I am an amateur enamelist just learning, and I thought it
would be fun to attempt to enamel some goblets, plates, etc. and I
was wondering if anyone could recommend a source for these
materials. I currently do not have the facilities to raise and
form copper in an appropriate manner.
Joel, An online resource for enameling materials is http://www.enameling.com/ They have just about anything that you
will need. I do not recommend using copper for anything food related
however. The oxides that build up on copper I believe can be
somewhat toxic. If you are enameling goblets and plates for purely
art object reasons then of course this is moot.
Natasha, for what it is worth, a friend and I are just starting to
explore enameling on formed objects. We are looking into using the
enamel to add colors to fold formed objects and vessels. The real
trick is going to be counter-enameling some rather in accessible
interior surfaces.
I would love to hear more about what you are doing.
Now I know that I am going to get a lot of flack for this, but I
have to say that copper should not pose any more of a problem than
silver when being used for dinnerware or drinking vessels. It has
been used for a long time and all your pipes in your house are
probably made of copper soldered with a lead free solder, and copper
bowls and pans are the choice for professional chefs and bakers.
As a matter of fact, bring your egg whites to room temp first and
then try whipping them in a copper bowl, you will get a nicer
meringue that makes your pies and tarts look a lot nicer. The room
temp thing makes the protein do something and the copper bowl is most
likely a old wives tale, my wife could tell you why it works, but it
does