586 



ENAMELLING. 



Rnunrning when it mnst be smoothly spread with the com ex side 

 ^^Y~* of the spatula. If too much of the water is not ab- 

 norl<'. it Mill be fuunil tliat Uic enamel mav lie *< TV 

 easily removed from the- parts where it lies thickest to 

 those that are too thin, till a general i s . miens is pro- 

 duced. It mu~t then l>e smoothly spread, by drying 

 it more with the napkin, and spreading it again with 

 the sputul.-i. observing always to bear proportionally 

 lighter as the enamel gets drier. The centre hole must 

 be cleared out l>y twisting the tjuill in it till it brings 

 out all the enamel that is in it, and the operation of 

 laying the bottom is complete. 



"A clean napkin is then to be folded in the same man- 

 ner us for laying the bottoms ; but it must be laid on 

 the board so as to hang over the edge about three or 

 four inches ; and, to prevent its falling, it i.-. best to put 

 some kind of weight upon it. When the wax upon the 

 laying block h.is been softened, and made of a shape fit 

 to receive the copper, it must be placed evenly on. and 

 the feet pressed into the wax, till the under edge of the 

 copper nearly touch. This will be best done by pla- 

 cing the se'tti"g die on the copper, and pressing it 

 down, as, by this method, the shape of the copjwr will 

 be preserved, anil the upper side secured from the per- 

 .opiration of the hands, which might prove injurious to 

 the work, as any thing of a greasy nature is very apt 

 to ninke the enamel blister. The copper must now be 

 brushed quite clean with a soft hair brush, or hare's 

 foot, t:iking great care not to leave any of the hard 

 enamel on the surface, or about the edge. The block 

 with the copper on it is now to be held in the left hand, 

 and a small quantity of the glass enamel is to be taken 

 upon the end of the flat spatula, and laid upon the cop- 

 per, near the centre hole, taking very great care not to 

 let the water through the centre hole, as that would take 

 the enamel from the bottom, which could not be repla- 

 ced without taking the glass from the top; an operation 

 that would IK- exceedingly dangerous, as the two kinds 

 of enamel would get mixed together, which would in- 

 evitably spoil them both. If a careful attention is paid 

 to what we have said, an evil of this kind need not be 

 feared, as the enamel need not be taken out of the ba- 

 sin with so much water as to render it at all hazard- 

 ous, if it is lifted slowly, and by that means suffered 

 to drain a little. When a sufficient quantity of the glass 

 i name) has been put upon the copper, it must be rough- 

 ly spread, by repeatedly indenting the edge of the flat 

 spatula into the enamel, crossing it in all directions till 

 it lies of an uniform thickness all over the copper. The 

 surface, in this state, will have various little inequali- 

 ties and indentations, which may be reduced by just 

 tapping the side of the block two or three times with 

 the edge of the spatula. The water which this o]x>ra- 

 tion will cr.use to flow on the surface of the enamel, 

 must be dried a little with the corner of the cloth, but 

 not so much as to render the enamel difficult to be mo- 

 ved ; for the intention of drying it in this state is to 

 take away the superfluous water that floats on the sur- 

 face. If, however, the napkin should at any time ab- 

 sorb so much of the water that the enamel could not be 

 moved without such a degree of pressure as would 

 loosen the feet of the copper from the wax, or risk bend- 

 ing the copper, a drop or two of water may be taken 

 upon the end of the spatula, and applied to different 

 parts of the enamel, till the desired effect is obtained. 

 It rarely happens that the enamel, in this state, i> so 

 f-vtnly laid as to want no adjusting; it must therefore 

 be carefully observed, that the side or part which is 

 too thick, must be reduced by removing a part to 



places that appear deficient. This may be done by Ernmellinj 

 \ the spatula o\er the enamel, turning th'e "~"V~ 

 block round with the fmgt rs and thumb of the left 

 hand, till it lie* generally even. It must then be dried 

 with the napkin, and the surface made smoother, 

 1>\ ;i'inu' tile spatula over it in ail directions, bearing 

 a little harder on the enamel as it gets drier. As the 

 nibbing aii-1 spreading the enamel in this manner will 

 attract the moisture to the turface, and hinder the ena- 

 mel from lying so smooth as is necessary, it must there- 

 fore- U- dried again, and the laving finished by gently 

 |MMinp the spatula lightly over the surface till the 

 lilf! li -.-ioth and even. 



In determining the thickness of the enamel, an al- 

 lov, anre must he made for its granulated slate previous 

 to nulling, when it occupies a larger space than it docs 

 Mih>e-quei!tly. The enamel should therefore be -pread a 

 little thicker than the depth of the edge and centre would 

 sewn to require. In nil eases, however, it will he bet- 

 ter to have the enamel a little In-low I lie eiL'e and cen- 

 tre when it is melted in its first lire, for 



.11 afterwards ev plain. One thing is to be 

 cularly observed in enamelling the tops of convex 

 plates, that the shoulder, which U about ^th of ll 

 tance from the edge to the centre. - >me- 



what thicker than towards the e<';.e. In 

 being lower than the centre, ti . hen in ; fluid 



state in the lire, will How down to it, >i><i will thus pro- 

 duce an equality of thickness on ail p..rts of the iop- 

 per. 



When the copper is coveve.l, it must be carefully 

 taken from the block, by gently r.;isiin- it v. ith the 

 back of the thumb-nail, under tii. 

 each of the feet as possible. After it is free from the 

 wax, it may be lifted with the finger and thumb from 

 the block, ami placed under the lid of vhe box, to keep 

 it from the dust till it is wauled to be fired. 



Dfsoip/!o of the ITc/ho! of Haul Enamelling. 



When the copper is nicely pickled, fix it on the lay- DcsrriptioB 

 ing block, in the same manner :.s was directed for the < lf theme- 

 glass enamelling, and lay a coat of glass enamel about j* 1 "^ of 



two-thirds of the thickness that was directed for ma- " 



i 'ii- >, i mclling. 



king glass plates. 1 Ins must be fired till the enamel 



is melted down to a tolerably smooth surface; and when 

 cold, should any specks of din appear on the surface, 

 they must be cut out with the point of a square 

 whetted to a very obtuse angle. After this, the j.liite. 

 must be put into a solution of nitrous acid and water, 

 just ttrm.g enough to cleanse the scale from the edge 

 of the copper, being careful not to leave the plate long- 

 er in tlie solution than is sut! ; eient to clean the edge, 

 and washing it immediately in clean water. 



1 et tl.e |ii;'te now be fixed on the laying block, in 

 'in- in. >nner as if it were a cupper, keeping the 

 \\;i\ son eiH ugh to admit the feet to pass into it with- 

 out any great pressure, as that might strain the ena- 

 mel, anel cause it to crack in the fire. Take a si 

 quantity of the hard enamel, thoroughly purified of the 

 acid by -e\enl waters, and, with the rounded part of 

 the round-sided spatula, spread it as equally as possible 

 over the whole' surface of the plate When this is done, 

 the enamel must be dried by laying the corner of a 

 clean napkin upon it till it has absori-ed a part of the 

 water It will then be in a fit state to be spread more 

 equally over the surface of the plate ; and, when it is 

 spread nearly smooth, and of equal thickness, it must 

 be dried again with the napkin, and the spreading c n- 

 tinued fur full ten minute:, or longer, pressing hard*- 



