Enamel

[lemon kitten]

Dad is a bone china painter (retired) and the other day we were discussing enamels on glass.  He has dozens of powder colours and has suggeted I try them.  However I have'nt a clue where to start, how to apply, or how to fire them  Does anyone know if they would be compatible with glass, and how I would go about applying them?
Janey

[♥♥Tan♥♥]

I would guess maybe a polarising filter to check compatability and as for applying you could sift them on, or lay the powder on a marver and roll them in it?

[sarah t]

make sure you wear a mask ..

[Flyingcheesetoastie]

You shouldn't run into compatability problems unless you're using large amounts in a small area.  If it's ceramic enamel then it will fire at a relatively high temperature (800+) in the kiln, but on a torch you will be using much higher temperatures so you'll need to experiment to avoid burning the colours out.

[lemon kitten]

That's great advice.  My dad sugested using them in liquid form (not sure what to mix them with....water I guess)  and painting them onto a cold bead then firing the bead in the kiln from cold up to say 800oc and them cooling them down, how does that sound?

Janey x

[Sulis (Hazel)]

The only problem with that Janey may be that you loose the shape of the bead. That's a pretty high temperature to refire at.

xx

[Flyingcheesetoastie]

Yes, if it's standard 104, that will be a bead puddle.  But you can do the painting on a cold bead, put it into the kiln on a garaging programme, then bring it to the flame and 'fire' it in the heat of the flame, carefully so as not to burn the paint away.

In terms of medium, water is good with a touch of gum arabic, this will prevent the enamels from being brushed off once the water dries.  You can mix enamels with all sorts but if you are planning to bring them into the torch, I'd avoid anything oil based.