Julie Rattray

In late November, the R1 Glasgow group met for an enamelling on steel day. The workshop was an experimental day following on from Amanda Denison’s conference workshop. Thanks to Amanda for sharing her knowledge.

 

Materials Used

The steel used for the day included pre-enamelled whiteboard, pre-enamelled steel tiles, low carbon mild steel (LCMS) from a variety of sources and a cheap baking tray (BT). The pre-enamelled whiteboard and steel tiles were ready for use/decoration; however, the LCMS and BT needed preparation and enamelling.

 

Preparing LCMS and BT enamelled steel blanks

The BT was sanded with forty grit sandpaper to remove the coating, cut to shape (using steel designated snips) and the edges sanded. The LCMS was cut to shape and the edges were sanded. Both the LCMS and BT blanks were thoroughly cleaned by sanding with forty grit sandpaper and degreased with pumice powder or gritty liquid enamel. The sanding and degreasing are crucial to the success of base coat enamelling.

The LCMS and BT shapes were coated with WG Ball liquid steel groundcoat, dried and fired at 800^oC. Groundcoat was applied with a brush or by pouring a single cream consistency mix over the shaped piece (the pouring method produced better results than brushing). A complete even covering of groundcoat is required for subsequent adhesion of enamel. If there are gaps in the groundcoat (or it has been applied on top of poorly prepared/degreased steel) the subsequent enamel layers will ping off.

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