Supply in Seattle.
Barb P.

If you’re using fine silver cloisonne wire on fine silver backing you can also use Art Clay Silver’s Oil Paste or homemade lavender oil paste and fire in a kiln first. These are metal clay products that are designed to join fired metal clay to fired metal clay or any fine silver to any other fine silver metal.

Lora Hart

Enameling on Copper

Question
I am new to enameling. I have read up gotten a couple of dvd’s and looking to do some work mostly on copper as my free time allows. I have been buying all my supplies for when that time comes. I am confused though on all the different clear enamels and when to use what. There soft fusing, hard fusing, golden clear and so on. I do a bit of etching and was going to do some wet packing and thought about using the clear on the copper to help avoid the copper aging, some like it some others like it bright. I thought the enamel would be a much better finish then the lacquers you can dip your copper in. Any explanation on the different clears and their uses would be cool.

Thanks Tom

Tom,

Here is a simple guide from Thompson’s Enamel, Medium Temperature – Medium Expansion  this is their # 2030 Enamels for copper.

So medium is what you would order. I suggest you get a catalog from Thompson’s Enamel 859-291-3800. Check out this page, http://www.thompsonenamel.com/products/colorchart/mtmeo.htm These are lead free enamels. And you can use any of these colors over the 2030 which is called flux.

Or try Enamel Work Supply Co. Coral-206-525-9271 http://www.enamelworksupply.com/ you can see on the left side of her page is the color charts for what you need but these are leaded Ninomiya Enamels. There are other companies but lets keep it simple. You would need #1 flux on your copper then you can add any of these colors over your flux.

Everyone has their opinion on the leaded verses the unleaded. I started with the leaded and stayed there. I recommend you start with one and get to know the colors by making color plates. These are small 1/2″ square plates of copper you can use for each color or a larger plate with several colors of the same family. You will need to clean the copper with comet and it will be nice and shiny. There are other products but like I said keep it simple. These enamels need to be washed before using, this mean to place some in a small container add some distilled water and pour out the cloudy water, once is enough when working with copper as you want the small grains. Copper oxides quickly, the small grain melt quicker and cut down on the oxidation.
If you put enamel on both sides at the same time it is best. Do this by first adding a few drops of Klyre Fire to the enamel you will use on the back only, apply this enamel to the copper back and let it dry enough to turn over and apply the front flux and fire. I use a brush to apply the enamel, some use a tiny spatula. Fire at 1450 till fused. This will give you a beautiful golden canvas to work with. Now you apply small dots of the colors you want to use in your compositions and fire. So you have built a color plate on copper.

I would not worry about preserving the copper for future use. As the comet will clean it right up and be ready to use, when you have time to play!

So the only clear you want is flux for copper.

Thompson’s Flux for copper 2030

Ninomiya’s Flux for copper L11

Bovano’s Flux for copper #1

Then play with the transparent colors. If you call Coral and tell her you want several blues for copper and several greens etc. she will set you up. Of course tell her you are working with copper! And don’t forget the flux.

Happy Enameling! And thanks for the visit. Patsy

Shading in Enamels

Hi Patsy
Just enjoyed viewing all of your designs! Do you have any suggestions on shading within the cells of your cloisonne or know of any publications I could read to help me out?

thank you,
Wendy Edwards

Hi Wendy,

Thanks for visiting and I am happy to try to help. I can not recommend one book for this but I can say for me it took time. I was a Fine Arts Major in school and only used pin and ink. My love was drawing. When I first saw cloisonne I was hooked forever and begin a quest to learn colors.
I photographed everything that was of interest to me. When diving, hiking, walking, always carrying a camera. With these photo I made albums to use as resources. I would take a month or so at a time and draw and paint till I got the impact I needed in my art. It takes time to look and see the colors.There is more than one or two whites in a white flower petal.

The Huma Huma on the front of the site has 29 colors from blue to green. My color plate of pinks has at least 20 colors on it. Now I know this is way too much for many artist but if I lay these colors next to each other I can create a beautiful image.

