First, clean your work space very well. Dust and dirt have a way of getting into the enamels and ruining your piece. Put down some of the magazine pages. They work well for catching the excess enamel and returning it to it's container. Next clean your copper blank. It's easier to start with a blank that's not too small. Drill a hole in the top if you're planning on making a pendant. Use the Penny Brite and a nylon scrubbie and clean the copper on both sides thoroughly. When you rinse it off, check to see if the water sheets off the copper. If it beads up, clean it again. If there is any oil or dirt on the copper, the enamels won't stick. Hold it by the edges and place on a stilt, or a stack of pennies. Paint some holding agent over the whole piece making sure you get the edges.
Set your timer for 2 1/2 -3 min. You want the enamel to be at the stage where it's melted but not completely smooth. This is called the orange peel stage. This prevents the enamel from getting burned in subsequent firings. It takes time to figure out your own kiln and different colors sometimes need longer to get to the orange peel stage. If yours is fired smooth, don't worry. Let the copper cool completely. Being the impatient person I am, I have "popped off" a lot of enamel by putting it in the pickle before it's cool enough.
When cool, put it in the pickle for a bit. This will help clean off the fire scale from the copper. Now scrub the back and edges with more Penny Brite. Now you have to enamel the back. This is called counter enameling. If you skip this step, the glass will not have equal tension on the front and back and will crack and your piece will warp. You must counter enamel!! You can use an enamel made especially for this. It works well but is not very attractive. It's dark blue speckled like a very old stove. I use the same colors on the front and back so the tension remains even and the back of my pendants are attractive. Use the same process to counter enamel and clean the edges after it comes out of the pickle. Now is a good time to use the alundum stone to grind out any impurities in the glass and clean off any burned edges. Use the stone under water. Put a second coat of enamel on the front using the same process. Fire this coat a bit longer until it is almost shiny but not quite. Pickle and clean edges. Now your piece is ready for the next step which I will cover in the next blog.
Popped in for a visit good luck on blogging, love your art glass!
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