Trinket Kiln

The Trinket Kiln works very well for enameling and cloisonne small projects. You can purchase a thermostat that reads 800, 1300 and 1500 degrees F.

I have enjoy mind when it is just too hot in the summers and I am working on a small project. It can be handy  to do test plates when I am in the development of a enamel or cloisonne jewel.

Here I have a piece of mica to use as a plate to sit my jewel on. And the flat nose pliers make it easy to place the jewel in the kiln and take the hot enamel jewel out. If you use a new sheet of mica you need heat it alone in the kiln a couple of times to break it in. If not it pops and your unfired enamels will not be in the place you originally placed them.

Here is another trivet you can use and still have enough clearance to close the top and not touch the enamel jewel. With my flat nose pliers I can retrieve the trivet without touching the enamel jewel.Here is the size of the little trivet.

Patsy Croft

Enameling on 18k Gold and Repairing Enamel Jewels

Project of the Week

I would like to share my project this week of repairing a beautiful 18k Gold Locket.

When asked by the client if it could be repaired I took a couple of steps to insure them and myself it was possible. They sent me several photos of the locket and had a jeweler in their town verify the karat to be 18k. Enamels are glass really, and we melt it basically. When we crack an enamel jewel in setting, which most of us have had several, we learn we can re-fire it and save, our could be loss.

Yesterday, I carefully looked at the piece and the chips of enamel and started testing. First I wanted to know I could match the color of enamel. 

And I was excited that Bovano’s 27 matched perfectly! Next is to know to the melting point of a chip next to Bovano’s 27 in hopes they would flow at the same temperature and timing. On a test plate, I used a small chip from the locket and a small amount of Bovano’s #27 and fired at 1425 for 1:15 minutes and they both fused.

Here I placed the locket front only on a trivet face down, and slowly heated it with a acetylene torch just enough to add Fire Scoff flux. When I enamel the jewel I would like to avoid oxidation. Looks good.

Next fuse the chips back on and add the new enamel.

After fusing the new enamel on the jewel I noticed the circular cracks were still present. They were there when I first inspected the jewel. I thought at that time it was from the accident the client had and was part of the repair. But being they were still visible after the firing, I realized the enamel is mounted up on the red areas, to show relief. I have tried this in my work and there is a point you can have high spots but if it gets too high it will crack off. Also there is no counter enamel. So I sanded it down with a diamond bur the an arkansas stone.

Ready for the last firing and do not forget to glass brush well so you have no dust of the glass or arkansas stone and the locket is free of cracks and ready to go home to it’s owner.

Patsy Croft

Enameling on Gold

The Hibiscus are chased on 18k gold. Flux is applied which is Bovano #3 the the red enamel in two layers.

Fluxes And Firing Tempertures

Fluxes for transparent and medium firing enameling. And firing time varies on the size of your jewel. I work small and like to start around a min and go up in seconds. Just a quick peak in the kiln at eye level you can see if the enamel has fused.

Copper

Fire at 1450 and up to 1500 degrees

Thompson’s 2030

Ninomiya’s   L11

Bovano’s  #1

Fine Silver

I make enamel and cloisonne jewelry. And Fine Silver is my choice of metals. The weight of the jewel as well as the strength is a factor and in choosing the gauge of the fine silver. For pendants I prefer 20 gauge and for earrings 22 gauge.

Fire at 1425 – 1450 degrees

Thompson’s 2020 medium firing or 2040 for a hard firing. In my work I like a hard firing flux on my bases.

Ninomiya’s  N1

N3 = pre – washed

G 110    hard flux

Bovano’s       #3 this is a hard flux with a blue base

Sterling Silver

Thompson’s 2040

Bovano’s #3   both of these are hard enamels and I think it is helpful in keeping the surface contamination down of the sterling silver away from the layers of enamels.

Gold

Fire at 1425 – 1450 degrees

Bovano #2

Brass and Stainless Steel

Fire at 1250 Degrees – 4-8 min.

Low to Medium expansion Enamels

Finishing Fluxes

Ninomiya’s N4

Bovano’s  518 and 619

Enameling on Sterling Silver

Tom enameling his Sterling Silver Egg.

He has made this to support a gorgeous Chased Gold and Blue Lapis with Diamond Bracelet.

I asked Tom how he planned to enamel this sterling silver egg. He plans to paint Klyre Fire on and sift the enamels. I asked are you planning to counter enamel it? And he said he did not want to.  But he knew he wanted opaque enamels.

Here you can see the egg open, and a bit more of the bracelet. Tom has some leaded enamels with several shades of blue. He is going for a look, close to that of the lapis. I  mentioned he would need to deplete the surface. This means to raise the fine silver by heating to a red glow and quenching it in acid or pickle bath. He is removing the copper from the surface so the enamel will adhere to it. I have read it can take 4 times. I use 18k gold in my work and when I want to remove the copper in the surface layer before I begin enameling, I have had best results heating and quenching 7 – 10 times.

