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Through the process known as enameling, Peck applies glass to metal by means of heat. Over a span of several years he has found pleasure and considerable profit in a hobby that combines the skills of ancient artists and the knowledge of modern industrial engineers.

Enameling is used extensively by industry. As a result, every day of our lives we encounter factory-produced enameled goods, including the tub we bathe in, the pots and pans we cook in, and, as often as not, the ornamental crest on the hood of the family car.

The remarkable quality of enamels is that their colors can glow with a gem-like quality, or take on the muted sheen of velvet. Their colors never fade, and archeologists have proved that fact by unearthing golden goblets inlaid with areas of multi-hued enamels which were fashioned by Greek artisans in the fifth century B.C.

Enameled objects of today, Peck finds, have a great appeal for people interested in two things: Smart home decoration and distinctive jewelry. These two groups of potential buyers provide the home enamelist with a market of exceedingly broad dimensions.

PECK, WHO enjoys a considerable reputation in both commercial and "pure" art circles in the Pacific Northwest, has received as much as $60 for an enameled dish ten inches in diameter and decorated with a design based on an Indian motif.

However, Peck often makes the point that a person does not have to be an established artist to obtain a fair price for his work. He believes that good design is as much a possession of the home-crafter as of the artist.

The appeal that enamels have for persons using them for the first time is the almost magical effect that heat produces on the new materials of the art. Take a scrap of copper, sprinkle it with a few dull-hued powders, place the dusted metal in a kiln for sixty seconds and—presto—the surface of the copper is transformed by a fabulously colored coat of glass.

While there is an element of the mysterious in enameling, Peck would like to dispel the notion that it is difficult to do, or that the equipment required by the enamelist costs a fortune.

"Any interested person can pick up the fundamentals of enameling in a few hours with proper instruction," Peck says, and he himself set up an enameling studio in his home for less than $200.

PECK HAS what amounts to a family heritage in enameling. His mother, Edith Hogan Peck, who is over 70, and his sister-in-law, Miriam Smith Peck, are known throughout the eastern United States for their fine enameled jewelry. They share the same studio in Cleveland.

Peck's interest in enameling started three years ago when he made a trip to Cleveland.

"My curiosity was aroused by the fact that mother and Miriam seemed to be coining money," Peck says.

He learned the fundamentals of enameling in a single afternoon and spent the rest of his visit practicing the art.

When he returned to Seattle, Peck set out to acquire the necessary equipment, investing first in a "drop-side" kiln, which he bought at a scientific supply house for $80. The kiln is the type used by chemists and assayers and the drop-side feature is very important because the enamelist must be able to open his kiln and put in and take out work while the heat is on. This would be impossible with the type of ceramic oven normally employed which has a top that lifts off.

The inside dimensions of the kiln are five-by-five-by-six inches, which is just right for jewelry, but hardly large enough for the over-sized ashtrays and large ornamental objects which have claimed Peck's interest. When he began to make larger items, he bought a kiln kit for $50 which had an oven twice as large as the one his jewelry kiln provided. Eventually, he had to spend another $50 on a device to regulate the firing temperatures of the larger kiln, but he paid for it with the proceeds of his first jewelry sales.

PECK ORDERED his first batch of enamels by mail. He admits now that he was so anxious to get started that before his mail-order enamels arrived he achieved an acceptable glaze using dust from a ground up soft drink bottle.

Enamels normally cost about $4 per pound, although some of the gold "salts" which are mixed with fluxes to make the richest reds may cost as much as $45 per pound. For beginning enamelists there are kits of eight two-ounce color packages, which sell for around $5.

Peck has found that two dozen colors are the minimum the enamelist should have on hand, and this array should include a "hue" and a "deep" of all of the primary colors in several shadings. A "hue" is the bright version of a color, while the so-called "deeps" are darker. Pink would be an example of a "hue" of red, while maroon would be a "deep" of red.

The other basic material required in enameling is metal. Pure copper is the most practical metal for the hobbyist because it is cheap and can take a lot of heat without damage.

Silver has the best physical properties for enameling, but it is expensive and the hobbyist should perfect his technique before experimenting with it. Gold, even though it was the first metal to be enameled, is the worst bet for the hobbyist. In addition to its very high cost, it is almost too soft to be worked in its pure state and has such a low melting point that firing often ruins it.

Since the gauges of metal vary from company to company, when ordering copper for enameling, the hobbyist should specify sheet stock about the thickness of a dime. Thicker sheets can be used, but the novice will find the thinner metal easier to work.

