TECH TIP: Mask for better silver stain application

Stains are corrosive to metals. I use brushes with plastic ferrels, a plastic palette knife, mix stains in plastic or glass containers and use a dedicated badger blender for stains.

Mask the area to be stained with contact paper.

Apply the stain broadly with a brush - keep the entire area evenly damp. The mixture should not be too wet. Consider this as a guideline: If you applied it to a horizontal surface the mixture would not drip.

Blend it with a badger blender.

Stop blending before the stain starts to dry. Dry the stain at this point with a hair dryer but be careful not to disturb it with too much "wind". When dry, remove the mask and watch for any stray flakes of dry stain that cling to the glass by static electricity. Remove these with a soft brush. Fire the stain face up in the kiln. It will contaminate the kiln shelf if fired face down. If you must fire the stain down use a removable barrier layer - like disposable fiber paper or a dusting of whiting.

You can blend the wet stain in a complex shape by masking as described above.

Here is another example of shading the application of stain. 

Q: What medium do I mix Silver Stain with?

Q: Can you help me with a simple question?  I'm ready to complete a silver stained piece and can't remember what medium we mixed to liquify the silver stain. 

I took the Silver Stain Workshop at Glencairn in Nov 2011.

Are you offering the classes again this fall; I know of someone who is interested in taking the class. Is there any room? Could you send a schedule of future classes.

Thanks again,

DG

A: 99% of the time I mix silver stain only with water as shown in my book and on this blog. For the purpose of testing I mixed the silver stain with distilled water but at home I don't bother to be that precise. I never add gum arabic as the stain already has its own binder added. Brush marks definitely show in your silver stain work so you want to paint boldly so the entire stained area is the same wetness and then blend it with a badger. Laboring or futzing in the application of the stain will lead to terrible results - blotchy and inconsistent. The best method I have found is to mask the area to be stained with contact paper, apply broadly with an applicator brush then blend with the badger. Dry the wet stain stain with a hair dryer uniformly making sure not to disturb it as it dries with too much "wind". When dry remove the remove the masking. I do this by holding the piece upside down over the trash can and pealing off the contact paper. Any stray flakes of dried stain should be discarded in this way as they will stain the glass if left in contact with it. Be on the alert for flakes that cling by static electricity and remove these with a soft dry brush. Neatness counts! Do not breath the dust from the stains - wear a mask if necessary. The other 1% of the time I will mix silver stain with oil if I want to apply line work with a tracing brush or if I have very small areas that are impractical to mask.
You can also refer to this post

REGARDING CLASSES: It will take you a few clicks but start with the TAB marked CLASSES at the top of this blog and you can navigate to my upcoming workshops. You will also find information about private classes if nothing fits your schedule.

Question about Metaling

Q: Have a Silver Stain question. I have a church piece done by Emil Frei, Jr, 1948. It appears to be Lambert's glass (gray/blue, purple). The Silver Stain has come off the original piece and the church wants it re-stained. There is metaling on the back; how do I remove the metaling?

A: It is very unusual for the silver stain to “come off”. The stain literally penetrates the glass and is as permanent as anything out there. I would be very curious to see some photos. Are you sure it’s stain and not enamel? Anyway to remove the metaling your only choice is a weak solution of hydrofluoric acid – use the proper safety precautions as it is dangerous stuff. I would be reluctant to refire the old glass, my suggestion would be to plate it with a layer of thin float glass – the silver stain takes very well on the tin side of float – you can refer to this illustration from my book:

BOOK RELEASE: Silver Stain - An Artist's Guide

I'm releasing my book: Silver Stain - An Artist's Guide.  In addition to all of the information in my silver stain tests included here on my blog there are dozens of additional illustrations and Technical Tips on glass painting.

You can view a 15 page preview of the 80 page book with this widget:

Silver Stain by J. Kenneth Leap | Make Your Own Book

Working on a book

The blog is great but some of you still like turning pages so I've started making a book on silver stain using "Book Smart" by Blurb!. The working title is:

Silver Stain An Artist's Guide

cover shot

screen capture

Applying Silver Stain by Hand

Silver stain applied with a brush

Wear a dust mask while handling the dry pigment. Use brushes with plastic ferrules, when possible, and mix stains in glass or plastic containers as silver stain is corrosive to metal. Clean your brush immediately after use. A dedicated set of silver stain brushes is recommended as silver stain can contaminate your other pigments. Silver stain can be mixed with any glass painting medium. Oil vs. water techniques will have an effect on the density and texture of the application but will not effect the color of the stain. The color results from the reaction of the chemistry of the stain and the chemistry of the glass. For the samples in this study I mixed the stains with distilled water and applied them with an airbrush. To achieve a gradation of color by hand: wet surface, apply stain, and blend with a badger blender. This guideline holds for both water or oil mixtures. It is better to achieve a gradation by diluting and blending while wet than by stippling the dry application. Most stains have their own binder so it is not necessary to add gum Arabic although adding gum may improve the flow of water mixtures. In some stains the binder is very stiff so you may find it easier to clean up stain while it is slightly damp or take my approach and mask areas to be stained with contact paper. 

The Reaction Test - AKA: Silver Stain Smackdown

In the first test, 18 different stains were applied to 10 different clear glasses (from different manufacturers) and fired at the same temperature (1100°F)  to reveal the relationship between the chemistry of the stain and the chemistry of the glass. The resulting samples were organized into sets in which these correlations could be clearly seen. One can view these results to learn how a particular stain took on different glasses or how a specific glass reacts to different stains. 

Firing Silver Stain

The samples were fired in an electric kiln over a 2 hour period to 1100° F and held at that temperature for 5 minutes.

Samples are fired "face up"

BEFORE: Unfired samples

AFTER: Fired samples (before removing clay residue). Note the color change of both the clay and the glass compared to the unfired samples above.

Applying Silver Stain with an Airbrush

Use an eyedropper to transfer the paint.

Add paint to the airbrush. I use a Paasche H-5.

Apply the paint in a gradation to the test samples.

Number the samples. This stain is Reusche 1382.

Remove the samples from the easel.

Mixing Silver Stain for Airbrush Application

For my samples, I mixed 2 teaspoons of silver stain with distilled water.

Stir with a brush in a plastic cup.

Strain the mixture. I use 220 mesh silk screen cloth.

Most of the stain will be too thick to pass through the mesh.

Add additional water and stir, forcing it through the mesh with the brush.

The mixture should be the consistency of heavy cream.

Preparing the Glass Samples

Clean with glass cleaner

Attach double face tape

Mount samples on the Glass Easel

Moisten with alcohol

Clean samples again