Sealing glass micro mosaic

Hello, I am an intermediate jeweler looking for advise on how to
move forward on a project. I have a thumbnail sized heart that is
made up of many small pieces of glass (like a micro mosaic). I have
made a bezel for it and am mounting it to a bracelet. I am hoping to
seal the heart with something so the small glass peices don’t fall
out over time…like a carpenter would seal a bar with polyurathane.
Is there a product you know about that I can dip my mosaic heart into
to cover it in a clear shell of sorts??? Please help.

Tracy

heart that is made up of many small pieces of glass

Tracy, did you make it yourself ? If so you could use a good-quality
two pack epoxy clear casting resin to encapsulate it with.

If it’s an old piece however it will already have been "glued"
together with something and if that’s breaking down you’ll need to
remove all the loose stuff before you encapsulate it. If you need to
remove the epoxy later, whatever agent you use will probably also
destroy the “old” matrix, and hence the mosaic.

Al Heywood

Durenamel, a synthetic enamelling system sold by Rio Grande, has a
clear resin that comes with the kit. It would most likely work very
well, and is polishable to a high shine.

Tracy,

Are you wanting to seal your micromosaic because you think the
pieces might someday fall out or because some are missing now?

Tracy you could try some epoxy resin, one that is used more
commercially than the five and thirty min epoxy available at the
local hardware. I use RBC Industries 401-941-0150, fx 401-941-0150.
They can add a UV protectant to the hardener to help prevent
yellowing as the epoxy ages. The cost is somewhat prohibitive for a
singular piece. This material is addictive after a time so you may
want to take the plunge and it explore it. Some exciting things
being done with gl** er uh chemical bonding agents these days. If
you are interested in exploring this avenue contact me off list and I
will go into more detail.

— Irene White
@Rene_White
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