Lustre

Flyingcheesetoastie · September 30, 2009, 02:04:26 PM

I've had a commission for a bowl and the designer wants a gold shimmer to one part of the design, so I was thinking lustre but I've never used it before. Can anyone advice on any of it really as I'm working blind on where to order, what to get, firing temps, application, all of it really!

The bowl is in 8mm float glass with screenprinted outlines and then this part which will be hand painted. Then it's slumped, twice to get the curve it needs.

Thanks all!

Rachel x

lorrainelee · September 30, 2009, 06:17:57 PM

How about mica powder?

Lorraine

Flyingcheesetoastie · September 30, 2009, 06:20:15 PM

I'm not fusing the glass so mica is not really an option, hence going for lustre.

Zeldazog · September 30, 2009, 06:41:48 PM

I can get information on ceramic lustres, which apparently can be used on glass Rachel, think they fire at 800 C - is this what you mean?

If I can't find everything tonight, I should be able to tell you tomorrow, I can ask our ceramics technician at Uni.

Flyingcheesetoastie · September 30, 2009, 06:46:41 PM

Yeah, sorry I should of been more specific, it will probably be ceramic lustres I'll have to use. I hope it's not 800 though as I wasn't planning to go that high with this piece... I don't want a solid gold, more of a sheen. I've found a supplier called Held of Harrogate which seems quite good, but not much information about hows and whys so I might call them in the morning as they have some products marked GLASS...

Any insight would be great as I'm shooting in the dark a bit and a wee bit annoyed that the client has gone down this path as I'd prefer to use techniques and materials I have experience with!

Zeldazog · September 30, 2009, 08:23:41 PM

What about Heraeus?

I remember when I was looking for further information about enamels, that they listed lustres (try saying that when your pi$$ed!)

http://www.heraeus-ceramiccolours.com/en/productsandapplications_1/glass/lustres/lustres_6.aspx

It's actually listed in the glass products section, so might be worth a look? I am sure a lot of their enamels don't fire that high.

Flyingcheesetoastie · September 30, 2009, 08:36:46 PM

Thanks Dawn, I'm slightly loathed to get to involved with this as she's not prepared to pay anymore for the work, only materials, hence why I'm trying to get away with applying this during the slump firing to save on another firing. I'll have a read and see where we get, it's only for one small job so I don't wanna have to buy a kilo of gold or anything!

Rachel x

Zeldazog · September 30, 2009, 09:46:36 PM

I don't know about the Heraeus Lustres, but I bought a small container of their brand enamels from Warm Glass UK, cost about a fiver or so - might be worth contacting Pippa about it?

Just had a look at the tech notes, and it does look as though it fires quite low, 520 - 620 C if I have read it right.

Winny · October 17, 2009, 03:16:40 PM

I used lusters when I was back at college ( while ago) Bought them from the same place I got my enamels from, and the lusters were the last thing to go on the glass as I fired the enamels higher than the lusters so they would possibly burn out on a slumping firing but for the life of me cant remember where I go the stuff from but good luck
These were for Glass and looked like dark tar but boy a little went a long way, once the lables got damaged there was no way to tell them apart but to do test firings and re-label the little bottles, lots of hassle because somebody didn't like the sticky bottles - strange what I remember from college really, can't even remember the name of the Girl who would now be called OCD

Obim · October 18, 2009, 09:50:44 AM

I got some platinum and gold lustres from Pearsons - very very small bottles and very expensive. These however produced a very bright finish; similar to that which you sometimes see around a dinnner plate - errr if u know what I mean. These were a tarry consistency too. Perhaps they could be diluted with a thinners for a larger area with a less shiney result.

Obim

Flyingcheesetoastie · October 18, 2009, 11:43:03 AM

Just to update this, I found a supplier called Held of Harrogate online. Great guys had a few phone conversations and ended up ordering all sorts of things including their collection of tutorials! They do lustre and bright precious metals for ceramics and glass so can advice on the temperatures for both and I have to say were very reasonable on price.

The challenge I had, which I knew was a futile one, was that the client wanted transparent gold highlight on this section of the glass. Gold by it's very nature is opaque to reflect the light and be shiny so I knew that whatever I did wouldn't be 100% right really. I did around 4 tests and took the lustres and bright gold up to 780c so that the glass slumped and it was great to see that none of the effects ran or moved on the glass. In the end the client didnt' want any of it, but there's some great effects I got out of it which I would love to experiment with on other things.

beadysam · October 19, 2009, 12:58:23 PM

Ooh, sounds interesting. You should show some pis of the effects.

theflyingbedstead · October 19, 2009, 04:05:12 PM

Thank you for the link Rachel! I really need to keep a list of these links in case of future need.

QuoteIn the end the client didnt' want any of it, but there's some great effects I got out of it which I would love to experiment with on other things.

I am glad that your experiments weren't wasted. A pity that the client wanted the impossible!