Hi! so it‘s getting close to Christmas time, and every year i like to make things for my older sister. For example, last year i bought a mid sized mirror with a wooden frame from a.c. moore, and painted the frame and put pictures from her wedding (which was in the previous october) all along the frame. but my point is, i like to make handmade things, but ones that look really nice. ANYWAYS, this year, since her and her husband will be moving into a new house in january, i wanted to make them something they could use in their home. i was thinking of making her hand-painted plates that are dishwasher safe, but i wasn‘t sure where to purchase plates that i could handpaint, and what paint to get, and how to get them safe to eat off of, and dishwasher safe. so if you guys know any details that would be greatly appreciated, as i have absolutely no clue how to do this!! thanks!!and if anybody has any other homemade gift ideas that are nice, please let me know!!
There are some places where you can glaze and fire pre-made clay items. Doing it from scratch takes some skill - I have some that my daughter made which are quite usable and cool, though not professional quality
There are paints made for glass and glazed items which are dishwasher proof. Many craft stores sell them. Pebeo is the name. Experiment a little with some cheap things at home. Using that paint can be very time consuming, it takes a little practice to get good with it and you don't want to set yourself up for a bigger project than you meant to. It's not like normal paint. There are places that sell you greenware, which is pottery/ceramic stuff that is ready to decorate. You decorate it, then they fire it in their kiln so it becomes a finished product. You will probably only find those in larger cities. Try the phone book under Greenware
ceramic plates are made from clay, you mix it up pour it in a mold bake it at 500 deg for 12 hrs in a kiln let it cool for 6 hrs paint it then re fire it, try a Ceramic shop
Prep the pipe ends by rubbing with steel wool to remove oxidation. Applying a flux will prevent oxidation during heating and ensure a solid bold position the pieces of pipe and heat the copper pipe either with a torch or a soldering iron (I personally prefer a torch for this application) until the metal is hot enough to melt the solder. Touch the solder to the joint and it will flow. Take away the heat and allow to cool. Sometimes people apply heat from the soldering iron or torch directly to the solder. This doesn't work. Solder will flow toward heat. You don't want to flow toward your heat source but toward the joint. This is why you heat the pipe itself and then touch the solder to the pipe.it allows to solder to flow evenly.
There have been some very good suggestions about how to solder the pipes to the valve body. Unless I missed it however, one important item has been overlooked. Before you attempt to solder in the valve body take it apart so the washers and seals inside the valve are not damaged during the heating process. When it is all soldered and cooled you can reassemble the valve.
