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Hi Mary Rose,
Many years ago I made a sample of Thompson whites buy cutting an 8" strip x 1" strip copper sheet and applying small 1 inch squares of the various whites and fired. Then on the back I ran a strip of masking tape and labeled each color - by doing this, you can see which of the whites is very white, medium white or close to off white-
I have always liked Foundation White & Quill White - and thought they were quite white - perhaps you are not using enough layers to deepen the white.
For every color you buy, you should make a small metal sample and put it on top of the jar lid -But if you use transparent enamel over a piece of copper you should first layer with flux, fire, then add a piece of silver foil and fire - then sift on the enamel for a true color comparison - A lot of transparents change their color when applied directly onto copper because of the oxides in the copper - so you don't always get the real color.
With opaques, you can sift straight on to the copper discs and fire.
Thank you Trish for your reply. I will try another layer of Foundation White. I fire this white for about 2.5 minutes at 1450.
Mary Rose
Hello, has anyone had experience with the Thompson Whites:
Undercoat 1010
Mat 1050
White 1055
White 1060
I use Foundation White 1030 as an undercoat but do not like its not white enough shade.
I use Titanium White but not as an undercoat.
Thank you,
Mary Rose
Undercoat white is the most opaque of the whites that works as a base layer. Although it is not acid resistant, I prefer it over Foundation for that reason. Hope that helps!
Thank you for your input. How does it fire, timewise?
Mary Rose
Hi Mary Rose,
Undercoat fires pretty standard- same as Foundation, which is the other white I've had the most experience with. Antique white seems to be a very slow to melt white but I've had limited experience with it so I'd need to verify that with more tests. I typically use Undercoat but if Antique does prove as hard to melt as I think it might be a better base layer in future. I make jewelry so my average time to fire, for example, is about 1.5 to 2 minutes at 1450-1500F for a piece that might range between 1 to 2 inches in diameter. That's just a rough average but I hope that helps!