08/09-10 Enameling with Toner Decals 101 with Leslie Perrino

Saturday-Sunday, August 9-10, 2025
9:00 am -12:00 pm PDT
2, 3-hour sessions

Instructor: Leslie Perrino

Take your enamel imagery to a new level with toner decals.

Add detail, complexity, and uniqueness using toner decals you design and print yourself using a laser printer. toner Decals fire to a lovely dark sepia brown color, which can be the starting base for a variety of enamel designs

The workshop will begin with a quick review on how to prep the copper surface, correctly sift and fire enamels, and discuss optimal base color choices for the decals.

With a variety of pre-printed toner decals provided for you, we will learn to apply and fire the decals and move on to methods of painting and coloring the decals. Students will have an opportunity to practice firing the decals during the workshop.

We will cover how to purchase the proper laser printer and decal paper, and discuss how to set up and print out your own decals on the computer. Screen printing and commercial decals will be discussed if time permits.

I will demonstrate with a kiln, but this can be done using torch firing if preferred. A little experience with enameling is best but confident beginners may enjoy this class. 

All classes include the video recording, which you will have access to for 60 days after the class. The Zoom link, handouts, video(s), and other important information can be found by clicking on the individual class link on the "My Courses" page. The Zoom link and handout (if any) will be available 24 hours before the class starts.

You also get 1 free session of Open Studio Access (OSA) in the month following your class, the Zoom link can be found on the course video access page.

The class supply list is below and contains links to buy the supplies you need.

Supply List for Students

The links below will take you to RioGrande.com or other suppliers. To see prices for precious metal items, you need a free Rio Grande account. Students in the Rio for Schools program enjoy wholesale benefits for six months (instructor code = RFSLMF). This site may contain Amazon and other affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, at no cost to you, we may receive a small commission on qualifying purchases.

Recommended Tools:

• Enameling kiln (or access to one, see note at end of list) or
• Torch. You may also torch fire if you prefer, but I will demonstrate using a kiln.
• Trivets
• Tongs
• Klyr-Fire enamel adhesive
• Sifters
• Magazine pages for sifting, etc
• Copper shapes, 24-20 gauge. This is a good place to start, but any gauge is probably OK. You choose the size and shapes to use. I am sending small decals for 1-2 inch pieces, and a little larger overall patterns. Slightly domed pieces are OK.
• Pre-enameled steel plates are great for this process, but not required if you are interested.
• Small bowl of water for the decal slides
• Tweezers
• Scissors
• Masking tape
• Paper towels or rags
• Access to rinse water

Sifting Enamel:

Any brand enamel suitable for enameling on copper is acceptable. I am using Thompson Lead-Free Enamels med temp - medium expansion (1000 and 2000 series colors). OP 1030 foundation white is an ideal base coat for painting. Other whites are good, too, but avoid matte white.

Any opaque light colors that you have on hand, which will show the dark sepia color of the toner enamel, are acceptable. Colors such as cobalt and black are not recommended for toner decals.

If you are purchasing enamels, here are some suggested colors to get you started. You do not need to purchase them all!

You can apply decals over light transparent enamels; the results are more subtle.

• Opaque
  • OP 1030 Foundation White
  • 1202 Off White
  • 1225 Yellow Lemon
  • 1308 Lichen
  • 1319 Bittergreen
  • 1419 Robins Egg
  • 1515 Horizon Blue
    
  • 1605 Isle Blue
  • 1610 Sky Blue
  • 1705 Petal Pink
  • 1708 Pastel Pink
  • 1710 Tallow Pink
  • 1820 Goldenrod
    
  • 1850 Pumpkin
  • 1870 Orient Red
  • 1905 pastel grey
  • 1912 nude grey
• Transparent enamels:
  • 2040 Hard fusing clear
  • 2030 Medium Fusing Clear. You can apply transparent enamels OVER your decals; again, light colors are best.
  • 2230 Lime
  • 2305 Nile Green
  • 2410 Copper Green
  • 2530 Water Blue
  • 2615 Periwinkle
  • 2650 Heron Blue
  • 2720 Harold Purple
  • 2810 Geranium
  • 2845 Mikado Orange

  Purchase options: 1 ounce should be sufficient for trying a few smaller projects, 2 oz may be better if you want to do larger pieces or multiple coats.

  • 1 ounce or more quantities from E-namels
  • 2oz quantities from Thompson Enamels

Optional Supplies:

Below are all optional materials that you can decide if you want to have for the workshop. If it seems too confusing, you may want to wait until I have demonstrated it before you decide to purchase.

• Painting enamel. If you would like to paint your decals, you can use whatever type of enamel paint you prefer. This isn’t required for the workshop; you can purchase after the class demonstration. I will be using Thompsons 900 E-Set and E-namels.com Sunshine Painting Enamels.
• Decal Paper. If you want to try designing and printing your own toner decals, it must be clear, laser-based.
• HPlaserjetM209dwe Laser Printer with HP toner 134A
  The printer must be a laser. The toner must have more than 45% iron oxide or ferrite in the ink. Not all laser printers have this. You can test your own laser printer by looking up its safety data sheet (SDS) and checking the ink component. I will explain this in more detail in the workshop. You can test by printing a sheet on your own laser printer, applying it on your enamel piece, and firing. If it doesn’t result in an image, then the toner is not usable. Usually, Brother brands do not work.
• Screens. I will go over this option in the workshops. If you have screens for enameling or want to try it during the workshop, if time permits, here are the supplies you need. Decal paper, cut up (see above for source)
  Screens
• Golden OPEN Acrylic Gel Gloss, slow-drying acrylic medium
• Plastic scraper (can be an old credit card or similar) or this one.
• Metallic mica powders. If you have Pearlex pigments or any other metallic mica powders, they should work
• Firing racks
  
• Firing fork
  
• Long tweezers to move pieces from the trivet
• Heat-proof surface, tiles, bricks, marble, etc.

Kiln 

Use your preferred enameling kiln. As long as you have a swing-type door and the kiln will hold at 1500°F, you are good to go. If you are buying new, below are suggestions for the enameling setup. If you have a non-programmable kiln, I highly recommend adding a Sentry Express or other programmable device. 

• Hotshot kiln
• Paragon SC2 8x7.75x 5.75”
  
• Paragon SC3 8x7.75x7.75”