manufacturer of enamelled plates
Located in the heart of the Vosges enamel industry, l’atelier de l’émail offers an innovative service, both traditional and digital, for printing decorations, photos, visuals, etc. in vitreous enamel.
Street signs, tourist information panels, souvenir plaques, commemorative plaques, decorative plaques, event plaques – whatever your signage needs, we can manufacture one-off pieces or medium-sized series.
The result is incomparable in terms of durability, customisation and value for money.
There are 4 key areas in the manufacture of enamelled sheets:
A unique process for manufacturing enamelled plaques that combines traditional craftsmanship with technological innovation
From the shaping of the sheet to the final glazing of the printed decoration, the manufacture of the sheets involves a succession of manual operations to create a unique object.
Stage 1: shaping the steel plates
The EN10209-standard enamelling steel plates arrive at the enamel workshop cut to size and drilled to customer requirements.
Stage 2: protection, durability
Once they have been washed to remove all traces of grease, the plates are enamelled by hand using pressure spraying at the Manufacture, the industrial part of the enamelling process.
Covered on both sides with this undercoat of black enamel vitrified at 810°C, the plates are protected against corrosion and chemical attack. This ensures the durability of the product.
Stage 3: creating the print media
Depending on the order, the spray gunners then take each plate and apply the coloured background enamel to the front. Once it has dried in hot air, the result is what we call a “dry enamel biscuit”.
Stage 4: digital printing
It is on this dry enamel biscuit that our team prints the required decoration (photo, reproduction of old images, texts, drawings, etc.).
This is a digital printing process using inorganic inks. These inks, specifically developed for this machine, are composed of a mixture of mineral pigments and crushed enamel frits. There are 7 print heads: 5 colours plus black and white.
For optimum print quality on an A4 plate,
the image supplied should be close to 4000 x 3000 pixels.
Stage 5: sealing the enamelled sheets
Finally, the inks are fused with the biscuit enamel base at 810°C (pastel colours are therefore preferable).
The advantages of this process :
- print any visual – including a photo – on any steel or cast iron object. As long as it fits under the printer. The only limit is your imagination!
- no waste, no water treatment, no solvents
- quality of the greys and nuances in the details
- all the advantages of a vitrified surface (anti-tag, easy maintenance)
- surprising depth of impression
- durability of the material
- unique, unrivalled value for money.
Potential limitations:
- bright colours, particularly on solid surfaces.
They trust us
If you have a project concerning enamelling in general or would like further information, please visit our contact page. We will do our utmost to satisfy you as quickly as possible.
