JMD How to Enamel Jewelry

PRESENTS How to Enamel Jewelry: Expert Enameling Tips, Tools, and Techniques Jewelry Making Daily presents How to Enamel Jewelry: Expert Enameling Tips, Tools, and Techniques 7 3 21 ENAMELING TIPS BY HELEN I. DRIGGS 12 10 TORCH FIRED ENAMEL ENAMELING MEDALLION NECKLACE BY HELEN I. DRIGGS BY HELEN I. DRIGGS ENAMELED FILIGREE BEADS BY PAM EAST I LOVE COLOR! In jewelry making, enamel is one of the most In “Enameled Filigree Beads,” Pam East walks you through a versatile sources of pure, luscious color – powdered glass you simple technique of torch firing enamel onto a premade bead can apply with great precision onto silver, gold, copper, and using a handheld butane torch instead of an enameling kiln. other jewelry metals. With enamels, you can paint with a broad The enamel adds color to the bead, while the silver filigree brush or add minute and elaborate detail to pendants, brace- creates the look of delicate cells like those in cloisonné enamel lets, earrings, and more. You can work in rich, saturated tones work. And in “Torch Fired Enamel Medallion Necklace,” Helen or in the subtlest of pastels. You can create a world of sharp Driggs shows you how to create your own torch fired enamel contrast in black and white or one entirely of shades of gray. “cabochons,” how to tab set those cabs, and how to stamp You can even mimic the colors of the finest gemstones, but you and patinate the surrounding metalwork, which you can put can also produce hues and patterns you’d never find among the together using the chain of your choice. trays of stones at any gem show. Learn about enamels and the tools jewelry enamelists use from Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist’s technique and tool maven Helen Driggs in “Enameling.” In “21 Enameling Tips,” Helen shares the top insights on working with enamels from Marianne Hunt- Merle White er, Amy Roper Lyons, Karen L. Cohen, and Marjorie Simon – four Editorial Director, of the most accomplished enamelist jewelers working today! Interweave Jewelry Group ©F+W Media, Inc. | All rights reserved | F+W Media grants permission for any or all pages in this issue to be copied for personal use. Jewelry Making Daily presents How to Enamel Jewelry: Expert Enameling Tips, Tools, and Techniques Enameling Add a little color to your metal BY HELEN I. DRIGGS OPENING PHOTO BY JIM LAWSON STORY PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR (UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED) I have always loved the gleaming colors of transparent glass. grain of a different color of enamel can ruin hours of work. My mom had a display window where she organized her Contamination is always a hazard, so go slowly and be Icollection of antique cobalt blue glass and lead crystal so the careful as you work—and remember, it is extremely important sun could shine through it. I loved watching the mini rainbows to label everything. Because fired glass looks different from move across the living room ceiling and walls as the sunlight powdered glass, make sure you write the color number on both was split into prismatic colors by cut glass. It’s only natural that the storage jar and its lid. Don’t open more than one jar at a the gleam of glass on metal appeals to me—especially in the time. Stick to one brand if you can, and keep those enamels dry. form of transparent enamels. “When in doubt, throw it out” is a motto used in the kitchen The world of enamels requires a different mindset than that works equally in the enameling studio. metal forming and fabrication. Because of my graphic design Despite these constraints, it’s easy to get started enameling, training, it was a relatively easy transition to start painting color and with a small investment in tools and supplies, you can on metal in the form of powdered glass. The most important create a gleaming “stone” of colorful glass on metal to set into thing to do when enameling is to keep everything clean. And by your next bezel. And, metal clay artists: good news! There are clean, I mean really, really clean. One small particle of dust or a cool new enamel products and tools for you, too! ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST, JULY 2009 ©F+W Media, Inc. | All rights reserved | F+W Media grants permission for any or all pages in this issue to be copied for personal use. Jewelry Making Daily presents How to Enamel Jewelry: Expert Enameling Tips, Tools, and Techniques METALSMITH‘S ENAMELING TOOL KIT I converted a simple, used garage sale table into my “enameling station.” I cover the tabletop with fresh, white butcher paper (you can buy it in rolls at a restaurant supply or bulk food store) every time I work. Here’s a list of the tools I keep in my enamel kit: 1. Particulate dust mask— critically important 2. Apron 13 14 2 7 3. Enamels—I only use 5 unleaded enamels 4. Enamel storage jars 5. Solution for holding enamel to metal—oil 1 or water base 12 6. Distilled water 7. Mesh strainers 8. Dental tools 4 9. Sable brushes for 6 8 enamel only 3 10 10. Sable brush for holding 9 solution only 11. Stilts and mesh stands 12. Firing fork or spatula 13. Furnace floor shelf 14. Furnace/kiln 11 Also: Kiln wash, lint-free paper towels, clean Solderite pad for enamel only I learned this trick from some lampworkers I know. Since I use a small “trinket kiln” to fire my enamel pieces, I set it up on my stainless steel soldering station on a sheet of Hardibacker board from the Home Depot. This light gray solid cement backer board is commonly used behind ceramic tile, but it is extremely fire resistant and relatively inexpensive. It comes in 3' x 5' sheets for about $10 to $15, and you can cover a large soldering area with it. I still anneal in an annealing pan, and solder on a firebrick, but the Hardibacker is an extra measure of heat protection. I’ve never had an overheating problem anywhere in the studio since I started using it. When it gets really gross, I replace it with a fresh sheet. GRADE MESH FIRST Because enamel is crushed glass, most batches need to be “grade sifted” for the best color and reliable behavior. Once you get those little envelopes of color, you’ll need to get your enamel ready to use, so a handy tool to own is a set of mesh trays with specific numbers of holes per inch. I purchased a set of trays that includes a solid one for the bottom, so I can stack the trays from largest mesh to smallest, and pour the powdered glass in the top—it will sift through to the finest mesh in the bottom. Then, I obsessively label each storage jar and lid with the grade, manufacturer, and color number. I use red lids for opaque colors, and white for transparent. ©F+W Media, Inc. | All rights reserved | F+W Media grants permission for any or all pages in this issue to be copied for personal use. Jewelry Making Daily presents How to Enamel Jewelry: Expert Enameling Tips, Tools, and Techniques EASILY WASH AND DRAIN YOUR ENAMELS Believe it or not, plain, white, flat-bottom coffee filters and a funnel are the best way to drain enamels you have washed. This is especially important with transparent enamels, not as critical for opaques. First, put a coffee filter into the funnel and place these into a jar or glass to catch the wash water. Don’t pour the wash water down the drain! Let it evaporate, and wipe the residue out of the jar onto a paper towel. Dispose of that paper towel in the trash. Here’s how to wash your enamel: 1 2 3 4 5 6 PHOTO 1 Pour a small amount of desired PHOTO 3 Let the shot glass sit for a minute PHOTO 5 Repeat this process until the wash enamel into a clear shot glass with straight or two. water runs clear. This usually takes 2 to 3 sides. PHOTO 4 Pour off the wash water (not the washings. PHOTO 2 Add some distilled water and swirl enamel) into the coffee filter. PHOTO 6 Transfer the washed enamel to a the enamel and water around. storage container and label it. ENAMEL TEST FIRE SAMPLES A | sift enamel directly on the It’s almost impossible to determine what color any particular enamel will be based metal. Fire and clean well. on a chip you see in a printed catalog or website. Even when you’ve ordered B | sift enamel over enamel flux. Fire and clean well. enamel, powdered glass and fired glass look very different, and the metal you fire it C | sift enamel over a strip of on will affect the final result. It’s a good idea to create a test strip for every enamel silver foil. Fire and clean well. you buy, so you can determine what the results might be for your kiln, your flux, D | sift enamel over a strip of your enamel, or your metal. Here’s what to do: gold foil. Fire and clean well. Counter enamel the back of Cut a ½ inch by 1½ inch strip of 24-gauge copper. Pickle and rinse well. Punch a the strip. hanging hole in the center of the top edge. Use numeral stamps to punch the If you intend to enamel on silver enamel color number on the strip. With a scribe, rule 4 lines (starting at the bottom instead of copper, follow the same process to make a silver edge) at ¼ inch increments.

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