Surface tests

As we all know is the preparation of the silver is key for enamelling. I made a series of tests and thought it would be nice to share them with you.

In the first series I enamelled on 999 silver without any big changes.

In the second series I heated the silver before enamelling. The silver gets quit dull. Heating the silver can be result from: putting it in the kiln for counter enamel, soldering, annealing.
I often see that people buff the dull silver or polish it and okay, it looks shiny. But does the shine hold after putting on the enamel?

In the third series I tried to prevent the dullness by protecting the silver with Blanka. And then I compared this with flashed silver and EAS foil.

Finally, in the fourth series I wanted to test if I can maintain the shine of the flashed silver after heating it again for soldering.

 

To make the tests I used the same silver (999 silver, 26 gauge, size disk was 5/8 inch), the same temperatures, the same time in the kiln, the same enamel, the same thickness of enamel layers. (I did my best). I used WG Ball #470, leadfree enamel.

I fired 1 coat at the front. The second fire was the counter enamel. The third fire was a second coat at the front. After that I fired two more times without adding more enamel. The temperature was 780 C or 1436F. The first 3 firing: 1’15’’, de last 2 firings: 1’30’’.

To photograph I used the same settings shutter speed and exposure. Also the angle was the same because I used a tripot.

Note: This conclusions are made by Yvonne Manders. Maybe on other circumstances the results will be different. This is what I found on my tests. Feel free to do yours and compare. I am curious to hear what you found.

Series 1: Result: I think it is worth using  the brass brush.

Series 2: After heating, buffing or polishing does not ‘hold’ after enamelling. The dullness is back. On out-of-the-box silver you can prevent the front going dull, by enamelling the front first! This way the front is protected and after that you can counter-enamel.
Annealing and soldering before enamelling should be avoided if you don’t protect the silver with Blanka (or something like that)

Series 3: Protecting the silver when heating is important. Flashing and EAS-foil give the best shine.

Series 4: After soldering (without and with Blanks protection) there seems to be no difference!! But after you enamel you can clearly see that the disk with the protective Blanka, is far more shinier.

 

Best results:

• Flash and enamel
• If you need to solder: protect the flashed silver with Blanka (or something like that)
• EAS foil. Solder before putting the foil on.