Welcome to the latest in a series of articles to do with enamelling and making jewellery. I hope you find them useful. I am writing about issues and problems I have experienced (and hopefully overcome), and tips and shortcuts concerning enamelling and making jewellery that I have come across in the course of the past twenty years or so.
An Easy Way to Prepare Liquid Enamel for Use
I use Liquid Enamel from WG Ball. It comes in tubs in a good variety of colours, ready mixed in water. It is of course unleaded as are all liquid enamels. Although it is very convenient being ready mixed, it still always needs a good stir as all the enamel sinks to the bottom very quickly. It needs to be well mixed before every use, even if in the same session. If it is very solid, I start off with a stainless steel stirrer. Then I use a battery operated whisk that they sell in cook shops for whisking milk for milk shakes. It works brilliantly and is much quicker to do a thorough job. After use I just plunge it in a tub of clean water and whisk again to remove all the enamel and leave it clean for the next use. I find this saves me lots of time. I hope you find it useful too.
Thanks for this. I have purchased some of these liquid enamels, but have yet to find a good way to get them ONTO the copper!! Particularly as I mostly produce enamelled copper bowls. I have tried painting it on….not good, goes streaky. Do I have to dip? I cannot afford a spraygun and anyway would suspect that unless I buy something very expensive, this stuff would clog up the gun quickly. Any thoughts very much appreciated.
I watched a Judy Stone youtube video where she sprays Thompsons liquid white onto the outside of a bowl, and is then able, when it is dry, to work on the inside as well, without disturbing the unfired enamel on the outside. I cannot do this with sifted enamels, that is why I bought the liquid.
would love your thoughts.
Liquid enamels are a great way to work on two sides at once. To apply the enamel to your bowl you could either dip it or paint it on. It needs to be quite thin like single cream, well mixed without lumps and most importantly the surface of the copper must be free from grease. I think this is why it is going streaky. You can use a number of methods to clean the bowl. I often use an old tooth brush and PennyBrite that I buy from the Enamel Supply Company in Denmark. Keep rinsing until the water ‘sheets’ over the whole surface. You need to keep your fingers off once you have cleaned it. Alternatively you can use Ajax with a toothbrush or I did a previous post using a gas torch to burn off the grease. I haven’t tried that method on anything very large though. When you apply the enamel, keep tapping and turning it if you want the coat to be even. Be careful how you fire it and don’t put it rim down on a sheet of heat mat as it could cause you problems. I have a mat I have cut a hole in that I use sometimes. Hope this all helps.