A book of watercolors I used is “Light Up Your Watercolors” by Linda Stevens Moyer. She has a couple of exercises you can try, and she uses her warm colors to bring the information forward. Also try “Colored Pencil Fast Techniques” by Bet Borgenson. She teaches Juxtaposing Color which is great for color impact. You can use her exercises in watercolors as well.

And come join us in Mendocino Art Center this July as we will be focusing on color, color impact, and how to get it!I

Happy Enameling! Patsy

Thick Metal Thin Enamel

A tip credited to Valeri Timofeev .

“thick metal = thin enamel, thin metal = thick enamel” This means if you are enameling say cloisonne, you can get pretty thick enamels on the metal plate of your choice, as long as you counter the same thickness. I have enameled to a mm in thickness on 20 ga metal= thin metal. But if you have 16 ga  metal and want to enamel on it, you can do so with one layer of enamel and no counter.

Here is cloisonne enameling and the                        

enamels are approximately 1mm in depth.

And here on the left is thick metals of  16 ga with                                    one coat of flux and one color of red enamel.

Plique a Jour Project

We had a workshop in Wildacers NC through the FSG, Fall 2009.

This is the project I demo in the workshop. We used foils to back our enamels.

This is a beautiful piece!!!! I’m a newbie to enameling but excited about learning.
Thank you for sharing your art and your expertise.
I look forward to being back often.
Angela in Austin, Tx

Angela,

Welcome to enameling. And thank you. It is a beautiful art and very additive! Please don’t hesitate to ask questions. Patsy

Setting Your Enamels

That Rubber Stuff

Hi Patsy,

Hope your new year is turning out well and I hope you are having fun in the studio.

I was wondering if you could tell me what that stuff was you use as a cushion when you set your enamel pieces.  You used it under the enameled element so the enamel would not break if the setting was hit with a hard object.  It was some sort of plastic cushion.  I hope I’m making sense.  I would really appreciate this tip.

thanks a lot Patsy!  Hope to see you again some time

-Tara Turner

Hey Tara,                                                        

Hope you also are busy enameling!

I do not mind at all,

The rubber backing is called Tuff Break and Fred Woell sells it. The last I ordered his number was 207-348-5267.  I like it for several reasons. Not only does the rubber add to protect the counter enamel while setting, it also gives the enamel piece a cushion during setting which help me not crack the piece during this process,  and it take care of that tinny sound of the enamel against the metal once the piece is complete.

Many enamelist use glues or a piece of plastic behind the enameled piece and I feel this is a more professional element of the whole jewel.

I will be back to Mendocino in July, Come join the class!

Patsy Croft

Cracking Enamels While Setting

Dear Patsy,

I found your site while doing a search on orchid.
I am in some sort of trouble with mounting an enamel piece (a pendant) to a setting. I do not know what to do.
So, this is the problem: I made my enamel piece, then I made a bezel to go around it; I soldered the bezel to a sheet and pierced out the back, but leaving a rim as I wanted to set the enamel from behind. I then saw out prongs in the bezel – most of the bezel will disappear – and then I set the piece in the setting and push the prongs down at the back of the enamelled piece. That’s where it goes wrong. I ruinded two pieces today.
Could you please help? I think that mounting enamels is really difficult.

Kind regards and thank you for reading,

Alicia

Hi Alicia,

I would be happy to help. And it should not be hard. But a photo would help me understand better how you are going about this. Can you upload as many photos as it takes for me to see. And if you would include a phone number I will call at your convenience and walk you through this.

Are you using fine silver for the bezel? Did you sand and polish the girdle = the outside edge of the enamel piece? How are you pushing over the bezel? I find it is best to have a bit of height to the enamel at the edge = a girdle just like setting a stone. If the enamel slopes down to meet the fine silver to a point and the fine silver is soft it is very easy to crack.

