Yo John,
Who knew I was going to get the questions! Anyway, to answer
yours as best as I can: Yes, you can use Sterling but it is
advisable to bring the fine silver up to the surface, although
using black enamel I’m not sure it matters, but if you were to
use another color or a transparent it is a must. If you don’t
know how to do that, the short story is you heat it to a dull
red, let it cool, pickle it, repeat, pickle, and so forth until
the piece no longer turns gray. Voila, fine silver on the
surface, just don’t do anything silly, like sand it, that is,
before you’re done enameling. Now as far as heating it with a
torch, yes you can do that. Heat it from underneath, make sure
you have used hard solder, and get soft black enamel. The
enamels I use I get from europe via New York. You must have some
access there. Mind you I use a kiln, but I have done a few
pieces with a torch. I Love my kiln though! Good Luck, Lisa