Enamelling Basics

Enamelling Basics:

Enamels work best on pure metals- copper, silver (92.5% sterling, 99.9% fine), 18k-24k golds. You can enamel on 14k golds and sterling, but it is more time-consuming. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, making it unsuitable for enamelling.

The layer of glass causes tension on the surface of the metal, and will either cause the metal to bend, or the enamel to crack if the tension is not similar on both sides.

The metal will bend towards the enamel. This can be fixed by counter-enamelling your piece. Counter enamel refers to a coating of enamel (usually a single color) on the back side of the piece that evens out the tension.

Enamels don’t mix like paint- all you will end up with is speckled colors.

You can place colors NEXT to each other in a flat layer. If you want to layer colors on top of each other, you must fire the piece between each layer of color. 

Make sure to keep each jar and container separate and don’t mix the powder between jars! Use extra caution when dealing with the white and clear enamel powder as they look identical!

Always wash your transparents- even for dry sifting. This gives them the clearest and truest color.

Label your test strips. If you want to work in both silver and copper- make certain to test the opalescents and transparents on silver also. They look very different! Also for copper, test over the metal as well as over a coat of white. Also very different looking!

Preparing your metal

• Cut your metal to desired shape.
• Clean metal under running water with soap, comet, and scotchbrite to remove all oils, dirt, and grease.
• The water should sheet off the piece, not bead up. If it is beading, clean more. A cheap toothbrush is great for getting into hard to reach places.
• Dry metal.
• Handle metal in paper towel or by edges so you don’t get skin oils on the metal.
• Always make sure that your work area and your tools are clean.
• Put on face mask! (and gloves if needed)