Tag: glass

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Enameling Copper Pipe Rings

Copper enamel bands

To make these rings, I start out with copper pipe. I cut out cross-sections and formed the pipe to shape, convex or concave. I stamp designs into some of them.

After forming the rings, I cleaned them carefully and applied the powdered enamel to the rings.
After firing in the kiln, the glass melts and fuses to the copper.
After firing, the edges need to be sanded down before the next layer of glass is applied and fired.
The rings look so much more beautiful after the second layer of color is applied. I gave the bands a final sanding to remove any sharp edges to finish them.

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Making Plique a Jour Enamel Earrings

Plique a jour is an ancient technique where glass is suspended within a metal frame. For me, the technique is perfect for earrings. The pair I made above are like little stained glass windows of pure silver. Here is how I made them…

I started out with pure silver sheet and pierced out the designs that will be filled with glass.

I filled the pierced spaces with powdered glass enamels and placed the earrings on steel supports called trivets.

Here is how the earrings looked after the first firing. The glass usually doesn’t fill completely the first firing. It takes several firings to completely fill the piercings with glass.

After the piercings were completely filled with glass, I sanded them flush with the sheet metal and refined the outside shapes.

Here’s how they looked after sanding.

The earrings got one more firing to give the glass a final polish. After this step, I burnished the earrings with a glass brush. I made 10k gold posts and heat rivets to suspend the plique a jour designs.

Rosebud plique a jour enamel earrings