[Jewelry making - Article 00142] - Re: [Orchid] Ceramic and such vs. Enamels

[Allan Heywood]

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    g'day Mike If your bottom line is time and money driven then you
    would use vitreous enamels.  As a not insignificant side-effect you
    would also end up with work you could be proud of and that would
    probably outlast you. 

    In the long run using real vitreous enamels (glasses) in
    properly-designed pieces is more cost-effective than using coloured
    plastic in your work.  Why?  Because plastics are plastics -
    wonderful materials for many purposes - great for lunchwrap,
    pan-linings, kids toys, toilet seats etc - but impermanent,
    relatively short-lived materials and an insult to real jewellery. 

    Your customers would be back to you in anywhere from a week to a
    couple of years for replacement or at the very least repolishing of
    the plastic bits. That's if they hadn't fallen out altogether.  Each
    of the materials you mentioned will shrink over time, particularly
    if you don't get the curing cycles right. 

    I should declare my hand here - I'm a vitreous  enameller, and am
    probably biased to the point of being unbalanced :<D . At the same
    time I use a variety of resin systems in the repair of enamelled
    objects  if it's absolutely impossible to strip and revitreous
    enamel them.   I've used everything on the market and a number of
    things off it over the years  and I'd never use plastics for anything
    other than repairs that couldn't be done any other way. 

Best Regards
Allan Heywood
http://users.netconnect.com.au/~enamel/

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