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  #1  
Old 2011-04-18, 6:59pm
LyndaW LyndaW is offline
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Default enameling on copper

Is there a tutorial out there for just some basic simple enameling?
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  #2  
Old 2011-04-19, 3:13pm
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Don't know of a tutorial, but I can tell you the basics. You might also search online with something like "enameling on copper," and also look at the Thompson enamel website. You have to clean the copper really well with a scrubby pad or something similar, apply a think layer of clear-fire, which helps the enamel adhere, then apply the enamel. It can be sifted on for a large area -- make sure you wear a mask -- or applied with a brush if you have small area. You don't really have to clean the enamels before using them if you're using copper, but if you enamel on fine silver, you need to clean them first. Take a tiny cup and add some distilled water. Swirl it around and let the enamel settle. Remove the water to a vessel but do not dispose of it down the sink. (Later after the water evaporates, you can wipe the bowl with wet papers towels and throw the remains in the trash. There will be little tiny bits of glass in that debris so be careful where you throw it away.) Keep adding distilled water and swirling until the water remains clear. The enamels are now ready to apply. There should be a firing schedule on the Thompson website, but I usually fire at 1400 degrees for about a minute. Of course larger pieces require longer firing and it also depends on how you want the enamels to look at the end. There is an excellent book by Linda Darty called, "The Art of Enameling," which tells you everything you need to know to get started and has lots of inspirational photos.
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Old 2011-04-19, 3:46pm
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I think the Beaducation website has an enamelling tut. Probably some YouTube videos are out there as well.
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  #4  
Old 2011-05-08, 8:58am
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I wrote up one for using Prismacolor pencils on copper, which look like enamel. It's in the free tutorial section.
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Old 2011-05-08, 9:18am
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I've done some very basic enamelling on copper shapes, and the tutorials and books always talk about counter-enamelling to reduce the stress at the copper/enamel interface.

I'd love to hear from someone with more experience...do you always counter-enamel, necessitating a second firing?
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  #6  
Old 2011-05-08, 9:26am
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Deb Hopeful Journeys Deb Hopeful Journeys is offline
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Here are a couple links

http://www.paintingwithfireartwear.com/

http://www.paintingwithfireartwear.blogspot.com/
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  #7  
Old 2011-05-08, 10:00pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gillianbeads View Post
I've done some very basic enamelling on copper shapes, and the tutorials and books always talk about counter-enamelling to reduce the stress at the copper/enamel interface.

I'd love to hear from someone with more experience...do you always counter-enamel, necessitating a second firing?
I was taught to counter enamel, so I do. But not everyone does.
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  #8  
Old 2011-05-08, 10:02pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Deb Hopeful Journeys View Post
At the very end of video (second link), what is she dropping the bead into? I've never seen it worked off the mandrel that way.
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  #9  
Old 2011-05-09, 1:26am
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We back enamel..counter enamel all of our pieces. If you don't the piece will bend and the glass/enamel may break with the stress. If you add things to the front like frit it will crack off. Be sure to use enamels meant for metal the glass enamel does not work on metal.
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  #10  
Old 2011-05-09, 4:31am
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Thank you both Laura and vanityfaire, that was always my understanding as well.

…… Makes sense.
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  #11  
Old 2011-05-09, 6:25am
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Can I ask, do you or can you use your regular torch (used for lampworking) for this? I saw a video but they were using a small canned torch.
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  #12  
Old 2011-05-09, 7:06am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by merigypsy View Post
Can I ask, do you or can you use your regular torch (used for lampworking) for this? I saw a video but they were using a small canned torch.
Yes you can. I think its a cost/$$ issue. But for those of us that already have a lampworking studio, we already have one.
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  #13  
Old 2011-05-09, 9:18am
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I purchased a tutorial from Carolyn (bluhealer). I seem to have lost it, but I did buy one. I don't see it in her etsy store anymore.
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  #14  
Old 2011-05-09, 9:28am
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If you have a kiln, use that, easier than the torch

Yes, you almost always need to counter-enamel. Ideally, you would keep the thickness of the enamel the same on both sides, but small pieces I usually get away with 2 fairly thick layers on the back (one flux, one a dark color usually) no matter what I do to the front. Some of it will depend on the gauge of metal you are using, and the curvature of the piece - a bowl is less of an issue than a flat piece.

If you are applying your enamels dry (by sifting), you really don't need to wash them, unless there's a problem. Enamels you buy from Thompson aren't contaminated - the only reason you wash them if you are going to wet-pack them is to get rid of the fines in the transparents, so they don't cloud up when they fire due to the different grain sizes present. I only wash when I'm doing cloissonne. Although I'm sure purists who are enameling on 14kt gold wash everything
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Old 2011-05-09, 9:29am
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Oh good,Deb, thanks. You mean it is a cost issue for them and that is why they use a can type torch, right?

Ooo-I'll have to look up that TUT, Chrissi-cool!

