THE CRAFTS 
WOOD CARVING AND PYROGRAPHY. LEATHER AND METAL. BASKETRY, ETC. 
Under the nianagenietit of Miss Eviily Peacock, Karol Shop, 22 East i6th St., Nezv York. All inquiries in regard to the various 
Crafts are to be sent to the above address, but xvill be answered in the magazine under this head. 
All questions must be received before the 10th day of month preceding issue and will be answered under ''Answers to Inquiries" only. Please do not send stamped 
envelope for reply. The editors will answer questions only in these columns. 
THE ART OF ENAMELING ON METAL 
Laurin H. Martin 
ARTISTS M'orking in modern jewelry have reinstated this 
long neglected art, biit probabty wouldbe Avorkers along 
these lines do not clearly understand the difficulties which 
these artists have overcoine, or the processes which thej' have 
employed in order to attain fine results. 
Enamel is a form of glass, colored with metallic oxides 
or colorless, opaque or transparent, which when applied to 
metal and heated to a certain degree melts and adheres to the 
metal. There are several distinct ways of using enamel. 
The different processes are known as Champlev6, Plique a jour, 
Repousse, and Limoges. Champleve or sunken enamel is 
done on rather thick metal as the design must first be engraved. 
The different metals are measured by gauge; use always 
American gauge. No. 15 is a good thickness to use in silver, 
and No. 12 gauge in copper. Silver is a stiffer metal than 
copper, so does not need to be quite so thick. When firing 
the enamel the metal has to come to a red heat which makes 
it very soft and easily bent. If a thinner copper than No. 12 
or a thinner silver than No. 15 is used, it might bend, which 
of course would crack the enamel. 
First hammer the metal on a steel block with a flat steel 
hammer, this is done to close up any minute air cells that may 
be in it, if these air cells are left in the metal the enamel will 
crack. Anneal the metal to make the engraving easier, clean 
it in acid and put on the design. Chinese white water color 
rubbed on the silver and dried makes a good foundation to 
draw on. When the design is drawn on the metal, scratch it 
in with a steel point, so that it cannot be erased. Fasten the 
metal on an engraver's block (see Fig. i), or on a piece of wood 
with cement (see Fig. 2). The next step is the engraving. 
Vautier's engraving tools are very good, and the following 
immbers are the most useful: Nos. 40 and 44 flat and Nos. 
51, 52, 58 and 60 round. These tools do not come sharpened 
(illustration No. 3 shoAvs how they look when they are bought, 
and how they should look when sharpened and ready for use.) 
To sharpen, the point must be broken off with a hammer, 
then ground down on the grindstone. Put the final edge on 
by rubbing it carefully on an Indian oil stone. Test the tool 
by resting the point lightlj^ on the finger nail; if it catches 
it is sharp enough. Tools that are not well sharpened slip 
on the metal. 
As it takes some practice to hold the graver properly and 
engrave well, it is a good plan for the student to work on several 
studies in line and curve before attempting a piece for enamel. 
If the design is small, outline it with the engraving tool Nos. 
52 or 53, holding the tool in the palm of the hand, resting the 
thumb on the work and then forcing the tool ahead . If the 
tool is held at too great an angle it will not cut but becomes 
embedded in the metal. The outline must be gone over two or 
three times and when it is deep enough use the flat graver No. 
40 to cut out the space in the centre, or if the space is a large 
one use a wider tool. The whole space should be about two- 
thirds as deep as the thickest of a ten cent piece. When the 
engraving is finished take the metal off the cement by heating 
it slightly, any cement left on the metal can easily be burned off. 
The next step is to get the metal ver3" clean. Silver and 
copper are cleaned by boding in a solution made of one part 
sulphuric acid to six parts water. Alwaj^s use a porcelain 
vessel for this solution and put the acid in first, then add the 
water; place this vessel in another containing water kept at 
boiling point. A weak solution of hydrochloric acid is also 
used for cleaning silver and nitric acid for gold. Some enam- 
elers boil the cleaned metal in clear water after the acid bath 
and others use hot alcohol. In any case the cleaning should 
be done just before enameling. 
Enamels come in lump form and look very' nuich like 
ordinarv' stained glass. The colors are numerous; but fifteen 
transparent and as many opaque are sufficient to start with. 
Many combinations can be made from these, that are better 
than using the colors straight. 
To grind the enamel put a lump into a Wedgwood mortar 
