Zach P. Style Enamel on white, how is it done?

[DCDesigns]

Whats up yall, Im really excited to finally have my account activated! I have been lurking here a while now, and waiting to be able to post. I have so many questions Id like to pick your brains on! One of which is how to achieve one of my favorite new looks in the glass pipe scene, the ultra high contrast black on white done by zach p in his sketch series, and Elbo on a number of things, as well as others im sure. I know its done with enamel, I just dont know what that means or entails.

Is it a sheet? a liquid? What is the easiest way to get an image in it from home? I have seen that ABR offers a service to make enamel in the shape of whatever you send them, but I know there has to be a way to do it myself. I have also seen some artist who lay white glass over black in a thin layer, then sand blast it off to make an image, but I am not equipped for that yet. I absolutely love the high contrast you can achieve with of these techniques, are there others capable of achieving the same look?. I just bought me some china white tubing and im ready to go!

http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd460/Lowcountryburl/ZP-Oil-Dome-Blk-Wht001.jpg

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Icarus]

The best advice would probably be to contact Zach P or Elbo and ask them how they accomplish their techniques.

[Dom]

I think its stickers then just annealed on.. not sure tho.. graal probably not theres wayy too much detail on some of them.

[MUPH]

You've been lurking for a while? Did you miss the beatings people take when they ask questions like this?

[Torch-Bug]

Its all done with mirrors and grapes, like magic!

[Ikensel]

Its fairy dusted then just say the magic words " the last 700 of these i practiced on got me to here." Nice work if you get the golden recipie for the first one. PS delete the thread before Aymee sees it!

[faded]

it's drawn on with stringers.

[Nomad]

It is screen printed onto an emoltion that burns off in the kiln. Then you cut out the decals after you screen print them and stick them on your glass with a sponge. Then bake them on in the anealer. I took a workshop at the studio in the corning museum of glass about this technique.

[Logan]

Anyone know where to buy the supplies to carries out this process?

[Hazeey]

Can someone just make what I want for me so I don't have to figure it out or search at all? Pleease?

[Nomad]

try ABR they have everything

[D. dino i ninjah]

try SeRCHING THE INTERNET FOR hIGH fire ceramic enamles and then do a test fireing... The processs nomad is describing remindes me more of decal work than enamles I Imagine that ceramic decales would work if you tried it enough..

[Nomad]

Yeah man you can screen print your own decals with enamles. I am not sure how to get the paint. I was using soft glass when I did it. They were called paradise paints I think?

[byron3]

Fusion Headquarters => Enamels (http://www.fusionheadquarters.com/category_s/49.htm)

http://www.burtglass.com/glass_enamel_faq.htm

[Logan]

Great info Nomad and Byron. The process makes a lot more sense now. Byron, have you used the Fuse Master enamel paints with borosilicate? Looks like the baking temp is 1300-1500. Curious if you've run into slumping problems. Can these enamels be introduced into the flame at all, potentially even sleeved, or is it a strictly post production kiln technique?

[byron3]

http://watchmecreate.com/?p=4777

No I have not but, enjoy the read!!

[byron3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitreous_enamel

[silicabello]

Has anyone ever tried the sunshine enamels?

[kage]

Fine tipped sharpie...I'm pretty sure. Or it's just fired on with powerful wishes. Either of these should work

[Logan]

Borosilicate compatible enamel paint pens! Someone please start a business making these.

[S.peirce]

bake on decals



or stripper glitter

[Aymie]

Its fairy dusted then just say the magic words " the last 700 of these i practiced on got me to here." Nice work if you get the golden recipie for the first one. PS delete the thread before Aymee sees it!


Too late.

Those magic words are key.



You can make your own fire on decals with fuse works decal paper from hobby lobby. You have to use a b/w ONLY laser jet printer. I doubt this is how zack and elbo do it, but it's somewhere to start.

Also, I have said this like a million times, but you can enamel boro. You use the oil/binder you would use with soft glass and mix it with super fine powder, finer than standard powder. Dry it, heat it, fire it in the torch. Voila.

[Dan Kooper]

Ill give ya hint.
The drawings are made on ms paint.

[byron3]

As for the slumping, my thoughts were that the point for Boro slumping was based on clear glass. Let me see if I get this right, darker colors have more oxides, are more viscous and require more heat to soften,where as ionic, silver strikers and cadmium color take much less heat to flow .............

Could explain the black tube base, white overlay (my best guess).............

I could be totally wrong, just an observation .................

[Deez]

what slumping?

[Logan]

That makes sense Byron. Curious if the enamel overlay on that piece is a white overlay on a solid black base, or a black and white encalmo bowl with black enamel line work on the white section. This is also assuming he is using the kiln to fire on. Its seems like some are using the kiln to fire on and some are using the flame to fire on.

Thanks for the info Amy, I need to get a printer and try that out. On the enamels with the oil binder, are you referring to using fine enamel oxide powders or powdered glass?

Thanks for all the info guys, this is some cutting edge stuff. I do a lot of 2D design/drawing so this is right up my alley. Thought the only way I could incorporate that in glass was through sandblasting and graal, but this enamel stuff sounds way more appealing.

