Vitreous Enamelling - The Process
Vitreous Enamelling Specialists
Antique
Cast Iron Baths.
 * 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 |
