Enamels!
 

Hello, I need a tutorial on using enamels. I just purchased some thompson enamels tried making a bead and it was yuck! So I need help on how to use enamels! Thanks! Jacque Duxbury

I need help with this too....big time! Not sure where to start. I'm dabbling, but desperately need a tutorial! pllleeeeeeeeease!

Rudy, I know the feeling! Couldn't wait to get my enamels and then made a reall yucky bead. So I was disappointed! So hopefully we will get some help!

So glad you started the thread....I'll be checking every 5 minutes!!!!LOL

I gotta get a life!

Just checked out your bio....you are a correctional officer and I am a probation officer. WOW....coincidences!

I will try to add a little to this... I am by no means a pro at using them.. but I have used them a lot..

First thing.. YOU HAVE TO HAVE REALLY GOOD VENTILATION.. (ie not a fan and an open window.. CLASS A.. if you talk to an HVAC person).. NEXT.. You HAVE to wear a respirator...not a dust mask either.. :-)


I really like using the little sifter that Thompson sells.. it allows you to really place your enamels on evenly and you don't get as many clumps as you do when you roll your bead in them. Start by using the opaques.. and use the transparents as you work more with them.. I find layering them can be a very cool effect too. I don't mix them before hand to come up with a blend.. but I have heard others that really like doing it that way.. Raking them in after they are applied or super heating and allowing your bead to droop to blend them works neat too..

Also, they work wonderfully with silver foil..

After you work with them for awhile you will be able to control the application more, whether you are sifting or rolling..

I just can't emphasize enough to use proper safety precautions.. have fun with them! They really add a lot to our color palette.

Hi,

When working with enamels there are several safety rules to follow:

Use your enamels in a well ventilated work area and wear a protective dust mask if you are working with enamel powders for an extended period of time.

Wash your hands prior to eating and do not smoke or handle food when you are working with enamels.

Always open your enamels under your ventilation system.

When placing enamel beads in the kiln make sure that they do not touch other beads. The enamel will cause them stick to each other.

I use enamels a couple of ways. You can have a small pile of enamel on your marver and roll your molten bead in it. Or you can use an enamel sifter and sift enamel on your bead. You can use enamels with brass stencils to create patterns in your beads as well. You have to be careful not to fry your enamel once you have it on the bead as well.

For this cameo set I used a stensil with a sifter.

Have fun and be safe. I can not stress the point enough that you need an EXCELLENT ventilation system to work with enamels.

Dawn

Thank you for the input! I made a bead but it turned way dark no color at all and it was made on an Ivory Base! Did I heat the bead to much? Dawn your beads are beautiful!

Hello Rudy, Yes, I am a correctional officer at Montana State Prison! Have done that now 8 years! I make jewelry and glass beads that is my escape and stress remover! Been making beads now four years and I am addicated! But here in Montana it is primitive and there are no lessons on glass. I bought couple books and video and taught myself. So there is alot I don't know yet and this subject is one of them. I love the colors of the enamels and they should go well with the type of beads I make.

what color enamel did you try on the ivory?? Ivory is very reactive to other colors. Ever notice the black line if you put pink or turquoise or green or... The list goes on!!!! Try starts with black white and clear. Then try other colors.

I love enamels! Pay attention to the safety information already listed ... it is so easy to get caught up in the moment of building a bead ... next thing ya know - enamel everywhere! I am not an expert at enamel beads by any stretch of the imagination, but a fun session at the torch produced my favorite bead so far... ivory base, rolled in silver and melted in, dipped in enamels and melted in, black stringer accents.





Sals

Thank you Jaci and Sarabella! Jaci I probably over heated my bead I think plus I got carried away and used three different colors I liked. Oh no couldn't just use one color to start with had to jump right in there! LOL! I will make stringers and play around today see what happens. That is a nice bead you made Sarabella! Thanks for sharing!