[byron3]

Here, I think this is the read you are looking for. I had already read it but had to try a # of SF's to find again.

Dictionary of Glass : Materials and Techniques (http://books.google.com/books?id=KbZkxDyeG18C&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=enamels+for+borosilicate+glass&source=bl&ots=34aS9O83VQ&sig=n_ax7-0btOakT9e58Bn6Ktg0tvo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KkrCULCJH4Gu9AT8oYH4Aw&ved=0CFsQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=enamels%20for%20borosilicate%20glass&f=false)

[T-Rex]

There is a lot of great info out there regarding enameling glass in the stained glass world.

Most fine detail on stained glass pieces is actually glass enamel. It's a bitch to make the stained glass because you have to assemble the cut stained glass, paint it, then fire the pieces (600C or so, basically annealing temperature is enough) and then you can put together the window!

Take a look at this eagle stained glass I did... the eagle's face is actually just one clear piece of glass. I believe I used white enamel on the back and then put the yellow & black on the front.

I didn't know you could use enamel on boro, but Aymie just confirmed you can, and it makes sense. The volume & area of the enamel is so small it would hardly matter what the COE is. Probably why it works on stained glass as well, which all have hugely different COE's since they are made solely for their colour and not to be fused.

44249

[silicabello]

Logan, this is why I asked about the sunshine enamels, the ferro selection is the only one i can find thats boro compatible and theyre pretty difficult to come by, only found one distributer after a while of googling...

then perhaps....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/REFILLABLE-FLUX-PENS-with-FLOW-CONTROL-FINE-POINT-NYLON-BRUSH-TIP-SAVES-MONEY-/150908608558

[DCDesigns]

Some great info here!

MUPH - Not sure what you are talking about beating, if someone doesn't like my questions, that doesn't really concern or bother me. The sarcasm is one of the things I enjoy most about this forum. Im not going to pretend to not be a noob at this, so bear with me yall while I ask a few stupid questions.

Im not one who feels entitled to the information that all of you have spent decades attaining. Ive gladly paid (sometimes $500+ a piece) for classes to learn some of the techniques I know, and I too would not just hand out that information. However that being said, what is the point of a forum if it isnt to share information?

Ive done plenty of work myself on attempting this technique, sorry I didnt mention that. I have drawn using small stringers over white glass, white on black etc. I was just unaware of enameling techniques for hard glass, I know how to use powder for fusing and with metals and what not. I have done some more research and work since I made this thread.

First, im pretty sure that Elbo and Zach P use enamel decals, hand made or printed, looking at some of the lines on some of their pieces. They are too consistent to be hand drawn with enamel, but still have the shaky style of a sketch, so I imagine they are made on a computer, perhaps with a waccom tablet. ( you can see the edge of one of the decals on the pic on the first page, the drawing of the dude, on the left hand lower corner. It overlaps onto the black glass.

I imagine that piece is either an encalmo, or masked multiple layers of enamel

[DCDesigns]

Logan: Thompson Enamels makes marker pens that will work with Boro. They have 9 colors, each like 5 bucks apiece. I picked up the black as well as some white black and red enamel overglazes that work with boro. So far I have made a couple white ornaments which I got my sister to illustrate, and Ill probably make a spoon to draw on myself tomorrow. I will post up pics with my progress soon!

BTW, if someone has used this stuff before, some info on firing times for different colors would be helpful. The red seems to not like to be in the kiln long at all. The black will be fine with long durations though I have discovered. More up soon...

[Icarus]

Logan: Thompson Enamels makes marker pens that will work with Boro. They have 9 colors, each like 5 bucks apiece. I picked up the black as well as some white black and red enamel overglazes that work with boro. So far I have made a couple white ornaments which I got my sister to illustrate, and Ill probably make a spoon to draw on myself tomorrow. I will post up pics with my progress soon!

BTW, if someone has used this stuff before, some info on firing times for different colors would be helpful. The red seems to not like to be in the kiln long at all. The black will be fine with long durations though I have discovered. More up soon...


Cool info. Here's a link to the pens you're talking about.

https://thompsonenamel.com/index.php?cPath=279_298

[Aymie]

Funny that someone is whining about missing a demo on how to do this, while this thread tells how and goes on to other ideas.

I am very interested in the enamel pens. Super neat. Thanks for sharing.

[Deez]

post pics of the enamel pens. For boro do you want the underglaze or overglaze? Do you simply draw on with the pen then fire in kiln, or do you have to apply something over the pen drawings before that? super cool thread!

[daveabr]

We carry the enamel pens. I've never guaranteed them working with boro, because they are technically made for 90 COE. But, they are High Temp Enamels, that fire at 1250-1400 i believe. Several people have told me they worked with boro.

Here is the link to them all our enamel products. The pens start at the bottom of the 2nd page of this section.....

http://www.dichroicimagery.com/index.php?cPath=343_347&sort=2a&page=1

[daveabr]

We also have this photo fusing paper stuff, that I've never used myself, but have heard of customers who had great luck with it. It's pretty interesting if nothing else.

http://www.dichroicimagery.com/product_info.php?products_id=90481

[DCDesigns]

I gotta go grab a camera, then I can post up the ornaments and spoon. The enamel pens most certainly do work with boro. At least I have had nothing but sucess with black.