A MINIMUM set of metal-working tools for the enamelist should include tin snips, a number of machinists' hammers with ball peens, a rubber hammer, a stout sandbag, several pairs of pliers, different types of files, and an assortment of "dollies" or "stakes," which actually are small anvils. The whole lot can be purchased for under $5 if you are willing to spend some time shopping around.

Peck acquired his tin snips, pliers, files and a fine assortment of hammers by probing the tool bins in second-hand stores. He made a canvas sandbag himself, which provides a firm base for dollies and also is useful in forming bowl shapes. Sheet copper can be shaped by hammering it over the steel face of a dolly, and Peck's favorite dolly is a stove lid that cost 15 cents. He also has a round iron ball, a piece of streetcar rail and other steel shapes which he acquired at the junk yard for less than fifty cents, total.

Peck suggests that the serious hobbyist work toward acquisition of a small bench vise and a motor-driven jig saw equipped with metal-cutting blades. A jig saw is a great timesaver in cutting out jewelry shape. However, Peck says that the jig saw cuts can be duplicated with tin snips and file.

In order to get the enamel on the metal, a sieve with a fine mesh is required. Peck uses a shaker with a screen having 100 openings to the inch. This type of screen can be purchased from chemical and laboratory supply houses. However, if 100-inch screen is not available in your area, a dime store tea strainer will do the job.

UNDER THE heading of safety equipment come such articles as a commercial-type dust mask, asbestos gloves, face shield and goggles.

Enamels are ground to the approximate fineness of confectioner's sugar and sifting them through a sieve creates free-floating dust. This dust is dangerous, since many enamels contain lead.

However, the dust hazard can be completely eliminated through the use of an inexpensive, commercial-type dust mask. This mask should cover the nose and mouth. A low cost mask can be bought at most paint stores for a few dollars and the disposable felt or paper filters for them cost only a few cents each.

Peck doesn't want to scare potential enamelists, but he does want to impress on them that a dust mask is indispensable—in the same way that a mask is required by the catcher on a baseball team.

The inside of an enameling kiln often is heated to 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit, so it is important that the hobbyist have a pair of heavy asbestos gloves of the type used by foundrymen. Another item of foundry equipment to prevent possible burns is a face screen which shields the face of the wearer and reduces the intensity of the radiant heat which emanates from an open kiln. Peck's wife, Willie, who often helps him, has found that the heat from the large kiln tends to inflame her eyes, so she has taken to wearing a pair of dark glasses or goggles. Peck sometimes uses them too, but mostly he saves his eyes by squinting.

Actually, the enamelist never works close to the orange heat of a fired-up kiln for more than a few seconds at a time, which brings us to another of the beauties of enameling: It is a quick medium.

"Enameling has a tremendous time advantage over its sister art, ceramics," Peck observes. "To make a ceramic pot you first have to turn the clay into shape on a wheel and then air dry it. After the pot is placed in a cold kiln it takes from eight to twelve hours to fire it, and then the kiln and pot must be allowed to cool for another eight hours.

"With enameling it's a different story. After putting your work in the kiln, you close the door and wait sixty seconds. Then you open the door and take out the finished object. Within a few minutes the enameled metal is cool enough to handle."

PEOPLE WHO engage in creative work often contribute something new, and Peck has originated a number of advances in home enameling techniques.

When Peck first started fashioning jewelry he had difficulty in making fine, clear lines. Since clear lines were vital to the design technique employed by Peck, he had to find new tools and new materials which would make it possible for him to draw enamel lines.

After many fruitless experiments, he found a way to make ordinary mechanical drawing pens of the type used by architects do the job. Instead of using ink, Peck uses china colors in the pens. China colors are the heat-resistant paints used by ceramists to decorate china and pottery. They usually are about the consistency of heavy cream, so Peck uses a sliver of wood to "fill" his drawing pens. He dips the sliver in china color and "feeds" the paint into the space between the nibs of the pen.

China colors are put on after the enamels have been fired, so in order to "start" the china color flowing from the pen onto the glazed enamel surface he rubs the point along the surface of his index finger. When the pen starts to flow, he quickly transfers the point to the enameled surface and draws the line called for in "his design. When lines of different colors cross, there is no danger of the two colors bleeding together. However, if one of the lines has dried partially it may flake off and clog the pen. The secret is to apply the line design rapidly so that none of them has a chance to dry out before the pattern is completed. Also, the enamelist will find that china colors require about three-quarters as much time in the kiln as enamels.

