My 8-year old daughter has more talent as a drawing artist than I
ever will have in a lifetime, and I just realized that finding
inspiration for jewelry couldn’t be simpler: just use her artwork as
a starting point.
I think that an adult’s faithful implementation of a child’s
innocence could be just the thing.
So she had drawn me a bunch of cute little bugs, and I want to try to
create enamelled pins from at least one.
However, she drew the antennae with colors. That would seem to
indicate that she has specified the use of color.
Enamelling on a flat surface would appear to be straightfoward.
Are there any techniques available for coating a silver or copper
wire with enamelling powder and then firing it to coat the wire all
the way around?
My only other alternative would be to implement the antenna as thin,
flat, wires that are enamelled in the usual way.
"Are there any techniques available for coating a silver or copper
wire with enamelling powder and then firing it to coat the wire
all the way around?"
Re: your post about “the best way to causually enamel” Barbara Lewis
replied to that post and her web site shows you how to enamel round
wire (headpins).
Look on YouTube at the various videos showing Torch Firing Enamel by
heating the metal and then dipping it into enamel powder, and firing
it to completion. Looks like a perfect method for enameling on
round wire.
"Are there any techniques available for coating a silver or copper
wire with enamelling powder and then firing it to coat the wire all
the way around?"
Re: your post about “the best way to causually enamel” Barbara Lewis
replied to that post and her web site shows you how to enamel round
wire (headpins).
Billie: I, too, am interested in enameling round wire. I can see
from the photos on Barbara’s site that she sometimes enamels the
heads (round or shaped) of headpins. However, I cannot see any
instructions for enameling the wire itself. Do you happen to have a
link to the page where this is shown?
You can enamel on round wire but you need to use something to get the
enamel powder to stick. I use gum tragacanth, available from cake
decorating shops and dissolve a small amount in water to make a glue.
This can either be painted on to the metal and then the poder
sprinkled on to the wet surfaces or mixed as a paste and painted on
and allowed to dry. When firing the gum burns away leaving no
residue. There are other materials you can use but this is the
commonest.
You can enamel on round wire but you need to use something to get
the enamel powder to stick.
Actually Nick, all you have to do is heat the wire with your torch
and dip it into 80 mesh enamel powder. The enamel sticks to the hot
wire then return to the torch to finish fusing the enamel.