Tom has enameled and started sanding to get his final finish on the enamel, using sanding pads and in his last application he plans to use cerium oxide. In this case it is not necessary to counter enamel  this piece because it is domed and he is only apply a thin coat of enamel. Remember thick metal =  thin enamel. He did not have to use flux because his choice of blue will not burn against the silver. But he is unhappy with the uneven surface of the enamels, and believes he had some soft and some hard firing in the group.

After several attempts to sand and re – fire the enamels still are not smooth. An option at this point could be to apply a top coat such as Ninomiya N4. that is a soft firing enamel.

With his multiple firing bubbles started forming. The depleted surface on the sterling silver was not sufficient, for this many firings. He was heating at 1450 for up to 5 minutes. One thing I have found to avoid some of the bubbles would be to raise the temperature thus shortening  the firing time. The enamels on the surface will melt faster and give the underneath metal less time to heat.  At this point he has to clean or break any bubbles that might hit the surface on this last firing of a soft enamel. A soft enamel means it will flow at a faster rate than a medium enamel thus not firing long enough for the bubbles to resurface.

And a beautiful Enamel Jewel!

Enameling with Argentium 970

Argentium 970 is currently sold in grain and only from this one dealer, G&S Metals. I just spoke with them and asked why they do not offer it in sheet and other forms. The answer was they have not had the request for offering it. I explained the interest of enamelist. And was told they have a blog on the home page top left. They would be happy to listen.So enamelist here is an opportunity.   www.gsgold.com/ blog away!

I will purchase the grain and start some testing for plique a jour. I do not see a need for cloisonne as fine silver is great. But it would also be a good metal for vessels.

Happy Enamels

Enamel on Brass

You can enamel on brass.  Art Enameling on Metals by H.H. Cunynghame refers to enameling on brass. And Thompson’s Enamel sells it. Gilder’s Metal  is how it is listed and it is copper with a bit of zinc, 95% – 5 %.  It works with transparent enamels, sold for gold, silver, and copper, = medium expansion enamels, according to the their experts and you have no need for flux as it does not oxidize like copper.

Don’t fire it too often. After three or more firings, the enamel can jump off. Enamelled badges and emblems are very often made of gilding metal.

Working with Foils

I’d like to pass on some info about working with foil that I’ve been experimenting with. I use a lot of foil with my work with limoges.
I place foil between two pieces of ribbon or fabric and then lightly burnish. The gold foil is ready to apply but the silver gets a little curly and difficult to keep down. I take the silver foil and anneal it on a glass top stove by turning the burner on high and place the foil with tweezers on the hot burner and turn with the tweezers when the foil starts showing color from the heat. don’t want to let it set for to long… you must keep turning until the foil relaxes. The reflective quality with enamels is stunning. make sure that a clear enamel is applied over foil before color. When firing the foil I tap it lightly with a small pallet knife if any of it starts to lift. Just like with cloison wires.
Chris Hierholzer

Enameling on Steel

“When Joseph Trippetti returned from the Army in 1946, he studied for three years at Philadelphia College of Art and the fourth year at Sheffield College of Arts and Crafts in England, where he majored in silversmithing. He has been enameling since the 1950s. For some years he taught enameling and painting before concentrating on commissions and gallery exhibitions. The medieval tapestries still influence his designs. His cloisonnés were on domed copper plaques before he turned to large steel tiles.”

Musician: 16″ x 16″, silver cloisonné wires. steel, enamel.

“Design is my main interest. My method of enameling has remained about the same these many years. Originally, my work was mainly of cloisonné on domed copper plaques. I trained as a metalsmith. For the past 15 years I have been working on white pre-coated, flanged, steel plaques, ranging in size from 6″ x 6″ to 16″ x 20″. Using the pre-coated, steel tiles I do not have to be concerned with cleaning the metal and applying base coats. I use primarily 80 mesh opaque, leaded, unwashed enamels, though I also have some 150 mesh enamels and some unleaded enamels that I use when I need those colors. To use them all in one piece, the unleaded enamel needs to be under the leaded enamel and not on top. The enamels, wet with water, are wet packed with a brush almost to the top of the wires, and then the piece is tapped to level out the enamel and fired. Before each firing, any opaque enamel on the wires is removed with a fine pointed brush. It usually takes about 8 to 10 applications of the enamel, tapping and firing for the fired enamel to reach almost the top of the wires.

The final firing, with just a thin sifting of either soft or medium flux over the whole piece, is a healthy firing with the kiln at 1500°F before inserting the plaque into the kiln. I do not wet the piece for the sifted coat.  For me, the most important stage in the making of each enamel is the pen drawing of my design.”

You can read more on his techniques in the book Enameling with Profressionals, by Lilyan Bachrach, and it is posted on Gonaskin’s Webite at www.ganoksin.com

Excellent Work!

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

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

Enameling on Copper

When applying your base coat on copper use very fine ground enamels, this will ensure quick coverage to eliminate oxidation. =little brown spots on the metal.