Epoxy Enameling
Michael Weller
to do some enameling and have been reading about epoxy enamels but am
really confused. Does anyone have experience with epoxy enamels? Any
suggestions? Do's and don'ts? Articles? mike
C. M. Fox
<mwe...@erols.com> wrote:
Does Rio have something like this? Check their catalog.
Also have heard of putting the glass enamel material in epoxy and
"painting" it on your piece. Someone called it "cold enamalling." Haven't
tried it. I wonder if you even need glass enamel powders. Couldn't you just
mix straight pigment powders into epoxy ?
Don't know..
Carla
--
Remove *no spam* from my address
b-4 emailing me 8-)
Peter W. Rowe
<mwe...@erols.com> wrote:
>>I am out of my field and any and all help is appreciated. I find I need
>>to do some enameling and have been reading about epoxy enamels but am
>>really confused. Does anyone have experience with epoxy enamels? Any
>>suggestions? Do's and don'ts? Articles? mike
>>
There are two types of product of this type I'm aware of.
One is an epoxy product that Rio Grande carries (or at least, used to) called
"Colores" or something like that. Odd stuff, but interesting allows use of such
things as pearlescent colors, wildly mixed colors, and the like. The result is
still an epoxy like material, in both look and feel, but decorative nonetheless.
I think it's mostly intended for costume jewelry type uses, but of course, their
market intent doesn't much affect how you choose to use it.
The second, more widely known and available product is a polyester resin, not an
epoxy, called Ceramit, or Ceramitation. the difference in name depends on who's
carrying it. both names are made by Krohn industries, as far as I know. One
name is when sold under the Vigor label, the other is more directly labeled as
the Krohn product. I could be wrong on the above, but that's my recollection.
Anyway, unlike the epoxy, which is useable just at room temps (though it sets
faster with gentle heating), ceramit works best when "fired". But we're talking
a toaster oven on warm here, as the temp needed is only 200 degrees F. Ceramit
is much more like a vitreous enamel when cured than is the epoxy product, with
both a harder surface and a more enamel like appearance. The opaques,
especially, look much like vitreous hard enamels, and are sometimes used in
commercial products, such as some class rings and the like. Or more often, it's
used to repair the hard enamel on such items, when true enamels, and the heat
required, can no longer be tolerated in repairing the item. Applying the stuff
is simple enough. Mix according to the directions, which is a 3:2 ratio, I
think, of resin to hardener. Apply to your item, bake for a half hour, and if
needed, repeat. Works best with multiple thin layers if you need to put on
appreciable thickness. Unlike "true" enamel, this stuff doesn't get "stoned"
or ground down and refired to glaze over. You just have to get it right in the
thickness applied. It's hard to repolish if you sand it smooth etc. The as
cured finish is very shiney, better than you can get with repolishing the stuff.
It's useful stuff to have around for repair work, or for odd effects. Like I
said, the stuff looks very like a fired enamel, except you can, if you wish,
apply it to paper or plastic etc. If your jewelry item cannot take the 1500
degree F heat of vitreous enamelling, then this is one good option.
Peter Rowe
LeeCo11
>I am out of my field and any and all help is appreciated. I find I need
>to do some enameling and have been reading about epoxy enamels but am
>really confused. Does anyone have experience with epoxy enamels? Any
>suggestions? Do's and don'ts? Articles? mike
>
Rio Grande or any other supplier for that matter should have a product called
"Ceramit".
It is made (or distributed by HR Superior). It is a Low temperature curing
hard enamel. It is a two part mix (color and catalyst) that you paint onto the
piece (like epoxy) and can cure it in a toaster oven. You have to play with it
a while to get the feel of it before you try anything intricate but it is
fairly easy to use and less hazardess than real enamel (a major cause of
emphasema in workers who didn't wear masks) .
Hope I was of help
Lee
Ralph Gibson
I have used both the Rio Grande "Colores" version and the "Ceramit" style
carried by Gesswein. I changed from the Ceramit brand to the Colores
version because of the much better variety of colors offered by the Rio
Grande product. The switch came after I tried to create an emerald green
from the basic color set of Ceramit.
I prefer the finish of the Ceramit brand and am sure that it is a much
harder surface when cured. I had problems with the material cracking when
curing at 200oF or higher which may have been because I was curing a fairly
thick layer, about 0.030". I dropped the curing temperature to 100oF and
everything worked great. Again, the only problem I had was with the
limited color options.
The Rio Grande product I cure at 150oF and seems to work great. The Rio
product gives very specific ratios of resin to hardener which the Ceramit
product didn't. You will probably want a small scale to measure out the
material. Rio recommends a minimum mix of 10 grams of resin but I
generally mix up about 500 milligrams with no problems.
If anyone has any information on where to purchase a greater range of
colors in the Ceramit product I would appreciate a pointer in that
direction.
Cheers,
Ralph
--
Gibson's Jewelry
http://home.inreach.com/linus
gibsons...@hotmail.com
Michael Weller <mwe...@erols.com> wrote in article
<3618cde4...@nntp.ix.netcom.com>...
Spooksbarc
I've used the vigor ceramation kit for several years and it dcoes a good job
for what it is. You can mix and match the colors nicely. You must realize it is
a low temp. enamel and as such the piece will not take any heat and it isn't
really any more durable than regular epoxy. But if you don't want to fuss with
hi temp enamel it will suffice.