Martha BanyasDear Trish: First of all, it depends on what flux you are using. I can only tell you what I do, and you'll have to adapt or experiment from there. I used to use (during the time I made this piece) Thomp, leaded flux 1005. Now I use either some old Thom... moreDear Trish: First of all, it depends on what flux you are using. I can only tell you what I do, and you'll have to adapt or experiment from there. I used to use (during the time I made this piece) Thomp, leaded flux 1005. Now I use either some old Thom leaded 1209, Ninomiya (which I find to be very, very good), or Thom UNLEaded 2015, golden flux...over which you can put leaded enamels (but not the othr way around!).
First, counterenamel with anything you like, but make sure it's a good, med-thick coat. One good firing should be enough because it will be fired many times again anyway.
Next, it sounds like the coat of flux is too thin if it's turning green. First, I clean my copper with Pennybrite, and flush with lots of water, making sure water flows evenly over the whole surface, and has no oily spots, especially around the edges. Then I sift out all the 325 mesh and smaller...that gets rid of most of the bad stuff. I coat the copper with a mix of half water and half Klyr Fire, making sure to get... less
I never tried blending with flux. I am going to experiment. I have a bad time with flux turning green on my copper when I apply the first coat. It is my worst nightmare. I acid etch so I don't have a lot of space to fire flux several... moreThanks Martha,
I never tried blending with flux. I am going to experiment. I have a bad time with flux turning green on my copper when I apply the first coat. It is my worst nightmare. I acid etch so I don't have a lot of space to fire flux several times and then add color - so I try to put down one good coat. Perhaps I am not firing high enough to make those oxides disappear. Its a head banger for me!
September 11, 2010
Martha BanyasDear Trish: I just started with one photo downloading to see how long it would take, also need to go back through records to see what years these were done...this was probably the early 80's. I later moved on from doing figures such as this, but here's... moreDear Trish: I just started with one photo downloading to see how long it would take, also need to go back through records to see what years these were done...this was probably the early 80's. I later moved on from doing figures such as this, but here's what I remember: I was using all old Thompsons leaded, so the numbers refer to those old Thompsons leaded colors (which I still use). I started with a coat of flux, 1005 over copper, fired 3 times to clear the bubbles, then a mix of half opal, 835 and half flux, 1005. This proportion was always getting adjusted, so it's only approximate. To achieve shading, I used TR, 240 mixed in (200mesh) for darker areas, and for lighter areas, more opal and less flux. That's more or less what I remember doing. It was the combination of the transparency coming from underneath that gave it a lush and pinkish quality. If I needed to adjust the color tinting, I always used a 200 mesh transparent in small quantities. Hope this helps. And I'll try to get some more... less
I never tried blending with flux. I am going to experiment. I have a bad time with flux turning green on my copper when I apply the first coat. It is my worst nightmare. I acid etch so I don't have a lot of space to fire flux several... more
Could you please tell me what color you used for the body, I have great difficulty with that.