Sterling silver and champleve enamel pendant/brooch

This video shows the making of a sterling silver and champleve enamel pendant/brooch. The cells for the champleve enamel were created using the homemade hand engraving machine which was inspired by Shaun Hughes. The video shows a fair bit of the engraving that was done and the enamel is torch fired. If you want a longer look at the finished piece head over to instagram / alastairduncan4 The engraving tools that I used were 2 sizes of half rounds for most of the roughing out and a flat made from HSS. There's a little cloisonne done in the eyes and nostrils, I need some better tweezers.
music:
Egmont Overture by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)

[@peterdryden1408]

How many hours did this take from start to finish thanks

[@alastairduncan4702]

I'm sorry I haven't a clue. I didn't record the hours, I didn't work on it consistently and I was trying to learn the techniques from books and KZbin videos.

[@theOdin-odin]

Incredible skill and music! How did you finish the enamel? Did you apply flux under red enamel?

[@alastairduncan4702]

Thank you. I used a carborundum stone with plenty of water to grind flat then refired. I then used some pumice to clean and smooth the silver. Tripoli and rouge to polish. I didn't use any flux. I used a scratch brush(brass brush) with soapy water before enamelling.

[@theOdin-odin]

​@alastairduncan4702 is this all just one layer of enamel? Or did you apply the enamel multiple times? Fantastic job truly. I have been using your superez graver build. It's awesome. I wanted to ask you something as you are an experienced engraver...how thin can the walls between engraved pockets be? Can they be as thin as 0.2 or 0.3mm? Basically mimicking cloisonne?

[@alastairduncan4702]

@@theOdin-odin at least 2 layers of enamel. Once you have ground the enamel smooth you may find some low spots which will need to be filled. You can cut the walls very thin but there are risks, you have to be much more careful. The walls of the cells don't have to be the same thickness all of the way down. Try having the base thicker. You can always thin it down afterwards if you are not happy. Try it on some copper first until you are comfortable with the technique.

[@JJJ54321]

What is The name of this carving out technique and what tool are you using. Also how thick is the silver that you’re using?

[@alastairduncan4702]

The term is champleve, the silver is 1.5mm withe the cells at around 0.4mm deep. I think the best current examples are Phil Barnes, Fred Rich, Jane Short and Ruth Ball. Phil's book covers just about everything you could want to know about the art www.amazon.co.uk/Engraving-Enamelling-champleve-Phil-Barnes/dp/1785005456

[@sheriwalters9797]

where is the enamel colors purchased? What is the product called?

[@alastairduncan4702]

vitrumsignum.com/ Schauer is the brand of enamel vitrumsignum.com/product-category/enamels/schauer/