Tumbling of enamelled pieces

I would like to pose a question to those of you who may be
involved in enamelling. I am in the process of fabricating a
necklace consisting of many singly enamelled pieces. They are in
the cloissenne style, with copper base, silver wire and sterling
jump rings. My question is: Would I be able to use a Rotary
tumbler to finish this piece? Hopeing that I could use stainless
steel shot to tumble these pieces so that the wire and the jump
rings would come to a high polish without damaging the enamel
itself. Any you could provide would be greatly
appreciated! Thanks one and all.

Bryna Tracy
smartdog@msn.com
One of a kind jeweller and designer
Toronto, Ont.
Canada

Hmmm…

I enamel but don’t tumble, so I have no idea how this will work
but would love to hear what you end up doing.

Karen
@Karenworks

Hi Glen - I know very little about tumbling pieces, having not
done a whole lot that way, but I have been enamelling for about
three years now (also nowhere near expert at it). I don’t think
that I would tumble an enamelled piece - I find that stoning
alone will bring out all of the pits and air holes and you need
to stop right then and fill them before they get bigger. It
seems to me that if you tumbled the enamel, you’d risk enlarging
holes and pulling out wires. Do you have the jump rings soldered
directly onto the enamelled pieces, or do you have them bezel or
prong set? If you set the cloisonne pieces into a bezel, then
you have the chance to tumble the settings before putting the
enamels into them. Just some thoughts… Laura

I advise - don’t do it! I took a class where the instructor
regularly tumbles bracelets with beads incoporated into the
design. The cloisonne ones didn’t survive the process well
although glass ones escaped unscathe= d. Karen

I would like to pose a question to those of you who may be
involved in enamelling. I am in the process of fabricating a
necklace consisting of many singly enamelled pieces. They are in
the cloissenne style, with copper base, silver wire and sterling
jump rings. My question is: Would I be able to use a Rotary
tumbler to finish this piece? Hopeing that I could use stainless
steel shot to tumble these pieces so that the wire and the jump
rings would come to a high polish without damaging the enamel
itself. Any you could provide would be greatly
appreciated! Thanks one and all.

Bryna Tracy
smartdog@msn.com
One of a kind jeweller and designer
Toronto, Ont.
Canada

 Rotary tumbler to finish this piece? 

I have never heard of ROTARY tumbler used to finish metals .
…stones, maybe?

( I know nothing about tumbling stones!)

I use a rotary tumbler with steel shot and a water-detergent
mixture. Doe s a great job in about two hours. I’m not doing it
for production - just as a hobby. Karen

Hi, Bryna. Q. How thick is the supporting metals?
18 gage -possibly
16 gage -yes most likely
20 gage -likely not without damage

           Q. Is there a "cage" or edge around the 
                enamelled areas or will the enamelling
                be exposed on curves, over edges,?
                cage being bezel or ... 

           use more shot than normal resulting in less
                "fall" and you may need to follow with
                a polishing compound similar to working
                onyx. best of luck.

Karen - I’m really fascinated and amazed - you don’t have
problems with holes, chips, or wires pulling out? Have you done
any finishing on the pieces before, such as stoning, sanding, or
anything? What do you end up with as a surface on the enamel or
does it do anything to the enamel at all? Have you done this with
just cloisonne or have you done other types of pieces, e.g.
3-dimensional forms, or electroforms, or anything? Amazing !!!
Laura