Peck never has tried to keep his lining technique a secret, but he still is one of the few enamelists in the entire country to combine drawn lines with color masses to decorate enameled jewelry and other objects. The hobbyist who becomes proficient in his use of the line technique will find it gives him an advantage in executing designs.

IN MAKING an enameled object, Peck starts with a bare piece of metal trimmed to the shape and size he desires. This metal may be burnished or left tarnished, the way it is received from the supply house. However, it should be remembered that tarnish may alter the color of the enamel during firing.

Before enameling an object, Peck first works out a pattern. The pattern may take the form of a simple sketch, or, for a more elaborate piece, he may execute the whole design in color. Peck has found that working out the pattern beforehand saves a great deal of time and prevents waste of effort and material. Enamel work that starts out "from scratch" with no preliminary planning usually winds up in the scrap basket, Peck has found.

The enamelist must keep in mind that every color used on a piece requires a separate firing. The art of enameling is dependent on the enamelist's ability to get all of the different colors he uses to blend smoothly into an unblemished surface. Peck usually works from the larger color areas to the smaller ones. To maintain the integrity of his areas of pure color, he uses one of several methods. Suppose he wanted to enamel several white spots surrounded by dark blue in a pattern. One way would be to cut a stencil for the white areas. The stencil, which usually is tissue paper, is moistened and laid over the object to be enameled. The white powders are sprinkled on the object, the paper stencil peeled off and the piece then is fired. After the object has cooled, the blue powders would be sprinkled over the surface. The areas of white enamel are brushed clean so that no grains of blue will remain to fleck the white when the piece is fired. To make the division between white and blue sharp, a line often is cut into the metal around the white area with a sharp-pointed scribing tool. This process of outlining an area of color is called sgraffito, which means, literally, to incise a line.

The reverse of the stencil process is to mask off the areas for one color with wet tissue. The blue powder is applied and the tissue is peeled off leaving clean metal. These areas of bare metal remain bare during the first firing. When the piece is cool, the powders can be carefully applied to the clean areas to fill in the design and the object is fired again.

THE READER undoubtedly is wondering at this point how Peck manages to make dry powders adhere to bare metal before the piece goes into the kiln. The secret is a water-glue called gum tragacanth—but let's carry through a simple enameling project from start to finish:

Our objective is to make a shallow bowl of a type suitable for sale as an ashtray. First, we draw the shape of the bowl we want and then work out the pattern of colored enamels to be used on the display or concave side of the piece. After we are satisfied with our pattern, we trim out a circle of copper with tin snips. Since the edge of the circle is sharp, we use a file and emery paper to remove the burr left by our snips.

After making a depression in the center of our canvas-covered sandbag, we take a round-faced rubber hammer and pound the copper disc into the depression. When the concavity we desire has been achieved, we take a machinist's hammer, and, tapping lightly to avoid scarring the metal, finish out the uneven areas against the curved face of a dolly. After cleaning off the grease and most of the tarnish, the shallow bowl we have fashioned is ready to enamel.

Our plan is to decorate the bowl with a bold, simple pattern of yellow and blue, with a few lines drawn across the inside of the piece for effect. Since the largest area will be yellow, we will apply it first.

After turning on our kiln to preheat, we select the hue we wish to use. Next we get out the bottle of adhesive which will make it possible for us to stick millions of grains of color to the surface of our bowl before it is fired. The type of adhesive, gum tragacanth, is very important, because it does not leave a residue which would spoil the enamel as it burns off in the kiln. Gum tragacanth is a water-glue and is available at most drug stores. Peck employs a perfume atomizer to spray the liquid on his work. He has found that adding a bit of liquid detergent to the glue assures even coverage.

SINCE OUR design calls for a sharp division between yellow and blue, we cut a pattern out of tissue, wet it and apply it to the area which will eventually be blue. Using the atomizer, we spray gum tragacanth over the area which will be yellow. While the adhesive is wet, we sprinkle the yellow powder onto the surface through a sieve. The paper which masks the blue area then may be peeled off.

After letting the yellow powder and glue set, which normally takes about thirty minutes, we carefully place the piece on a trivet and prepare to open the kiln. A trivet is simply a stand which holds the object being enameled up off the floor of the kiln. If the piece were to be placed on the floor of the kiln, it would not receive the uniform heat necessary to produce a smooth coating. Most enamelists use trivets made from thin sheets of stainless steel since that metal does not lose its shape during repeated firings. The enamelist's trivet consists of two deeply-notched uprights connected by a flat base. The object being enameled is supported in the notches and so is in spot contact with the trivet at only four points.

