CHAPTER III
CHARGING
Enamel is “charged,” or put on the metal, in the form of a watery mud, by means of a small spatula. The most convenient spatula is one made from a piece of steel wire about the size of a crochet needle and flattened at one end. In fact a crochet needle itself, flattened at one end, or even the small blade of a penknife, will be found quite serviceable. If this spatula is mounted in a wooden handle made from a penholder it will be found very easy to handle.
Fig. 4. Charging.
A small daub of very watery enamel should be taken on the end of the spatula and laid upon the metal where it is to be enameled. If the surface to be enameled is very large, a larger spatula can be used to advantage. If the enamel is too watery it will not stick to the spatula while being taken from the palette, and if it is too dry it cannot be readily transferred from the spatula to the metal.
When the piece has been entirely covered with enamel, it should be held in the hand and tapped gently with the spatula. If the enamel is wet enough this procedure will spread it evenly over the metal. The water should now be drawn off from the enamel by means of a clean piece of cloth or blotting paper. The remaining moisture will soon evaporate, leaving the enamel perfectly dry. Only when perfectly dry is it in a condition to be fired.
Care must be taken not to get the enamel on too thick, as in that case it will chip off when fired. On the other hand, enamel shrinks considerably on being fired, so if it is put on too thin it is apt to shrink, leaving bare spaces of metal. The proper thickness with which to charge a piece of work can only be learned by experiment, and in most cases it is desirable to charge a piece with several thin coats rather than with one thick one.
In cloisonné and champlevé work it is generally necessary to use at least two coats in order to bring the enamel up to the level of the metal parts. Originally in these kinds of enameling the idea was to have each color or shade of enamel separated by a metal wall from every other shade, which made the charging comparatively simple. Now the vulgar modern taste permits several different shades side by side without partitions, or even blended. If the enamel is not too wet two distinct colors can be charged side by side without having them run into each other to any appreciable extent. They may then be fired, and they will be no more mixed in that process than they were before it.
A blend between two colors may be obtained by mixing two enamels together and then charging the piece with the mixture. Such a mixture when fired is often found to be speckled instead of a clear shade. If, after mixing, the enamel is ground finer, this speckled effect can sometimes be eliminated. This process is by no means always satisfactory.
Another way that two colors can be blended is as follows: Divide a piece to be enameled into three parts by two imaginary lines and call the parts A, B, and C. Now charge A and B with a thin coat of, for instance, blue, and C with a thin coat of red, and fire the piece. Then on the second charging charge A with blue and B and C with red. When fired, part B will be found intermediate between A and C, in this case a sort of purple. This purple may be made bluish or reddish, as desired, by using a preponderance of blue or of red enamel. This preponderance can be largely regulated by the thickness of the layers or coats of each color, although the last coat, other things being equal, will, on account of its position, exert by far the stronger influence.