Hi Jamie,

I am going to put my "2 cents" in on this one.  I HATE Scalex.  I have tried to use it.  I did lots of reading on Scalex, thinking I was doing something wrong because I was having the same issues.  You, of course, have to let it dry completely before firing or it will have tiny explotions and it throws the white flakes all over in the kiln.  But, when you let it dry completely, it starts to flake off before putting it in the kiln.  

I have taken a couple of enameling classes where Scalex was used, but the instructor admitted she didn't use it and would rather pickle and scub off the oxidation.  With time put in painting on the Scalex, letting it dry, firing it, and it usually oxidises anyway.  That same time can be used to just scrub off any oxidation with dawn and a green scrubby. 

Good Luck,

Virginia

Hi Jamie

An older post but we all consult older threads so I think its worth contributing.

I purchased a few bags of ball clay - the alternative to scalex, I expected a nice copper colour after firing and was disapointed to see the familiar oxidation.

Re-reading several accounts makes me think that there is a difference of opinion as to what scalex or ball clay is supposed to achieve.

Some people think its to inhibit oxidation and others think that it simply helps peel off the oxidation in a more convenient manner.

A book by Linda Darty I have has a photo which does suggest to me that upon removal the back of the ball clay/scalex layer has gone black suggesting it is removing a layer of oxidation and not simply preventing it.

Some folks might not question why one side of the ball clay or scalex is now black and think it has inhibited oxidation wheras the black might indicate it has simply facilitated removal - its easy to see how to different accounts of the action might arise.

This is very important to me because I often enamel copper plated steel and the copper layer is thin and easily oxidised away completely so I would rather suppress oxidation rather than simply facilitate its removal - other people using thicker copper might not worry too much about this but for me its a game changer.

For what its worth the behaviour I have seen so far is that ball clay does seem to inhibit oxidation to a degree as I am left with some copper but I can tell that the layer is not as thick as it was after plating. I am going to try thicker layers of ball clay - I dont know how porous dry hot ball clay is or how fast oxygen can defuse through it.

I suspect that ball clay and scalex might perform two functions, firstly to partially inhibit oxidation and secondly to facilitate removal of the oxidation that does form.

I would love to hear from anyone who has used ball clay or scalex and peeled it off to reveal clean copper with no blackening evident - in other words evidence that ball clay or scalex suppresses oxidation rather than simply helping with its removal. In the meantime I intend to try building up a thicker layer of ball clay to see if that helps.

 

Hi Jamie,

I am very new to enameling but i have been using Scalex with almost every project I have done. At first I was having the same problems as you are with it flaking off during firing and sometimes before my piece got anywhere near a torch. Just moving my piece would cause pieces to flake off. Then I read the info given on the website i bought it from... When i followed the instructions given in the item description, it worked much better than it ever had before. All you need to do is; 1- Paint the Scalex on very thin. (a light coating is what stops it from flaking off prematurely) 2- Let it dry completely.
3- Add enamel to the bare side & fire.
When i first used Scalex l would paint it on really thick. I was doing multiple coats & letting it dry. I figured the thicker the coating, the more protection. That thought was very wrong! With a thick coat, the Scalex flakes off & I'd get a lot of fire scale & have to scrub it off (which i hate doing! ). With a very thin coating of Scalex i get almost no fire scale at all, just a very slight change in colour is the norm for me which comes off with a second or two of light sanding with 320 grit sandpaper...
I hope that helps you out!

All the best,

Kaleigh H.

I'm having difficulty in getting Scalex to work consistently.  I paint it on copper where I want to avoid oxides, put enamel on the other side, let it dry and fire.  The scalex is supposed to flake off after cooling (with no oxidation), but sometimes it flakes off during firing and I end up with areas of oxidation on the metal.  I'd appreciate any hints, tips or suggestions that you have.  Thank you.

Another question about Scalex.  What happens to me is that after the piece is fired and the Scalex flakes off, there are ripply-like indentations on the back of the piece (like it was etched).  The only way I can remove them from the fired piece is to either file or sand them off.  Do any of you know why this happens?  

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.  

Nancy

When I'm doing a piece that is only to be viewed from the front, I'll put scalex on top of the counter enamel (after I've fired the counter enamel side the last time).   This lets me put it back-side down onto a firing cloth instead of using a trivet when I'm enameling the front side.  The scalex keeps the piece from melting into/sticking to the firing cloth.

I would like to add my experience with Scalex; It works just fine if You keep it stirred up and water gets added to the jar when it evaporates. Then I just paint it on thin and let it dry a few min. When it comes from the kiln after 2 min.it flakes off and any little bit of very light oxidation is washed off with Pennybright cleaner. I like to avoid pickling and scrubbing.

 

This post was edited by Ingrid Regula at August 19, 2017 12:29 AM EDT