The bowl with its powder-sprinkled area and its supporting trivet are placed in the heated kiln as a unit. Peck often uses a trimmed-down pancake turner for putting in and taking out his pins, pendants and small objects. For heavier work in his big kiln he uses a forked holder fitted with an asbestos hand guard.

Firing enamel work requires good timing and good heat control. Peck uses a timer of the type employed in photographic darkrooms and a device called a pyrometer, which is an expensive piece of laboratory equipment capable of measuring the very high temperatures which are found inside the kiln. Since this is the first color being fired on our bowl, we can safely allow about 65 seconds at 1,300 degrees F.

Even when a pyrometer is available to the enamelist, firing times and temperatures for various sized bowls and different firing sequences must be learned through experiment and experience. If the kiln gets too hot and the object is left in too long, the enamel becomes too fluid and drains off the piece. If the kiln is not hot enough, the enamel will not flow evenly over the metal.

WHEN THE kiln is heated to 1,300 degrees F. we don our mask and asbestos gloves and drop the side. Using our forked trivet lifter, we place the bowl and its trivet squarely in the middle of the kiln and close the door. As the seconds tick away we clear a piece of asbestos on which to place the trivet and bowl. At the exact second, we drop the door.

In the center of the kiln our metal bowl glows with a wicked orange light. The enamel, which is in a highly-fluid state, is almost invisible. With our lifter we raise the trivet off the floor of the kiln and bring the bowl out into the air where it begins to cool immediately. The orange-heat stage soon passes and the hardening enamel begins to take on its permanent color. When the transformation from liquid glass to warm yellow is complete, we see that the yellow has stayed where it was supposed to. We also notice on closer examination that as the bowl continues to cool tiny cracks are opening in the enamel. Don't worry about these cracks. We'll tend to them later.

After applying a wet paper mask over the yellow area, we spray on gum tragacanth and sprinkle the blue powder into place. To assure a sharp division between the colors we take a steel scribing instrument, and scratch a line along the edge of the yellow. Then we fire—the bowl again sixty seconds should be enough this time—remove it from the kiln and let it cool.

Now is the time to fix those tiny cracks which appear in both yellow and blue areas. The reason we get cracks is that the enamel surface and the copper cool at different speeds. As the bowl cools, both copper and enamel tend to shrink, but the copper shrinks faster than the enamel. The result is that stresses are set up between the two dissimilar materials which are sufficient to crack the enamel.

To overcome these stresses, the enamelist "counter enamels" his work. Counter enameling simply means applying enamel to the back side of the piece. To counter enamel our bowl, we turn it over on its trivet, spray it with gum tragacanth and sprinkle it with a powder which will turn to a smooth neutral blue when fired.

During this firing we must exercise great care to prevent the kiln from becoming too hot. If the kiln overheats, the yellow and blue which we have applied will drip off onto the floor of the kiln. After fifty-five seconds in the kiln, we take our bowl out for the third time and allow it to cool. This time, no cracks appear because the two enamel surfaces are cooling at exactly the same speed and no stresses are set up.

The final touch for our bowl will be the lines. Our pattern calls for two intersecting lines, black where they cross the yellow area, and red where they cross the blue.

We select two mechanical drawing pens and fill them with different colors. Taking up the black-filled pen first, we start the ink flowing on our finger and quickly draw a line. Crooked. We wipe it off and draw another black line. Much better. Then we draw our second black line, being careful to break it off cleanly when it reaches the edge of the yellow area.

With the red-filled pen we draw two more lines joining the black ones. After letting the china colors set for a few moments, we pop the piece into the kiln for a fourth and final firing. Forty seconds is sufficient for the china colors.

After removing the bowl from the kiln we allow it to cool again, and we have a brilliantly-decorated bowl that any woman would be proud to display on her coffee table or mantel.

AFTER PERFECTING the basic techniques, the home enamelist will want to experiment, and there are plenty of processes to investigate. Interesting "puddle" and layer-color effects can be achieved through the use of "chunk-style" enamels, instead of finely-ground powders. An assortment of colored chunks, each chunk about the size of a pea, can be bought from most enamel-supply houses. When fired, the chunks melt down into smooth blobs of color.

Due to the peculiar properties of enamel, it is not possible to mix different colors in their molten state. If red and yellow powders are sprinkled on the same piece of metal and fired, orange, as one might expect, is not the result. Instead, you get a dappled effect in which the reds and yellows are separate and distinct. It is the non-mixing factor that makes it necessary for the enamelist to buy more than the basic colors. The enamelist cannot cut corners the way a painter can by mixing one oil color with another to get a third.

