Flare enamel: painting workshop with fire
Do you like the appearance of enamel in jewelry, but you are not recommended to create them because of the tedious and time-consuming process? You may be disconnected from investing in a furnace and its associated tripods and other supports. Or, depending on the fact that you are frightened by the fussiness of copper cleaning, washing and sifting enamels. What if I told you that enameling with a torch could solve all these problems? What if you invest around $ 100, you can get all the necessary equipment for a beginner enameled studio, including a torch, several colors of enamel, beads and pieces of copper? That you did not need to wash or sift enamels or clean the metal? Even better, what, as a newcomer, could you enamel sixty beads by day?
Well, that's what I'm telling you! No kidding!
Even beyond the initial excitement of its availability and spontaneous approach, enamel with a torch has great creative potential. You can manipulate the pieces in an open flame to create streams of enamel or burnt edges. You can coax pink and gold flashes to the surface of the piece by manipulating the balance of oxygen and fuel. Do you want a smoke haze there, right next to the hole that you hit? Act! Enamel with a torch gives you creative control. From the moment you put a bead or pendant on your frame, you make design decisions. You are actually involved in your work. Your pieces never leave the eye in the oven. Your approach is fluid, and your design decisions can be either spontaneous or planned.
What happens if you don’t like the end result? Just recharge it! Yes, you can do it too! There is very little time in life when you get the opportunity, but you just found one of them!
Did I mention this is fun too? It is fun that encourages the game in the studio - a game of intelligence! It was during the game session in the studio that I developed a heat rivet for thin enamel. No need to knock on the glass. Maybe you are interested in making solderless bezels or creating unique engraved copper tube beads.
My first goal is to help you with an open torch flame. We consider the types of enamels, their colors and ways of modulating color. We will discuss suitable metals that work with enamel.
The Japanese have the expression "shibuy", which means "happy coincidence." For me, shibuy is when something is completely imperfect. It is the victory of the person over perfection. This is when the pressure is turned off, and we allow ourselves to play without qualification or judgment. This is when things click, when they feel good, and when we have the closest connection with our work. Can you play the days when the game was your job, the work of the innocent? This is my invitation to you.
So what is enamel? Definition of enamel - glass on metal. Enamel, powdered glass, merges with the metal with a high temperature. The process involves applying iron or copper balls to the mandrel, which is a thin metal rod made of stainless steel. You can purchase them from your welding shop or online. In the welding shop they are called “tiger-welding wire”. Get a mandrel of the appropriate size for the hole of your ball. The mandrel should be approximately 9 inches.
We use Thompson Enamel, a medium temperature / average expansion that is compiled for use on metal. This is 80 mesh, which reflects the size of the particles. Eighty mesh enamel looks like granulated sugar. We will start with a beautiful opaque color ... there are many to choose from. Place the enamel in a small ceramic bowl, Pyrex choux cup or tin. This is the perfect way to recycle tuna fish, canned food for dogs and cats!
Did we mention that it was a “torch” released by enamel? Therefore, we need an inexpensive torch with a lush flame, which we can attach to a canister of 1 pound gas. I use the Fire Works torch, which has a convenient auto-ignition function and an adjustable disk for oxygen supply. You can get a torch for less than $ 30.
Another important part of the equipment is a bead pulling station, which is a U-shaped piece made of heavy aluminum aluminum with a V cut along the front edge. This simple equipment allows us to remove the bead from the mandrel by placing its frame in a V-shaped notch with a bead on the inner wall of the bead pulling. When we pull our hand to our body, the ball slides over the rim and falls into a bread pan containing a vermiculite, non-flammable cushion for our hot balls.
We need a flammable work surface, such as a piece of cement slab, ceramic tile or baking tray. Some clamps attach the torch to the work surface, a jar of water for cooling the mandrel between the beads and about it.
Adjust the working area by attaching the burner head to the gas card. Slide the hose clamp onto the cartographic gas canister, fasten the angle bracket between the cylinder and the hose clamp and tighten the hose clamp by turning the screw. The leg of the corner bracket must face in the same direction as the torch nozzle. Place the corner bracket extension on the tabletop. Secure the torch to the work surface with a C-clamp or other clamp. Secure the bead extension station, the patented piece of equipment, to the rear edge of the work surface. Vermiculite bread should be inside the bead pulling station. If you are right, the torch should be clamped on the left side of the working surface, and the station for pulling the bead should be clamped on the right outer edge of the working surface. If you are left handed, cancel the setting.
Let's start! Light the torch. Look at the flame. You will see the inner blue cone of flame. The tip of this flame is the place where you want to shoot from your ball. So, now, put the bead on the rim. Fire the board at the tip of the blue cone of flame. When it glows orange, dip the bead in enamel, making sure it covers the entire bead. Actually pull the board through the enamel. Click on the rim on the edge of the tin to remove excess enamel and re-disassemble the ball. Repeat the dive / dredging process two more times. Now you need to remove the board from the mandrel. Bring the frame to the station of the board with the board on the inner wall of the station, pull the hand to your body until the ball falls into vermiculite.
Congratulations! You just cleaned your first beads in 40 seconds!