Dawn, How does the sifter work? When do you stencil the enamel on, bead can't be hot it would melt the stencil! Would you please explain how that works?

One of the way cool things about enamels is that when they are mixed, they act like pigments and not like chemicals. In other words, there are no color reactions: blue plus yellow equals green, not crud. I've tested all of the Thompson Enamels with Ivory and have not gotten any reactions.

Also, because this enamels topic comes up quite a bit, I've added some links to my page on enamels for everybody's ready reference:
http://www.listen-up.org/kitty/beads...r%20chart2.htm

Sure I can,

I use a brass stencil and place it on my marver. Then I use my little red sifter (see picture) and lightly sift the enamel over the stencil. Next carefully lift your stencil off of the marver not to disturb the design. Make your bead and then roll or place your bead on your stencil design. The heat never touches your stencil.

This all needs to be done under your ventilation system.

I all ways clean up my work area after with a damp paper towel.

Dawn

I have begun to use copper leaf using enamels as a flux. Remember safety as stuff really flies around now! I have gotten some really beautiful effects using different colored rods and different colored enamels. I have been really pleased with the effects.:happy:
I spent literally hours reading all about copper leaf and how to use them before I began. So i wasn't disappointed in my very first efforts!
Just another fun way to play with your enamels.

Thank you Dawn! I have plastic stencils! Same thing just be careful! I understand things now!

MaisyJoe, I wondered about copper leaf have not used that before. I have used silver foil, silver leaf, gold leaf, and blue leaf and have had wonderful effects with them. I heard to stay away from copper leaf as it was very hard to work! So I have avoided that problem. Thanks for the advice!

Something alot of people don't realize about the little sifters (red plastic with a twisted wire handle), is the tricky way to use them..Scoop up your enamel then while holding with your fingers, gently run your thumbnail towards you along the wire handle while aiming the enamel where you want it to go, as your thumbnail bu-bu-bumps along it will vibrate out the enamel in a controlled way. Less messy and more accurate than moving the whole sifter around.
Frantz also sells line tools for dispensing fine streams of enamel on your piece.
With enamel it's fun to experiment with gradients of more heavy to sparse coatings for cool fading effects.

I took a class and now I want to play with my enamels more! :)

I know I am going to be dissapointed in the answer but I work in my garage (door up) with just a heavy duty construction fan and I do not have a vent system leading outdoors (ie hoodrange style) Can I still work with the enamels as long as I am wearing a resperator or do I have to install a HVAC system? I am kinda bummed cuz funding won't let me put that system in yet. Well safety first so I will hold off if the answer is copmpletely no. Thanks in advance.
Michelle
www.sundoorbeads.com

I'd like an answer to Michelle's question as well since I'm in Florida too and I have a heavy duty fan bringing air in and one bringing it out. I haven't used my enamels yet but plan too. If I have to wait, so be it. I've been waiting all along lol.

Karen,

Your makeup air should be passive, you do not need a fan for makeup air.

To answer the enamel question I would not use them until I had a proper ventilation system in place. There are a lot of great threads on how to install one on LE :) Here is a link to how I set mine up: http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...ht=feed+Trough

Dawn

I am not advocating it for anyone else but I use enamels with just a Mask.
It is a P1 valved particulate mask that filters out things right down to particles of silica and asbestos and since I can't even see them, I figure if I can see enamel specks, they have to be bigger and this sort of mask will block them. I buy them in boxes of ten and they have a non return valve at the front. They even filter out animal proteins and pollens. I use them for a few sessions and then get a new one. I don't use enamels much at the moment tho' but will be in future.

Cheers
Kym

I wouldn't use enamels without an real ventilation system. The problem with small particles (enamels or powdered glass) is that they don't fall back out of the air very quickly. They can stay airborne for minutes to hours depending on their size and air currents. [we deal with this at work for contaminants and air quality FDA and OSHA requirements]

So even if you were using and tapping/sifting onto a bead, unless your ventilation system is pulling that out, those particles will float around and get on other surfaces in your room/area. You can contaminate your work area if you aren't careful.