Color experiments, of course, are the sort of thing that the hobbyist must conduct on his own if he is to become expert in the use of enamels. However, it should be stressed that the beginner must own and use a good instruction book. Peck swears by a volume entitled, "Enameling; Principles and Practice," by Kenneth F. Bates. The book can be obtained through your book store or the larger public libraries. For the technical minded there is a tome written by a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which provides scientific explanations of some of the more baffling aspects of enameling. The book, "Elements of Ceramics," by F. H. Norton, can be obtained from the Addison-Wesley Press, Inc., of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

ONCE THE home enamelist has developed several good items which he can reproduce with fair accuracy, he is ready to go out and sell. Peck has found his best market for modern, distinctive jewelry and larger ornamental objects to be gift shops. However, while he deals with gift shops and makes some sales by showing his work at art exhibits, he certainly would not discourage the hobbyist from experimenting with other markets. Jewelry or department stores might be good outlets, and Peck believes some lucky enamelist someday will tap a rich market through advertisements in the mail-order sections of home or women's magazines.

The problem of price has been solved by Peck by figuring the value of an article on the basis of the number of hours it took to produce, plus the cost of materials, electricity for his kiln and depreciation on his equipment. Generally, he figures his time, as a trained artist, should be worth at least $5 per hour. As pointed out previously, for a really unusual and striking piece he will charge $50, $60 or even $100.

When Peck finds a shop that will not accept his merchandise on a straight cash basis, he may offer the shop owner a limited stock on consignment. He leaves several items with the understanding that he will receive the "wholesale" price when the items are sold. However, part of his agreement with the shop owner is that the items will be marked up a maximum of thirty-three per cent. He has found in the past that some of his pins that he has left on consignment have been marked up as much as 100 per cent, with the result that none of them got sold.

PECK USUALLY specializes in pins, and, if you plan to try this form of jewelry too, not the least of your problems will be learning how to attach "pin backs"—the simple device which permits milady to attach the ornament to her dress or the lapel of her suit.

Peck leaves a small area of bare metal when he counter enamels his pins. This is where he attaches the pin back. Pin backs can be bought from hobby supply houses or from jewelry supply firms. Usually they are made of brass wire, but silver pin backs are available.

Two kinds of solder can be used to attach the pin backs. One type is hard solder, which is almost pure silver and has a high melting point. The other type is soft solder, which is half tin and half silver and has a lower melting point. Peck uses soft solder.

The first step in attaching a pin back is to melt several drops of solder onto the pin back at the point where it will join the pin. When you have several globs of solder on the wire put the pin back in place on the pin. Then, using a torch with a very fine flame, you begin slowly to heat the entire pin. If the pin is heated unevenly, the enamel will crack and ruin it. Peck uses a carbide torch called a Presto-Lite torch. The Presto-Lite type torch is fairly expensive, but the best tool for work of this type. Cheaper torches that burn alcohol and gasoline also can be purchased. A blowtorch can be used sometimes, but usually a blowtorch flame is so broad that it cannot be accurately controlled.

After the solder melts, the heat gradually is removed by pulling the flame back slowly. As the pin cools, the solder hardens and holds the pin back in place.

PECK HAS had good luck placing his pins in gift shops at summer and winter resorts in the West. The Indian motif in much of his work makes his pins saleable as souvenirs at such resorts as Sun Valley, Aspen and others. His pins, depending on their size and complexity, are sold to the shops for between $8 and $15.

One advantage in selling to the resort gift shops is that it makes it possible for him to combine business with pleasure while on vacation.

Like every good salesman, Peck always has his sample case handy when he's on the road. His sample case is probably unique, since it consists of a wicker picnic basket. Inside each pin or pendant is attached to a swatch of material, usually tweed, which sets off the color of the enamel. This little "extra" touch of display really pays off when showing the jewelry to a new prospect, Peck believes.

If a prospective home-enamelist finds that jewelry items are not his dish, there is an almost unlimited number of small, household objects which can easily be fashioned from metal and enameled to make them more attractive and longer wearing. For example, it would be possible to enhance with enamel such necessary gimcracks as matchbox holders, key tags, cigarette lighters, cigarette cases, salt and pepper shakers, cocktail muddlers, napkin rings, money clips, name tags, pill boxes, compacts, watch fobs and stamp boxes. If you ever get stuck for something to enamel, Peck suggests that you prowl the counters at the ten-cent store. Figure out how to make some of the various metal gimmicks yourself, then enamel the items attractively and you have "luxury" products which will bring premium prices, provided you are an ingenious and reasonably persistent salesman.