Raku Firing of Enamels - Part 3
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- Parent Category: Technical Articles from Journal Back Copies
- Category: Technical Articles 2003
Using Copper Carbonate and Silver Nitrate to make Lustres
Dorothy Cockrell
Various mixtures of copper carbonate, liquid white enamel and silver nitrate can be used to produce more predictable lustre colours than by simply extracting it from the copper and the organic material as described in parts 1 and 2 of this series.
The piece to be decorated is first enamelled and counter-enamelled in the normal way. All these chemical mixtures look best on dark enamel. Only the mixture becomes lustrous, so the basic enamel can be opaque or transparent and as thick or thin, as you want.
There is no need to high fire them, good effects can be had at normal enamelling temperatures. It is only necessary to make the piece hot enough to set fire to the organic material.
As stated in parts 1 and 2, the best lustre appears on the surface, which touches the organic material first.
Copper carbonate and liquid white enamel are the cheapest and safest to use.