Henley's Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes and Processes

by Unknown

The enamel, therefore, though much alike for both purposes, should be so prepared for hollow ware that it will be capable of withstanding the changes to which we have referred. In all cases it must be remembered that the thinner the coat of the enamel the better it will be {294} distributed over the iron, and the greater will be its adherence to the iron. Any article heavily enameled is always liable to chip, especially if submitted to the slightest bending action, and therefore any excess of material added to a plate means that it will always be readily liable to separate from the plate. In hollow-ware enameling the preparation of each frit generally receives somewhat more attention than for plate enameling. The grinding is more effectively carried out, in order to remove almost every possibility of roughness on any part of the surface, especially the inside surface.

The iron used in tablet and hollow-ware manufacture is rolled sheet iron. It is supplied in a variety of qualities. Charcoal iron is purer than ordinary plate iron, more ductile, and therefore capable of being driven out to various forms and depths by stamping presses. The surface of the charcoal iron is not so liable to become oxidized, and therefore can be more readily made chemically clean for the reception of the enamels. Some manufacturers use charcoal plates for tablet work, but these are expensive; the ordinary plates, carefully pickled and cleaned, adapt themselves to the work satisfactorily.

The sheet irons generally used for the enameling purposes referred to vary in gauge. The finer the iron the greater must be the care used in coating it with enamel. Thin iron will rapidly become hot or cool, the temperatures changing much more quickly than that of the mixing. Unless care, therefore, is used, the result of fusing will be that the enamel mass will not have become thoroughly liquid, and its adherence to the iron will be imperfect.

If, however, the temperature is gradually raised to the maximum, and sympathetic combination takes place, the dangers of rapid cooling are avoided. Again, the iron, in losing its temperature more rapidly than the enamel, will contract, thus loosening its contact with the glaze, and the latter will either then, or after a short period of usage, chip off. We then arrive at the following hard-and-fast rules: (1) In all classes of enameling, but particularly where thin iron sheets are used, the temperature of the plate and its covering must be raised very gradually and very uniformly. (2) In all cases a plate which has had a glaze fused on its surface must be cooled very gradually and very uniformly. The importance of these rules cannot be over-estimated, and will, therefore, be referred to in a more practical way later.

In enameling factories no causes are more prolific in the production of waste than these, and in many cases the defects produced are erroneously attributed to something else. Cast iron is much easier to enamel than wrought iron. This is due to the granular character of its composition. It retains the enamels in its small microscopic recesses, and greater uniformity can be arrived at with greater ease. Cast-iron enameled sign tablets and hollow ware were at one time made, but their great weight made it impossible for them ever to come into general use.

Wrought-iron plates, if examined microscopically, will show that they are of a fibrous structure, the fibers running in the direction in which they have been rolled. The enamels, therefore, will be more liable to flow longitudinally than transversely, and this tendency will be more accentuated at some places than at others. This, however, is prevented by giving the iron sheets what might be described as a cast-iron finish. The sheets to be enameled should be thoroughly scoured in all directions by quartz or flint sand, no part of the surface being neglected. This thorough scrubbing will roughen the surface sufficiently to make it uniformly retentive of enamel mixture, and in no cases should it be omitted or carelessly carried out.

Copper Enameling.

When the vase or other article has been hammered out to the required shape in copper, it is passed on to another class of artisans, who prepare it for the hands of the enameler. The design or designs are sketched carefully. The working appliances consist only of a pointed tool, two or three small punches of varying sizes, and a hammer. With this small equipment the operator sets to work. The spaces between each dividing line are gradually lowered by hammering, and when this has been uniformly completed, each little recess is ready to receive its allotment of enamel. More accurate work even than this can be obtained by the introduction of flat wire. This wire is soldered or fixed on the vase, and forms the outline for the entire design. It may be of brass, copper, or gold, but is fixed and built round every item of the whole design with the most {295} laborious care. It stands above the surface of the design on the copper articles, but the little recesses formed by it are then gradually filled up by enamel in successive fusings. The whole surface of the article is now ground perfectly smooth and polished until its luster is raised to the highest point possible, and when this stage has been reached the article is ready for the market.

From The Sheet To The Sign Tablet.

Stage I.—Cutting the plate is the first operation. The plates 6 feet by 2 feet would first be cut down the center in a circular cutting machine, thus forming two strips, 6 feet by 12 inches. Each strip would then be cut into three lengths of 2 feet each. If a guillotine had to be used instead of a circular cutter, the plate would be first cut transversely at distances of 2 feet, thus forming three square pieces of 2 feet by 2 feet. These would then be subdivided longitudinally into two lengths each, the pieces being then 2 feet by 12 inches. Each sheet would thus be cut into six plates.