One thing about working on hollow forms and firing temps.: keep the durations short and you can go up to slightly higher temps to assure bonding. 1350 seems to be about as high as I can push it without slumping the piece slightly and ending up with a flat spot. Go for 3-5 minute intervals, wait, let it cool off, and touch a small test area to see if it smears. Repeat until the lines seem permanent.

This is going to take a fair bit of experimenting on the end user's part, since there really isnt any info out there I can find on how to do this with boro. So honestly I dont know what you should do, over glaze, under glaze, the only people I know of who could tell you are elbo zach P and JAG. SO I suggest picking some up, making some shit, coloring on it, tossing it in the kiln and seeing what happens (and dont forget to post up, there isnt really a knowledge base on this... YET)

The colors might be a lost cause btw... the red keeps just getting murky and fading. Id like to try white enamel over glaze on black next.

[Aymie]

Have you tried flashing in the flame rather than using the kiln to set the enamel? That's how I did the decals.

[DCDesigns]

Have you tried flashing in the flame rather than using the kiln to set the enamel? That's how I did the decals.



No not yet, thought its a great idea!

[DCDesigns]

Here is one of the ornaments my sister is working on drawing with enamel pens on. Shes better with a brush so I cant wait to see what she does with over glazes. Its two turtle doves. Ornament is just a big ol round bubble of white. Slightly more interesting clear and fluted piece awaiting decoration in the background.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd460/Lowcountryburl/IMG_14721_zpsc8677af9.jpg

The spoon is in the kiln, not quite sure what I wanna put on it yet.

[DCDesigns]

Lol, I just noticed this, - The adds are all for some colgate Enamel protecting toothpaste, guess cause of all this glass ENAMEL talk. Thats an Adsmart FAIL, lol

[Deez]

so that ornament has not been fired yet DC?? any pics of after fired work? ordering some pens soon!

[Aymie]

If you try flashing in the flame, do it quick. Too much heat and it turns red.

[Logan]

Nice, post up any pics of finished pieces. Just picked up an hp black laser printer and some of the transfer paper to play around with. Ill post pics of my experiments soon.

[PhilosophicalPete]

Any luck with this yet Logan?

[Aymie]

I recently found a tutorial that used sharpies on porcelain and then baked at 350 to make it permanent. It wouldn't work on a pipe, but maybe on a pendant.

[Logan]

Ive been working with the fuseworks transfer paper a little. Still more experimenting to do. It works, but the iron oxide burns off easy and leaves the image grainy. I think vac sleeving and keeping it out of the direct flame might be the ticket.

[Aymie]

You can fire them in the kiln rather than in the flame.

[Deez]

on the pieces that i have seen by matt mclamb. he definitely has put the decal on and then pushed the bowl/popped the carb. It looks like the whole piece is worked in the flame. they also do not seem to be encased at all>?? I got some paper on the way and have a printer ready to go, experimentation time!

[Logan]

The fusework decals can be worked in the flame. When exposed, keep shaping to a minimum and use a gentle flame. Going to try applying some images to flat disks and see if I can just get it to fuse in the kiln. The less time in the flame, the higher the resolution seems to come out.

Cant wait for the day when ceramic decal printers become cheap enough to own and we can print out decals in the full spectrum of colors. Until then, grayscale is pretty fun to play with.

Any recommendations on decal companies that print custom bake ons?

[Logan]

The fusework decals can be worked in the flame. When exposed, keep shaping to a minimum and use a gentle flame. Going to try applying some images to flat disks and see if I can just get it to fuse in the kiln. The less time in the flame, the higher the resolution seems to come out.

Cant wait for the day when ceramic decal printers become cheap enough to own and we can print out decals in the full spectrum of colors. Until then, grayscale is pretty fun to play with.

Any recommendations on decal companies that print custom bake ons?

[Aymie]

You can fuse them in a microwave with zero distortion. You can come use mine if you want to try. Takes about 7-8 minutes tops for each image.

[Tad53lewis]

so that ornament has not been fired yet DC?? any pics of after fired work? ordering some pens soon!
http://bestpokersitesreview.com/images/4.gif
http://bestpokersitesreview.com/images/5.gif
http://bestpokersitesreview.com/images/6.gif
http://bestpokersitesreview.com/images/7.gif
http://bestpokersitesreview.com/images/8.gif

[Deez]

logan any luck on firing the images in the kiln as opposed to the flame>>??? i just printed a sheet of decals on my HP laserjet going to do some experimenting here soon.

[byron3]

Well how goes the quest??
Anyone see the Jan/Feb issue of "Hot Breath Magazine" yet??
There is an article where Zach Puchowitz tells how he does his "sketch pipe series" using this technique.

The eye candy itself is worth the look ........................
B3

[kage]

Good read, I told you it was powerful wishes. I liked the part of the where he talks about finding the leprechaun. And how he came about wishing for more wishes...I never would have thought of that....genius!