Vitreous Enamelling - The Process
Vitreous Enamelling Specialists
Antique Cast Iron Baths.
Vitreous enamel is a type
of glass which is used as a decorative or engineering
finish on metal.
Vitreous enamel has all
of the properties associated with glass - hardness,
scratch and graffiti resistance, colour stability, and
fire resistance.
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Please Note: This is NOT a resurfacing service.
Firstly the bath is shot blasted to
remove all of the original enamel.
This process varies in the amount of time it takes to
complete due to the size of the bath and thickness of
the enamel.
The bath is then ground coated
(this is like an undercoat which is sprayed on to the
bath and force dried) before being put in the furnace
for the first of approximately four firings at a temperature
in excess of 800 degrees celsius.
After 45-60 minutes the bath is taken
out of the furnace and allowed to cool. It is then stoned
down to smooth the surface of the newly fired ground
coat so it is ready for its first of approximately four
applications of the vitreous enamel
cover coat (this is the actual enamel that when fired
in the furnace gives you the white shiny surface).
Sometimes the baths don’t always
appear to the standard we would expect the first time
around. A bath can be taken out of the furnace for the
last time after having had all of the previous stages
successfully completed and there can be a problem. The
problem could be excessive contamination from the cast
iron, or boiling (this is when any given area of the
vitreous enamel can appear to look
like bubbling hot soup for want of a better description).
Or indeed an area of the enamel has
lifted (this means due to an area of the bath being
particularly rusty in its prior state, despite shot
blasting etc. the rust has penetrated deep into the
cast and with the extreme temperatures has been drawn
to the surface again and pushes the enamel off the cast
iron).
When the above problems do occur this
may mean a slight delay for the customer because we
have to start the whole process again from the beginning.
After repeating the vitreous enamelling
process there may be still slight imperfections due
to the nature of the process. Please refer to Finished
Result section in our Standard
Trading Conditions.
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View Fitting Instructions & Unique Enamelling Services
Standard Trading Conditions
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