February 2004 Fusing

(click on photos for larger versions)

Egg & Star Pendants

Composition:

Star: S96 clear. amber, white with dichroic shards. 3 1/2 layers.  Curved fiber paper between layers allows for stringing.
Egg: S96 clear; blue/green, red/orange dichroic. 3 layers.

• Pre-fuse

One of the bits of dichro wandered in the star as the cap glass melted over it. Maybe should have glued it down.

Dichroic Necklace

Composition: (3/4" circles & 1.5" ellipses)

• S96 clear and blue/green and red/orange dichroic

• bottom to top: clear, clear, dichroic, clear

Sawed down the middle of each bead of 2nd layer from bottom to make room for fiber paper for the bead holes.

• pre-fuse 1, 2

I also found that LimeAway is perfect for removing stuck-on kiln wash. Dead easy. Got that from the Warm Glass bulletin board.

Borax Bubbles Test

I read that Borax is a more controllable alternative to baking soda for inserting bubbles. I got a box of 20 Mule Team borax.

• 2 clear layers with varying amounts of borax: 1, 2, 3 pre-fuse

This is from test 1. It gives fine bubbles for a relatively dense application of borax. Nice! The other tests gave almost imperceptible bubbles.So, I expect baking soda is still needed for BIG bubbles.

Triangles Necklace

Composition: (1" triangles & 1.5" rectangle)

• S96 clear, red and blue/green and clear dichroic

• bottom to top: clear, , red, clear - dichroic-side down,

Sawed down the middle of each 2nd layer from bottom to make room for fiber paper for the holes.

• pre-fuse 1, 2

• post-fuse

• the center piece was a bit big, and the triangles did not lie properly. So I tried another center piece

  • pre-fuse - the hanger was made by laying the diamond on top of a clear rectangle, with a 2nd clear rectangle on top butted up against the diamond and capturing the fiber paper to form the hole.

  • post-fuse

Penta Pendant

This was done in an EvenHeat Hot Box (borrowed from Stained Glass Images).

Composition: (2")

• S96 white, clear, red; black medium frit; dichroic scraps.
• channel made with fiber paper at upper right point in the photo.

Top layer was resting on red & frit, and on the fiber paper.

Fusing schedule was a rapid fuse on settings 4 & 5 up to 1550F. Then turned off.

• Fusing was done on a graphite pad. This left a residue on the back.

Red & White Cereal Bowl

Composition: (8 1/8")

• S96 clear, red, white; clear dichroic; black stringers and medium frit. Clear bottom layer.

Standard firing to 1500F. Note that clear dichroic on white is not too exciting. Standard slump.

• pre-fuse 1, 2
• post fuse

Circles Fluted Bowl

Composition: (12")

• S96 clear, black, amber, red. Heaps of clear shards on the clear blank and circles

Standard fuse to 1500F. Standard slump.

• post fuse

Fluted Vase

I'm testing using fiber board to create my own moulds. I soaked a piece of fiber board in rigidizer and (eventually) fired it to 1300F. It came out rigid enough to easily sand and carve. I carved out slots with a chisel. Then kiln wash.

The fluted vase is two clear layers of S96 with circle segments in red, yellow and blue in between the clear. Then clear shards on top with a few yellow stringers.

• post fuse

I slumped the vase at 1400F. It flowed very quickly as it reached 1400! The channels are well-defined on the bottom of the rim, and are smoother on top. It looks floral. The mould seems to have survived perfectly!

Last modified: 02/29/04 18:44:48 -0800