The Results

           

Hi Everyone

As promised, I’m sharing the results of the Enamelling experiments from yesterday and last week, check out the story  here and  here. Generally, I had some positive and some negative outcomes from yesterday. The actual enamelling process for my rings worked in theory but the result isn’t quite what I had in mind. I managed to get the navy colour onto the copper rings but it’s uneven and looks a bit grainy. This is almost certainly, my lack of skill/experience, so I’ve not given up, just yet. I have learned lots about the process and understand how to manage the application of the enamelling powder, a little. I used KLYR - Gum solution as an adhesive for the powder and now realise it needs to be dry before firing takes place. I also found very fine layers of powder worked much better. I know, I need to manage the build up of layers better. For my sample, three layers seemed to get a reasonable colour but I still found the finished enamel layer very patchy and unattractive. So, it’s back to more experiments.

 Initially, I didn’t manage the heat well, at the beginning of my session. I used a small hand torch for firing. By the end of the session, I found I could target my heat without damaging the surface. However, there is so much more to learn. I’m not sure what I was thinking ? I should not have started with rings, this must be one of the most difficult items to enamel - a larger, flat disc would have been much better.

I also began my session by making the rings. I thought, I’d prepared the rings but not the case (or I’ve lost them). Making the rings set me back, in terms of time. Once underway, I experienced some issues with the heat, mentioned above, as well as not realising, I needed to allow the KLYR to dry, this would have helped the coverage, I think ? The main issue seems to be getting an even coverage on the very thin, rounded surface. 

                    

In addition to the copper rings, I also enamelled a couple of stainless steel blanks. This technique proved much more straight forward. The photo on the bottom left shows the before and after firing colour. The actual colour is quite a dark blue - perfect. One major thing I’ve learned about enamelling is understanding how to ‘read’ the colour of the enamel, judging what’s going on based on subtle colour changes. My plan for these enamelled pieces is to add some silver components and earring hooks. 

Clearly, I need to experiment more and will tackle the rings again, perhaps in a few days time.

Today, I’m working on La Patisserie- a project started last week. Read about it here. The update on the project is a bit thin. I’ve worked on developing a Pinterest Board with lots of ideas and will produce some samples today based on the inspiration from my Board. Hopefully, all will go well and I will have something to share for next Wednesday.

Thanks for calling in today.