I saw the beads That Barbara Lewis is making in the link above-painting with fire. They are so nice! They have a "lacey" sort of look to them.
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  #16  
Old 2011-05-14, 8:32pm
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I've been wondering about counter-enamel; I have some copper shapes that I etched on both sides, and I would like to use transparents so the etching will still show. Does it matter if you use transparent enamel for your counter-enamel?

Thanks!
-Patti
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  #17  
Old 2011-05-16, 3:29pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Magicfire View Post
I've been wondering about counter-enamel; I have some copper shapes that I etched on both sides, and I would like to use transparents so the etching will still show. Does it matter if you use transparent enamel for your counter-enamel?

Thanks!
-Patti
No. It can be either type. As a matter of fact, since it gets icky anyway (if you're torch firing), use whatever you have the most of or don't care about as much.
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  #18  
Old 2011-05-16, 4:34pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chrissij View Post
I purchased a tutorial from Carolyn (bluhealer). I seem to have lost it, but I did buy one. I don't see it in her etsy store anymore.
I just re-sent it to you...
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Old 2011-05-16, 5:00pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Laura B View Post
At the very end of video (second link), what is she dropping the bead into? I've never seen it worked off the mandrel that way.
Looks like vermiculite to me. Sometimes enamel bead artists use it to slow down the cooling rate so the enamel doesn't crack. Usually, people use crock pots filled with the stuff. I've never before seen a unheated container of vermiculite used like that.
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Old 2011-05-16, 6:14pm
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Looks like vermiculite to me. Sometimes enamel bead artists use it to slow down the cooling rate so the enamel doesn't crack. Usually, people use crock pots filled with the stuff. I've never before seen a unheated container of vermiculite used like that.
Thanks. I've never seen a hot bead dumped off a mandrel like that.
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  #21  
Old 2011-05-17, 6:40am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bluhealer View Post
I just re-sent it to you...
Thank you! I'll keep track of it this time.
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  #22  
Old 2011-05-17, 10:36am
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I think that she is dropping them into the Japanese Cooling Bubbles also called "annealing" bubbles that you can get from Malcom @ Artco. They don't require a crock pot.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Laura B View Post
At the very end of video (second link), what is she dropping the bead into? I've never seen it worked off the mandrel that way.
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  #23  
Old 2011-05-17, 11:52am
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Thanks, Bea. I've never heard of that product before. Learn something new every day here.
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Old 2011-05-17, 12:07pm
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So you can just push a hot bead off the mandrel like that without it becoming mishaped?
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  #25  
Old 2011-07-14, 12:05pm
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I saw a lady demonstrating enameled beads on a copper core. It was pretty interesting, looked very easy. She cut copper tubing to whatever size she wanted, pushed it onto a tapered metal rod hard enough that it stayed, heated with a propane plumbers torch to red hot and rolled it in clear enamel then heated the enameled piece up until the enamel glowed then rolled it again and repeated until it was the size/shape she wanted. She rolled in various colors for decoration. When she was done she put it into vermiculite to cool. She doesn't anneal and said in 35 years the only beads that have broken have been ones that she used non-compatible glass on, so now she only uses Thompson.
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  #26  
Old 2011-07-20, 6:48pm
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I was taught to do enamel beads many many years ago and still have the beads that I didn't give away from that period lol. I used copper refrigerator tubing, usually cut about 1/2" long or so to put the enamel on (the series for copper and silver) using a plumber's torch and then just pushed the bead off my nichrome wire holder when it was cool enough onto a pie plate. The only cracking I had was with one or two combinations which I now would guess was just incompatibility with those colors together. Making those beads was what gave me the courage to learn lampworking on my own just using the oline forums and a couple of books. I'm forever grateful to the enamelist, Sandra Stewart, who took some time out of her life to show me how to do a few things when I was just a pesky college kid.

Tina
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  #27  
Old 2011-08-02, 11:55pm
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Hi LyndaW,

You didn't mention whether you wanted to do "torch enameling" or "kiln enameling" on metal. This year I've been teaching myself enameling. It is quite fun. I have a kiln and the torch. I personally like kiln enameling because I have more control.

"The Art of Enameling" book by Linda Darty is a must have. I learned so much from it. There are lots of videos on you tube that are helpful as well. Barbara Lewis has a book coming out on "Torch-Fired Enamel" that you can pre-order from Amazon but she has a tutorial out as well.

If you want to PM me I can share lots of resources I've found this year and would be happy to share. I've also written up notes on various techniques.

Audrey
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Old 2011-08-03, 12:03am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Magicfire View Post
I've been wondering about counter-enamel; I have some copper shapes that I etched on both sides, and I would like to use transparents so the etching will still show. Does it matter if you use transparent enamel for your counter-enamel?

Thanks!
-Patti
You can use any enamel on both sides (including transparent enamel). Many people use flux (i.e. clear enamel) as a counter-enamel. If only one side of a piece is featured, I just use my scrap enamel mix. I've also been enameling on both sides to save myself a lot of clean-up.
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