30 minutes to a stable 1500 degrees. The temperature goes down about 50 degrees if the door is opened briefly to put a piece in or take it out. My goal is to enamel on silver, since that it what I work on most of the time. I would like to be able to have the back enamel free and polished. I have to figure out what gauge sheet will allow me to do this. I learned yesterday that 24 gauge is probably not it. More when I know it…Rob
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Re: Heat loss. I was taught to start my kiln at least 3-4 hours before using it to heat soak the interior. Less heat loss that way.
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1500 is a bit high for transparent enamels. I program to 1450.
Fire brick insulation takes a long time to fully heat up, ceramic insulation doesn’t matter how long the kiln is on. I learned pique-a-jour where you first fire a “floor” of very thin clear flux into each cell. Then you can shade colors into the cells similar to cloisonne. Cold soak makes it very difficult to fire the transparent floor.
Right now I am just learning on opaque enamels @ 1500 degrees. The temperature goes down to 1450 degrees as soon as I open the door. I only have about a 2 hour window to work in my shop most days. Remembering to turn on a kiln to heat up for a couple hours is a challenge that I will have to overcome. I am a bit confused about the use of the term flux in the context of enamel. I think that it is a clear form of enamel that is laid down as the base coat on top of the bare metal. Other than being clear, how is it different from other enamels? I can’t find it on the Thompson site, at least as flux. Thanks…Rob
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I’m excited for you, Rob. I have a Paragon kiln with a digital controller and love it. I was lucky enough to get a grant to purchase it, and then I had to pay an extra $800 for electrical work. It’s a larger kiln and I mostly do larger scale pieces with it, but I do have props that can handle smaller jewelry pieces. The drawback of a larger, fire brick lined kiln is that it takes a lot longer to heat up and soak those bricks. But I like it and I’m keeping what I have.
Re: flux. Fluxes. Fluxi? Thompson Enamel carries several different clear fluxes and each one has its own unique properties. There’s a brief but very helpful pdf about this on Enameling.com.
Link: https://enameling.com/.pdf
I might suggest starting with Thompson Enamel number 2020, and experiment with it. It will work well on silver and you might as well try it out on copper or test pieces even with your opaque enamel. It will give you a feel for what this flux can do.
Have fun!
Nancy
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Nancy…I appreciate your very informative post and encouragement to keep using my old brick kiln. Right now now my enameling work will only be small areas of jewelry that will have to be torch fired or smaller earrings and pendants. But who knows where things will go once I figure out how to enamel. My confusion about flux or clear enamel is that I am not really sure what it does and will have to do more research. I have looked at enameling.com and need to spend some time there. Thanks again…Rob
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Sure, Rob! Flux is probably most effective for use with transparent enamels, as a base coat to allow some of the underlying metal color to show through, or sometimes over other layers depending on the effect you want. Right now, if you’re only using opaques over copper i don’t think it’d be terribly useful. Later when you get to using silver or fine silver, and want to try transparents, using 2020 will be more fun. Or even if you want to try it on copper alone. Enjoy!
Thanks again, I just went through The Art of Enameling and just got confused…Rob
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Flux seems to be the insider’s secret. I took an enameling workshop and was laughed at when I asked the instructor what is flux? I didn’t think I had asked a funny question and felt embarrassed, Which is precisely why I wanted to jump in and try to answer your question. Learning about flux and their properties and best applications is complex. The PDF gives you a convenient overview that may come in handy if and when you need it. Maybe you never will!
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Thanks, I have a lot to learn about enameling. I am used to being the teacher, now I am the student…Rob
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I’m going to be in the minority here :). I just torch fire it. You can only do so much and you gotta be really careful with the reds. I have not kiln fired anything in years. The real masters of enameling awe me. The saying is you can learn to do it in a day and it takes years to master. Now my pet peeve … resin is not enamel :). Enamel is enamel. Just an opinion from a very old man. Enamel is fired glass. Period. Sorry.
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Nancy5, Where can the flux PDF be accessed?
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Nancy5’s link works. It is at https://enameling.com/PDFs/What%20Clear%20should%20I%20use.pdf
It helps me to understand flux or clear enamels…Rob
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If you don’t already have it, I recommend you get the Thompson Enamel Workbook.
It provides answers to your questions on flux and much more. I own more than a dozen books on enameling. None provides all the information available in this short but extremely informative technical reference…
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Rob, thanks for sharing the link again for LaLinda.
Greg, you’re absolutely right about the Thompson Enamel workbook. It’s inflation packed and indispensable.
Nancy
It is in my Wish List at Rio…Rob
I meant to say “information” packed lol
Good learning, Rob
Nancy
I got what you were saying. Thanks…Rob
I just received and order of enameling supplies and small tools from a place called Cool Tools. They and their website were very helpful in deciding what to buy. The package arrived complete four days later packaged well and everything was as described on their website. I have been trying to research smaller, niche type, suppliers to buy from rather than the usual larger places. This has generally been a positive experience…Rob
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