Happy Enameling, Patsy

Another thread suggests setting an enameled piece in a bezel for a more professional appearance. I am new to enameling, but am an experienced stone setting, so bezel setting is fine with me. However, two issues present a challenge. First, I am not used to setting a flat or near flat object. Second, I’ve cracked the enamel on several occasions when I’ve bezel set a disk. Any suggestions that you have to help me with these issues would be appreciated.

Jamie

If you makes a bezel-setting, make the “frame”  unconditionally from fine-silver and not thicker than 0,2 – 0,3 mm (0,01 –0,015 inch). The fine silver frame should only maximum 1 mm (0,04 inch) higher than the rim of the metal/enamel surface. File with a carborundum- or diamond file  the edging of the enameled workpiece in an angle of about 60-70 degree. Press the frame in several steps over the enamel.

I use 90 degree angle, but I think either can work.

All that has been said should help you and add this,  be sure you create a girdle on the edge of the enamel piece. On the girdle you want to see some counter enamel, the base metal and some surface enamel. Hope this makes since.

See  if you can see what I mean about a girdle. If the enamel comes down to a very thin layer at the edge of the fine silver or copper, which ever you are using, with the metal being so annealed it is very easy to crack. Here I have to sand down the top just a bit before setting. But my girdle is very thick. Also, the rubber stuff would help you. When you are setting it allows the enameled piece to go down when you are burnishing the bezel over it. Then as you release it raise back up. You can read about where to purchased it below.

Good luck!

That Rubber Stuff

The rubber backing is called Tuff Break and Fred Woell sells it. The last I ordered his number was 207-348-5267.  I like it for several reasons. Not only does the rubber add to protect the counter enamel while setting, it also gives the enamel piece a cushion during setting which help me not crack the piece during this process,  and it take care of that tinny sound of the enamel against the metal once the piece is complete.

Many enamelist use glues or a piece of plastic behind the enameled piece and I feel this is a more professional element of the whole jewel.

Those Tiny Bubbles

Hi Patsy

I just took a look at your website and I think its an incredible idea for you! On the jewelry front, I have managed to make a very pretty (for my inexperience) and large pendant with a turtle, fish and starfish. For the past 2 weeks I have been creating a VERY large pelican pendant. I thought it came out o.k. but, every time I fire it now I see tiny air bubbles. I did use silver foil on copper and I must have had some air trapped in it. I’ll take some photos and send them in so you can give examples of what NOT to do.

Take care!!!                  

Wendy

Thanks Wendy,

Your work looks great! Larger is better, gives you room to gradate colors. Your enamels are nice and shinny, as well as the clarity of the transparents.

You mentioned the bubbles, after 20 years I just read that the tiny bubbles are from underfiring. It is nice when you are not sure, as there are so many, many things that go on in the Cloisonne, art of enameling, that some one before has it documented.

Millenet states in his book, “Enamelling on Metal” from 1927

“ A few words of advice may not be out of place here. We have already said, and we repeat with emphasis, that it is essential that the furnace should be at its maximum heat at the moment of firing: and every enameller should take this axiom to heart: a short firing in a brisk heat.”

With winter here and we lose a lot of heat opening and closing the door, checking or replacing. Just one opening my heat will drop several hundred degrees. These tiny bubbles can be in one layer, just the one that was underfired. I am not saying fire at your kilns max. Our kilns are very different then 85 years ago. You have to experiment and find what temperature works best for you. The fun of enameling! Remember the one that was too hot and the base color bubbled up around the design.
I have one of those in my trunk!

Thanks for sharing, Patsy

Designing

Wendy,

I wanted to mention when you are designing look at these images. Think about the turtle and the pelican. If you squint your eyes and look at either in the photos you took it is easier to see the turtle as it is dark in the middle of the piece = the turtle and the water right around it is light. The pelican is harder to see as it is very close in color value. The pelican and the background.

Also something that helps make a design show up is to use complementary colors to help off set the desired image. As in this color sample.

Happy Enameling!

Patsy