Enameling basics: Annealling
The first concern of the enamelist is to prepare the metal. It must be perfectly clean before the necessary molecular bond will be formed.
Different enamelists develop different procedures for cleaning the metal depending on what techniques they use – I will outline a standard procedure here.
The first step is annealing. This means heating the metal to around 1500 degrees. This may seem simple – but there a quite a few things that need to be kept in mind. Accuracy in annealing will make all the other stages go more smoothly.
In a perfect world – when you bring the piece out of the kiln it will have a thin layer of grey firescale, which will flake off immediately upon dropping the piece in cold water (quenching) The metal will look light pink and be only slightly mottled.
If the piece has not been heated long enough it will be a dark or yellowish red even after quenching. If it has been heated too long it will have heavy firescale that will take a long time to get off.
As in many cases in enameling – it is possible to give an accurate diagnoses of the problem after – but not possible to give exact times/temperatures before the fact. Success comes only with practice.
As you place the piece in the kiln there are a few things that will give you clues as to when the piece is ready.
These are not accurate renditions of the colours – they just show the subtle changes that happen over a few seconds. You will need time to train your eye to see them
First the tray will start to glow the same colour as the kiln and then the piece will, but you want to get the piece out just before that. There is a fairly small window ( a few seconds) when this happens and the piece is perfectly ready. Once you take the piece out of the kiln it will look different. The tray will no longer appear to be glowing, but the piece should be glowing a dull cherry red. This will only be noticable once the piece has come out. Inside the kiln it will look greyish. These observations are VERY subjective. There is no substitute for making your own observations.
This does not accurately represent what the eye sees – but shows how subtle the changes are over a few second breaks
Careful attention to kiln temperature and time at the annealing stage will give you a benchmark time for firing later.
After quenching the piece should only he held LIGHTLY by the edges, or by the underside (the side you are not working on.
A short time in a COLD pickle of Sparex #2, citric acid or vinegar and salt. Enamel should not be put in a hot pickle as this may cause deterioration of the enamel.
After the piece looks completely pink, remove it by the edges and neutralise it with a bit of baking soda. If the firescale doesn’t come off with a LIGHT brushing it needs to go back in the pickle.
Now you are ready to apply enamel!
imago corvi 