Thanks Bob

 I recently met Bob, a fused glass artist, at my screen printing class. Bob is very interested in screen printing designs onto glass using enamel and binder and then fusing the glass. We had quite a few conversations about glass and glass fusing.


Bob has been kind enough to give me a large dish mould   in a shape and size that I haven't used before (it measures 30cm X 20cm) so I have tested the mould using float glass. There's no point in designing a piece using expensive glass if I make a mistake with the first fusing. 

First I drew a template of the dish and cut two pieces of float glass, grinding them to shape. Next I flat used the two pieces up to 842 degrees c (1547.60 degrees f) and then put it back in the kiln to fire polish the edges.

Finally I slumped the glass piece in the mould so that the glass would slump down into the shape of the dish. I also tested a new soap dish mould in the same firing.

Glassprimitif will be exhibiting at the Makers' Fair as part of the Saltaire Arts Trail in May 2012. Find out more about the Makers' Fair HERE. 

Fresh from the kiln

Glass tiles ready for slumping

I'm so happy that I have finally got my Bullseye fusing programme right after lots of adjustments including holding temperature, full fuse and annealing temperature.

Tiles on slump moulds

Of course, having a larger kiln means that I can now fire larger pieces and more of them too. In the past it would take a week to fully fuse four coasters as I could only fire two on the kiln shelf - now it takes me 2 days to fuse 16 coasters! Yay! 

A small dish would take 3 days to make, fuse and slump. Now I can slump four dishes at once and make glass panels up to 30cm in size. OK, so not huge but big enough for me. 

My lovely large kiln arrived last year, courtesy of Northern Kilns, who did a fantastic job of wrestling it up two flights of stairs and installing it in the attic. It's just the right height and runs off the ordinary electric socket and, most importantly, the heat elements are in the lid, sitting in transparent onyx tubes. So no more cold spots on the kiln shelf. 

Adrian from Northern Kilns

My tiny jeweller's kiln

Creating a Glass Dish Part 3

So here is the glass, fully fused. It is really a glass tile that now has to be slumped. Glass can be slumped (falls into a mould) or sagged (falls over a mould). This occurs at a lower fusing temperature than full fusing. I prepare the mould in the same way that I prepare the kiln shelf, by applying kiln wash with a brush. I take care when applying the wash so that it doesn't run down the inside of the mould and gather at the bottom only. Before I place the glass tile on the mould I check the base to see if there is any kiln wash stuck to it or any residue. I rinse the glass in hot water and vinegar and dry it carefully. In this image you will see that the glass tile has been placed on the slumping mould. The glass should be the same size or slightly smaller than the mould. Any larger and the glass will slump over the edges as well as sinking to the bottom of the mould. The pink edge of the glass is actually the fresh kiln wash showing through the clear glass.

Now I fuse the glass to exactly the same schedule as before except, when the kiln has reached 1,400f, I turn the kiln dial down to 2 and leave it for two hours. The glass will have slumped into the mould but hasn't reached its strain release point so I don't put the glass through an annealing segment.