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+---- Thread: Orders and medals manufacturing techniques (/Thread-Orders-and-medals-manufacturing-techniques)
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Orders and medals manufacturing techniques - HuliganRS - 07-10-2003
Lapa,
The Japanese use what appears to be a liquid!!!
:confused:
Rusty.
Orders and medals manufacturing techniques - Alex Coletti - 07-11-2003
Gentlemen,
I have been curious about the process of manufacturing and enameling ever since I had the Order of the Red Star put in my hand. I wonder what you would consider a “professional” repair to broken enamel. I have seen all kinds of ugly repairs made to rays of ORS and OGPW ranging from red putty to red nail polish. Any thoughts on this subject?
Alex
Orders and medals manufacturing techniques - Lapa - 07-11-2003
Hi Alex,
To me, the only "professional" enamel repair job would be replacement of the missing enamel with real glass enamel, thereby requiring fusing of it.
The only (limited) problem with that would be matching exactly the original shade. Enamels are not quite like paint; for instance, since we are talking about the Order of the Red Star, red glass enamel actually comes as a white powder, just like quite a few other enamels. Also, the final shade depends on the metal supporting the enamel: silver, gold, copper, etc.
Rusty,
I think that they are using powdered glass enamel. Now, I probably need to go into some more details when it comes to putting the enamel onto the piece.
First, you need to crush the powder as finely as possible in a mortar. The finely ground glass enamel is then washed with distilled water to remove the impurities. I'll detail only the enameling technique for single layer enameling of small objects such as ... orders and medals
. The parts of the piece to be enameled are covered with a very thin layer of "enamel fixer" which in other circles would simply be called "glue" by common mortals. This fixer allows to precisely place the enamel on the metal, and keep it there (may sound funny, but believe me, trying to keep the &^$%# powder in place is quite a job). Using a variety of very small objects (like dentist's tools or fine bamboo stylus for example), you then precisely (I emphasize this term) place a very thin layer of enamel powder. Once the enamel has been placed, you need to fire the piece to fuse the enamel (turn the powder into solid glass).Couple of remarks:
. Different enamels fuse at different temperatures, so you can fuse only one color at a time (which means that if there are 3 different shades of enamel on your order, it was fired 3 times). So, potentially a lot of work, and a lot of possible screw-ups each time. Obviously, you should start with the shade that has the highest fusing point, working then your way down.
. Due to the nature of the beast (and because Einstein was right, of course, when it comes to gravity), you can enamel only one side at a time for proper result (some people claim to be able to enamel both sides at a time, but I still can't figure it out :confused: ).
All that to say that, to me, the picture of the Japanese mint shows a small bowl which contains very fine enamel powder that is placed on the order using a fine-tipped bamboo stylus.
Hope this helps,
Marc
Orders and medals manufacturing techniques - DutchBoy - 11-04-2004
Gentlemen,
I've been looking for a while now for photos of the actual minting process (and enameling) of orders and medals. I hope such pics are out there. I figured it would be fascinating to see how they were made.
Matt.
Orders and medals manufacturing techniques - Tretov - 11-05-2004
It would also be interesting to know how many of each award was produced each day, and how many craftsmen were engaged in this process.
Orders and medals manufacturing techniques - jefflgarrison - 03-13-2007
In regards to the
Lapa Wrote:Order of the Red Star ... you then precisely (I emphasize this term) place a very thin layer of enamel powder
It doesn't look like a thin layer of enamel on these medals. How do they heap the power for the ORS? The enamel looks at least 1-2 mm think in the center of each arm.
Orders and medals manufacturing techniques - Lapa - 03-13-2007
Jeff,
Under the enamel, the arms of the ORS are convex
Marc
Orders and medals manufacturing techniques - Stepanovich - 11-28-2007
jefflgarrison Wrote:It doesn't look like a thin layer of enamel on these medals. How do they heap the power for the ORS? The enamel looks at least 1-2 mm think in the center of each arm.
There is a simple answer to your question. The enamel powder is applied as a water based paste. It can be applied in miniscule spaces with a tiny brush. (An eye dropper is also used for the watery paste)It can be applied in thick layers and it can be re-applied over other layers to build up the finished product.
Steve
Orders and medals manufacturing techniques - Lapa - 11-28-2007
Stepanovich Wrote:There is a simple answer to your question. The enamel powder is applied as a water based paste. It can be applied in miniscule spaces with a tiny brush. (An eye dropper is also used for the watery paste)It can be applied in thick layers and it can be re-applied over other layers to build up the finished product.
Steve
Steve,
That is not quite true. First of all, it is not a paste. Real glass enamel is a fine powder that, sometimes, is mixed with a bit of distilled water simply to make it easier to apply onto the piece. However, that powder is not soluble in the water.
A brush will not be handy to use at all; instead, some small tools (such as dentist's tools) or bamboo pipettes are the proper ones.
Finally, enamel should be apply as a thin layer, but you would not build up several layers of the same shade in the way you describe. The surface to be enameled is specifically worked in order to prepare it, and in such a way that the layer of enamel will be fairly thin.
Marc
Orders and medals manufacturing techniques - Koopyetz - 11-28-2007
Cloisonné first developed in the Near East. It spread to the Byzantine Empire and from there along the Silk Road to China. Chinese cloisonné is probably the most well known and ubiquitous. Russian cloisonné from the Tsarist era is highly prized by collectors. Chinese cloisonné is sometimes confused with Canton enamel, a similar type of enamel work that is painted on freehand and does not utilize partitions to hold the colors separate.
First, the artist forms metal (such as copper or brass) into the shape of the finished object.
A paper pattern and a pencil are used to transfer a design to the metal object.
Partitions (French: cloisons) that act as color-separators are applied according to the transferred pattern and are held in place by a soldering paste (this is finely divided metal of low melting temperature in a flux paste). The partitions are bent and cut to length from flat wire stock (usually by hand using simple pliers) while the paste is applied with a small brush.
Heating the piece in an oven permanently affixes the partitions to the base metal by melting the solder. The piece is then allowed to cool.
Frit (glass crushed to a powder) in a water-based paste is painted into the partitions using an annotated pattern similar to the "paint by numbers" craft technique. After the frit has dried, firing in an oven melts it onto the metal. Several repetitions of the process may ensue to build up the coatings to the height of the partitions. Various colors and transparencies may be used in combination within a single partition to obtain the desired artistic effect.
The glass and a portion of the cloisons are ground and polished to form an even and smooth surface.
The exposed metal is electroplated with a thin film of gold to prevent corrosion and to give a pleasing appearance.