HOW TO USE SEPARATION ENAMEL - by Joseph A. Osina

Prepare copper by Kiln firing for two minutes “ Cool then clean with scrubby and Penny Brite

Step 1: Spray surface with Klyr fire mixed with water 50/50 Sift on a thin even layer of TRANSPARENT enamel of choice  - or FLUX Spray surface again sift second thin layer of TRANSPARENT  -Dry thoroughly then fire in l450 kiln for about 2 mins.

Step 2: Clean the back of the piece  spray with Kly fire mixture and sift OPAQUE enamel of choice for the COUNTER ENAMEL - dry and Kiln fire. Repeat again if necessary to have a smooth even cover.

Step 3: Spray front of the piece with Kyr fire mixture. Sift a thin layer of OPAQUE enamel of choice. Spray surface again - Sift a second thin layer of same Opaque enamel - Spray surface again with Klyr-fire mixture allow to dry thoroughly.

Step 4: Draw a design of choice (Sgraffito) into the dry enamel with a scribe Or pointed tool of choice. Gently shake off excess enamel. Fire in kiln - cool

Step 5: Spray surface with Klyr fire mixture  - Sift a thin layer of TRANSPARENT enamel of choice. Spray surface once again  -  Sift second layer of the same TRANSPARENT  -Spray surface once again with Klyr fire mixture and allow to dry thoroughly.

Step 6: Separation Enamel  powdered form -  Mix a small amount of water into a small pile of powdered Separation Enamel. Stir  - consistency should be like cream. Using an artist brush either paint a design of choice in different areas on the surface of the enamel piece and dry thoroughly.

Or: Paint the entire surface with the Separation Enamel - dry thoroughly - then proceed to remove areas of the Separation Enamel by using the Sgraffito Technique.

Please note: The more open spaces without the Separation Enamel the better.

The Separation Enamel will cause the mixture of Opaque and Transparent enamels plus the Sgraffito design to swirl and blend into unique designs.

 

Fire in a l500 degree Kiln - for at least 5 mins. or more .

Check on the piece from time to time - if the enamels are not changing put the piece back into the kiln for a longer period of time.
SEPARATION Enamel can be bought through Thompson Enamels. It comes both in powder form or mixed with oil. I prefer the powder form.

I used Separation Enamel on both the inside cover and bowl of this piece.

Thank you, Joseph, for the timely tutorial! I was inspired by Trish White's work with separation enamels & ordered some from Thompson. It arrived this week, so your explanation came just in time!
Jean
charmdimsur.etsy.com

Will this work on very small items as well? Like 1" circles? Thank you so much Joseph for this tutorial.

Joseph,
Thanks for posting this tutorial. I have a few questions.

Is ther a specific reason or benefit for counter enameling in the second step instead of the first?

Should I infer that the piece is fired after step 5 and before step 6?

Can separation enamel be sifted instead of painted?

Thank you - Tonya

Separation enamel is not an enamel itself but it has been an accessory enamelling product for many years, as it changes the viscosity of the enamel, with veries interesting results. When it is applied to an enamelled surface, a depression develops in those places where the it was applied.

The enamel is pushed away, and the layer underneath the top one becomes visible, whith a darker line around it ( the enamel that was pushed away). I tried it out many times on older enamelled pieces that I had, considered to be not worth looking at and had been pushed away in a drawer. Using these 'misfits' for experiments with an, to me at the time, unknown technique were just the thing I liked to do. Imagine my surprise when my 'misfits' came out of the kiln as perfect little pieces of art...

There is no need to find out the wheel several times, so here are some suggestions for you to find your own ways for using separation enamels. So I offer you the text of a hand-out I use for my workshops. If you run the tests described, you know all there is to know and you may have some perfect pieces as a result. Below is the etxt of my hand-out. All enamels mentioned are Thompson leadfree enamels: (You will understand that the final line of the hand-out does not apply to you.)

SEPARATION ENAMEL SE-2 It will be wise to start this workshop with some tests, to find out how separation enamel works, so that you may know approximately what to expect. I suggest the following tests. Two coats of enamel:

1. Cover a small piece of copper with a soft flux ( # 2007) Fire at 780°C ( 2 minutes) - clean the edges of the copper - Put a thin layer of transparent enamel on top. Fire again ( same procedure as above) - Put some small dots of separation enamel, mixed with water and a few drops of klyrfire, at regular distances from each other on part of your work, and 2 or three parallel lines on the other side. Let it dry. Fire again, this time 3 minutes at 780°C.

2. Follow the same procedure, using a medium firing flux (# 2030)

3. The same again, but using an opaque white base coat i.s.o. the flux ( # 1030)

4. Follow the same procedure, now using three coats of enamel, opaque or transparent. Make your own design, following directions under a, b and/or c. For these tests I advise you to use contrasting colours. a. First coat: flux #2007, # 2030 or white # 1030 2nd coat: thin layer of opaque enamel 3rd coat: thin layer of transparent enamel.

OR b. First coat: see choices above 2nd coat: thin layer of transparent enamel 3rd coat: thin layer of transparent enamel OR c. Make your own design in three layers. (No need to keep to the first coats mentioned.) Keep track of what the others do, and profit from it. There is no need to do exactly the same tests as your fellow participants to this workshop… Make notes of what you have done, and of the results. If you give me a copy of your test results, I shall make an overview of your experiments and send this to you by post.

Ellen

Dear Tonya, Please forgive the delay in answering you. Thanks for trying Separation Enamel, it's one of my favorite techniques.
The reason I apply the flux to the right side of the piece is to get the purest, unblemished coating so that the subsequent layers have a pure base to react with. By applying the counter as the second firing [which will have fire scale] eliminates that worry for me. Also I use opaque enamel as my counter so any fire scale is of no worry to me.
Yes, fire the piece before step 6. I've also found that a very high temperature [1600 degrees] works best for firing the separation enamel. Also, don't be afraid of multi firings of the separation enamel, it keeps changing to other magical forms.
I hope this helps.
Joseph

Dear Ellen, Please forgive my delay in responding.
I'm so glad that you are spreading the separation enamel technique, so few current enamelists incorporate it in their work. I also admire that you teach them to use as many layers of colors as they like, transparent and opaque, to experiment with.
We obviously work very differently with it, which is great. The only thing I might say is that depending on the temperature of the kiln used for the final separation [I use 1600 degrees] firing you usually don't achieve pronounced lines or depressions. The separation enamel mixes and separates all the layers you put on getting magical results you can't achieve any other way.
Joseph