I have a vented hood. When I use powdered glass, I open the container on a wetted paper towel, and use that for clean-up when I'm done, before I turn off the ventilation. We only get one set of lungs. Safety-wise, I'm less fearful of burns than of harming my lungs.

I got this tip from an enamelist friend. When you clean the little red sifters use distilled water. She has a small jar and just swishes. The enamel sinks to the bottom of the jar
and you can use the water until there is too much enamel in it. This keeps the teeny weeny bits of debris out of the sifter.

Gloria

Glasswytch, are you sure that such method can help?

I dont have ventilation either
i make sure my work area is very clear - no surplus tools or rods littering the desk
then i wear a really good mask - the best i could get, it has special filter pads etc
then i clean up with a wet paper towel before i ever take the mask off.
also, i'm very careful with how i use the enamels, like one of the posts above i have the metal sifters with the ribbed handle and you run the little bar up and down the ribs instead of shaking it.

i remember years ago when i was at school we did copper enamelling - no mask, no ventilation and the last classes mess was always all over the desks, we swept up with a dustpan and broom if it got too messy!

It's too bad JC Herrell and Margaret Zinzer aren't selling their enamel tutorial anymore. That was chock full of good info.

i have JC Herrell's tutorial and yes, it's got tons of info, maybe she could be pursuaded to put the safety info up here as she's not selling the tutorial anymore

you could always contact JC to see if she'll sell you her tutorial on emamels- check out her website or you can email her directly and you can always ask her questions~ take her class, it's awesome!!!!

ok bump! so the health danger with enamels is the fineness of the enamel? like it gets stired up in the air and into your nostrils easily? or is there more dangerous compounds coming off of the enamels when they are heated, as with copper leaf??

I didn't have time to read this whole post so forgive me if this has been mentioned. Arrow Springs has the JC Harrell sifters and they are so much better then the red ones. This was made with the cones.

I LOVE enamels. Little snow man I made awhile back, and a landscape I made with the JC sifters and cones.

Susan, heating it is not a danger as it is only ground glass. It being inhaled is very bad. If it is airborne, it's not good. I do have a ventilation system but I don't wear a mask. I know some do and I should too.

Heat control is the answer to many enamels issue. If the bead is cool, the enamel won't stick. If it's barely warm enough for some to stick or you wait too long to melt it in, the enamel will ball up on itself, instead of adhering flat to the bead (can be a cool effect, if that's what you're going for). For good adherence to the bead, bring your bead up to a slight glow before adding the enamel and then gently melt it in quickly. If you over heat the enamel, it can get muddy and ugly. You can get some interesting organic effects by putting a few layers on and boiling it on purpose, though.

I love using enamels, they add so much color and texture to the beads.
If you are interested you could of course get my tutorial on enameled murrini ( also known as multi murrini tutorial) ;)

I love using enamels, and I would echo what others have said about J.C. Herrell's sifters. They allow you to use a fine line of enamels so you can "paint" them on in very small amounts. Here is a kitty I did using one of the smallest size sifters.

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps50d9b15a.jpg

Wow, this is really fantastic! You are real artist. My compliments!

It is beautiful Dawn. I did not understand what you mean. Where can I buy those stencils, how do they look like and how do I use them?

Thank you!!!

Stencils come in all different designs and you can find them at hobby stores. You can use plastic ones too. Put your stencil on your work surface and sift your enamel over it. Lift your stencil off carefully not to disturb the pattern. Then heat your bead and lay it down over the pattern.

Thanks, I will give that a try!

Another way JC taught us in class was to make sure you had a wet paper towel down with the enamel jars on top of it, you can use her metal shifters, tap out the color and use the same shifter for the next color. Just make sure you have a lot of wet paper towels around to wipe up any enamels that get on your surface!

