Enamels and enamelling; an introduction to the preparation and ...

PREPARING THE ARTICLES FOR ENAMELLING. 141
air, whereupon the thin stratum of (nearly boiling)
water is
immediately evaporated by the heat of the metal.
When dry, the goods are quite ready for enamelling, and
should, preferably, be handed over at once to the workman
entrusted with that task. If this is inconvenient they must
be stored out of contact with dust. Attempts have been made
to store the pickled and rinsed ware under water, but when
well water is used it is found that the bright surface very soon
tarnishes and becomes covered with a yellow sediment. This
is due to the presence, in well water, of carbon dioxide, which
corrodes iron ;
the free oxygen, also invariably present, con-
verts the dissolved ferrous oxide into ferric oxide, which is
thereupon deposited as firmly adherent rust very difficult to
remove.
The best plan to adopt in all instances is to arrange the
various operations in the works, so that the goods when
pickled and dried can be immediately
the enamellers.
handed over to