Hi Trish,
Thank you so much for your encouraging words. It's been a while since I made this piece so I"ll do my best to remember.
I rolled the base shape to about 5 cards and after fusing the bezel wire I imbedded it into the clay just until the horizontal tabs touch. Make sure the horizontal tabs are facing in. It is important not to push it into the clay to deep. I then came back with a thinner layer of clay about (2 cards)and banded the outer edge around the bezel . I sealed it on and then used that clay and some syringe to help make the fish details. I made sure the clay is around the bezel, just barely touching but not to tight,, this allows the clay to shrink around and up to it and not crack. I did cut out a circle from inside but not to close to the bezel, I think I left about 3-4mm. Be sure to clean the clay off the upper rim area of the bezel so that it doesn't interfere with pushing the bezel over when setting your enamel. I leave the inside of the bezel alone and do not add any clay, so that it doesn't interfere with setting later. If you know how to create an investment plug, iIt would be a good idea to put it into the mounting before firing, to help with the shrinkage. Like I said its been a while and I may have left something out so if you have any questions let me know. I did the crab the same way.
Love your site, I'm new to enameling and really enjoy learning and getting inspiration from what others are doing, they are very kind to share.
Thanks Ginny
Hi Trish,
Thank you so much for your encouraging words. It's been a while since I made this piece so I"ll do my best to remember.
I rolled the base shape to about 5 cards and after fusing the bezel wire I imbedded it into the clay just until the horizontal tabs touch. Make sure the horizontal tabs are facing in. It is important not to push it into the clay to deep. I then came back with a thinner layer of clay about (2 cards)and banded the outer edge around the bezel . I sealed it on and then used that clay and some syringe to help make the fish details. I made sure the clay is around the bezel, just barely touching but not to tight,, this allows the clay to shrink around and up to it and not crack. I did cut out a circle from inside but not to close to the bezel, I think I left about 3-4mm. Be sure to clean the clay off the upper rim area of the bezel so that it doesn't interfere with pushing the bezel over when setting your enamel. I leave the inside of the bezel alone and do not add any clay, so that it doesn't interfere with setting later. If you know how to create an investment plug, iIt would be a good idea to put it into the mounting before firing, to help with the shrinkage. Like I said its been a while and I may have left something out so if you have any questions let me know. I did the crab the same way.
Love your site, I'm new to enameling and really enjoy learning and getting inspiration from what others are doing, they are very kind to share.
Thanks Ginny