Bump with a new question.
I've never seen this addressed b/f but I've often wondered about it.

If enamel is teeny, weeny glass particles that we don't want in our lungs, why is it we don't care if it gets in our eyes? We wear nothing to protect our eyes. I doubt diddy's count as eye protection again floating glass.

Our eyes flush themselves. And the didys do offer some protection.

Lungs cannot work in the same manner, they can't remove the glass partials.

IMO it's apples and oranges. A scratched cornea at worse, to compromised lungs.

I'm not at all advocating for working without a mask. I'm working today with enamels and I'm sure I look like a Breaking Bad episode.
I'm asking a logical question.

If, as one poster suggested, the particles float around in the air for a while, I wonder if we shouldn't consider protecting our eyes.

I'm not sure that a scratched cornea is the worst that could happen or that diddys DO offer protection. I haven't seen any research proving that point.

And thanks, I was actually aware that our eyes function differently than our lungs. :-P

I have a new question. DH has decided to play with enameling metal and bought a starter kit. I had already asked him if he was going to share his enamels. i see on the jars it says 'thompson enamel for metals' Does this mean they will nto work on my 104 glass?

Vicki, that's for enameling copper, for example. Thompson's has a variety pack. I got that to start out. AND clear and white. They do some cool things with copper leaf and foil. :wink:

I haven't used Thompson Enamels yet, one because I don't have proper ventilation and two because I wan't to educate myself first.

So let me see if I understand this and please correct me if I'm wrong and/or add to this.

The concern is Scilicosis, which is a chronic lung disease caused by inhalation of "crystaline silica". Which I am assuming Thompson Enamels contains, but I don't know.

Adittionally ways to prevent the dust particulates (Crystaline Silica) is to use proper ventilation to remove the dust particulates from your work surface and work area. Wipe down with damp cloth to clean work surfaces as not to stir the particulates during the cleaning process and in future working sessions. A Ventilator (not a dusk mask) can be used as an added prevention. From everything I have read the concern is the inhalation of the particulates into the lungs, not the absorption.

See this link for definitions of Scilicosis:
http://www.lung.org/lung-disease/sil...silicosis.html

See this link, particularly page 4 to prevent inhalation of the dust particulates:
http://www.cbs.state.or.us/osha/pdf/pubs/3301.pdf

Can anybody tell me what if any other concerns regarding the use of the Thompson Enamels exists, other than Scilicosis? or can you confirm that this is what the concern is?

Inez,

I think Thompson Enamels is just ground up glass. But you might email them to ask.

Here's my two cents:
I have never seen anything that specifically states "Do not inhale tiny glass particles" but that's probably b/c it seems like a "duh" statement. ;-)

However, I HAVE heard one should not get glass in your eyes. :lol:

Our lungs are under attack, so to speak, daily...every time we breathe. Small particles flying around every day are filtered by our nose and nasal passages.

I believe that we should worry as much about the fumes from our torches and glass as the flying particles of glass. Which is to say, that caution is warranted in every aspect of our work.

"Fairy dust" and enamel probably fall into this category (but I've never measured them to be sure) :razz: that I found in lung disease data from Nat'l Lung Assoc.
"Fine particles, with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (pm2.5) represent the most serious threat.
Particles this small easily penetrate the alveoli, the very smallest air sacs of the lung, and because this region of the lung has a slow clearance system, the deposits persist to perpetrate damage for long periods of time. A study conducted in Belgium in 2002 showed that the tiniest particles,
termed ultrafine particles – those less than 1 micron in size – may pass through to the blood stream and then to the rest of the body.
Exposure to particle pollution increases the risk of premature deaths and can trigger asthma attacks, wheezing, coughing, and lung irritation in people with sensitive airways. Persons with chronic cardiovascular disease and diabetes are also at high risk

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/10208/209/



good info here.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/9304/280/