Welcome Mac,

Enameling is the use of powdered glass applied to metal (usually copper) and then heated to the melting point of the glass to form a solid mass. Enameling can be applied to steel as well. Many of the old advertising signs were enamel on steel. There are seveal books on the subject that are available online.

Thompson is a supplier of enamels in the United States. http://www.thompsonenamel.com/

You might try contacting the society of arts and crafts of new south wales. They have a few members who are enamelists.

Hope this helps,
Fred

Fred Zweig
Metalsmith

Mac,

Oppi Untracht wrote a good book on enameling, as did Kenneth Bates. Both authors works should be available in used book stores and should give you most of the information you need.

As far as I know Thompson was, and is, the leading (read, only) supplier of enameling supplies in the US.

One handy way to start off practicing enameling on steel is to go to the local thrift store and purchase a couple of old white enameled sauce pans. The white enamel makes a handy background on which to apply new enamel, and you don't have to fuss with getting a good ground coat to start with. When finished you have a saucepan that you can still use to cook your morning oats and then see your artwork appear as you eat your way to the bottom. :-)

Mac, why would you enamel your steel sculpture when you could Powder coat them? Powder bakes on at 450F and is flexible. Enamel bakes on at nearly 2000F and can crack and shatter. You can get a powder coat gun at Harbor Freight for $100.00 and build your own oven or find an old kitchen oven. Just thought I would share this with you.
Best regards,
Stephen Kishel

Hi Mac, I have tried enameling on steel with mixed results. I did enameling on copper years ago in college and used some of those leftovers to play with. I had success with some practice pieces and failure with others. I think the biggest problem was different cooling rates of the steel and enamel. I was probably using too thin a gauge of steel. I didn't do an undercoat, which seems to have been a mistake. I also tried to melt small pieces of glass onto steel. Some of it stuck and some didn't. I was melting everything with my oxy torch and there may have been a temp problem. I'm very impatient and may have gotten it too hot, too fast. Some one suggested that I try putting pieces into garden vermiculite to cool slowly but I haven't had time to play with that yet. Let me know if you have better success. Lin