[Jewelry making - Article 00789] - [Orchid] Enameling 20g steel wire

[joanna gollberg]

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hi all,

    i have been enameling small sections of 20g mild steel wire. i am no
    professional enameler, though i know the basics. i have been using
    the traditional sifting method to cover the wires with the standard
    enamel i got from allcraft. 

    the problem i am having is that i am having to do SO many coats to
    get a thick enough enamel on the wire for it to look substantial
    enough. i am only using one color per wire, nothing fancy, i just
    want the color and the properties of the enamel. 

    i am wondering if anyone has any ideas of how i could dip the wires
    into some enamel and have a heavier coat initially so i could only
    do one or two firings per wire instead of 5/6 firings. i have
    thought about mixing in some gum arabic that i happen to have along
    with a bit of water and the dry powdered enamel in order to make the
    solution thicker for dipping. but then i have read that gum arabic
    might cause the enamel to flake off. i plan to try this later today
    as an experiment. i also plan on trying to simply wet pack the
    enamel on the wire with some klyr fire. (but really i am interested
    in dipping these wires....) 

    i can order some wet enamel, but to get the colored enamels, it gets
    sort of expensive at 18$ or so per color...i am trying to avoid
    this! 

    but...if anyone has any good ideas or ways they know work, i would
    appreciate it! i am just having fun experimenting and playing around
    with this new idea i have for some simple fun jewelry. and of
    course, it is always good to learn more about a new technique as
    well! 

thanks!
joanna gollberg
www.joannagollberg.com
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