DON'T turn on the water, while the cup is under it. IF it opens to hard, your material will splash out of it. Open the water first, and move the cup in under it.
Heya José! I reached out to James with your question, and here is his response: "I have tried to apply multiple colors for one firing, but if the cells are touching, it’s nearly impossible to keep the powdered enamels from mixing. That, and the fact that it usually takes several attempts to get larger cells to fill, means each plique-a-jour project requires a lot of firings. Sometimes I fill two non-adjacent colors before firing, but it’s generally easier to deal with just one at a time. Thanks for the question, José!"
It's actually the same stuff! James says, "It’s just regular enamel mixed with a lot of Klyr-Fire, and wet-packed into the openings. It takes several tries to fill the bigger spaces."
Thank you for a very informative video. My question is regarding the type of enamel being used (unleaded) transparent or any other type? Also what mesh was used sift. Thank you
Heya Arlene, James cleans up any glass that may have gotten on the outside surfaces of the wire, to leave the silver exposed. He said it can be a pretty difficult process, so it's best to avoid getting enamel on any areas you don't want it, to cut back on cleanup time after the fact.
Heya Patrick, I asked James and here's his response: "The earrings were cast from a mold, but I've done them with hard solder before. If you have a pyrometer, wait for it to regain firing temperature and give it 30 seconds. Adjust the time according to your results." Hope that helps! Let me know if you have anymore questions. :)
Hello, what type of solder was used for the silver frame, please? I'd like to use the plique à jour technique with Russian filigree but I soldered the filigree with RioGrande easy and extra easy paste, so I'm afraid it well melt in the kiln as the fusion point for the enamel is 800°C (1472°F).
Heya! I sent James your question, and this was his reply: “I’ve used Hoover & Strong hard silver solder successfully. The earrings I was working on in the video were cast from a mold of a soldered original, so they had no solder in them. I think you’re right that the easy solder wouldn’t hold up for the enamel firing. (I only fire at 1350°F, btw.) Fine silver filigree, with a fine silver frame, can be soldered with hard. Using a torch, it’s nerve wracking, but just possible! Might be easier to solder it in a kiln.” Hope that helps! Let us know if you have anymore questions. :)
Heya Sur! That's not something we can do here, as a school. However, if you'd like to contact our instructor James Lynn directly for custom work, his website can be found here: jameslynn-goldsmith.com Best of luck! :)
Heya! I reached out to James with your question, and here is his response: " Mica only works if your piece, and the mica that you have, is perfectly flat. Even with nominally flat pieces, I've found that the enamel often leaks out of the cells, due to an imperfect fit against the mica sheet. I've also had mica stick to the fired enamel, even though it's not supposed to. My method, while somewhat laborious (and frustrating), allows me to create plique-à-jour pieces that have compound curvature. All questions are an opportunity for me to reexamine my assumptions, so thanks! -James " Let us know if you have anymore insight! Do you have any examples of successful plique-à-jour firing using mica? :)
@@ACCJewelryDepartment I understand your guy over there may not do a lot of this, being a teacher he has to jump around and do different things. You should give him this technique. Works great and the enamels don't shrink down like that. The first couple coats of enamel, only fire to a "sugar" type firing. After you have several layers of enamel on, then you can fire to an orange peel. With the last coating of enamel gets the full firing. You can grind after the orange peel coating. It's safer, but I like to keep going. After all, youtube is a great place for everyone to learn, not just the people watching videos.
James doesn't think it can be done by torch, but he's never tried. The direct torch flame tends to darken the enamel. Torch firing works best when the flame is in the side opposite the enamel, which can't really be done in plique-à-jour. Hope that helps y'all! :)
I've been looking into it and so far the artist I've found who do it use a titanium plate (because glass does not adhere to it) and place the piece on top of it and fire from under the titanium. I haven't tried it yet but I am planning to see what I can do.
Oh that's an awesome idea! I know titanium can be used when fusing Argentium because, like you said, it won't adhere to it - so it's a similar concept. I will let James know about this, maybe he can try it in his class. Thanks for the tip! If you learn anything else, we'd love to hear it. :)
@@ACCJewelryDepartment I've learn it this way and all you have to do is drilling a little, because on some parts there's a thin layer of the titanium adhering to it.
wow! This is just as difficult; and even MORE than I had expected. What an artist!!! as well as a lesson in patience personified!! Question: Is James using pure Klyre Fire or is it diluted w/ distilled water? Is the metal Fine Silver (.999) or Sterling Silver (.925)? Thank you!!!
Thanks for the kind words and great questions! Here's what James had to say: "1.) I don't dilute the Klyr-Fire. If it dries completely between work sessions, I rewet it with distilled water, so I don't get a double concentration. I've read that Klyr-Fire can dull transparent colors, although I haven't actually noticed that myself. 2.) The metal is sterling silver, because (a) it's stiffer than fine, so the earrings are less likely to get bent in use and cause the enamel to break, and (b) it's easier to cast. I'm making multiple copies of the fabricated originals with a rubber mold, and fine silver can be problematic in casting. I depletion-silver the sterling (4 or 5 rounds of heating in air to red heat, pickling, wire brushing with soapy water, until no black oxide forms when heating), and haven't had any problems with the metal, except the usual way that silver, even fine, reacts with some pinks and turns them yellow in the contact areas." Let us know if you have anymore questions! :)
Thanks for your share .I have a question:the video time line 02:27,James added a liquid binder to the enamel.Is it the "distilled water"?or are there something mix in it?Thank you.
James is retired now, but I reached out to him with your question, and this was his response: "I never tried PAJ with copper, but I think it would work if you pickle the copper clean, neutralize, and rinse after every firing. You still should do that with silver, but with copper it would be absolutely necessary." Let us know if you try it - we'd love to see your results! 😊
Heya Andrea! I passed your questions along to James, and he said: "After filling all the openings, the excess enamel has to be ground off with abrasive stones and wheels, then fired one last time to smooth it."
