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Ok First I want to say im not very good at this part of the doing . Im a hands on kind of gal ...Come on down & ill show you how I do it .
Next all kiln are different so this is not set in stone.
Have Fun Play with the Glass As thats what im doing .
Cheryl
Tempered glass Bowls & Plates.
First all the glass you use should be from the same window for each bowl etc.
You can do it 2 ways
first put the glass on your kiln shelf in a pile spread it a round to the size you want to use for your project .
put shelf in the kiln turn kiln on low 500. (lid open about 1")
Close lid turn kiln to med. to 1000 hold 30 mins. This should even out the heat.
turn kiln to hi to 1475 hold till you fuse the glass. yes you will have to peek
I flash my kiln a bit to about 1000. To anneal the glass hold temp at 900 for 1 hour. this is a pain but will stabilize your glass
I have found doing the glass this way I have to fire more then 1 time in the mold ..as the glass tends to split and I have had to fill in the gaps with more glass .
The 2nd way it to stack the glass in the mold and then fire try to have each piece of glass touch at least 3 sides. the glass shrinks a bit but I didn't get any splits in the bowls.
If after you take your bowl out of the kiln it breaks around the edges you didn't fire it long enough. You can keep it the way it is and just not handle it much or refire .
Ok I hope this is understandable this is all really new to me IM just learning to use my kiln so IM making this all up as I go along
Some of my tempered glass pieces have been fired 3 to 5 times ... because I didn't like the way they came out the first time ...
There isnt much out there in the way of tempered glass and thoses that are using don't want to share what works for them.
After all these years I'm finally able to make one of these bowls.
I've been dreaming of these for so long, so this morning I woke
to wonder why I don't just do it.
Here comes the stupid question. Should I put the glass on the outside
of the bowl, or the inside?
I'm sitting here placing glass around the outside of a kiln washed
stainless steel bowl, thinking I've screwed up. The lip will catch the
glass, but I just realized I may be goofing it all from the word go.
So please help me if you can. Glass on the outside or inside of the
bowl mold?
I've never worked with tempered glass, but I fuse 90 COE glass. The rule there is that you slump INTO a pottery mold and ON TOP OF stainless steel mold.
I've been wanting to make one of these bowls, so I am eager to hear denimangle's reply.
Sorry . We have been gone all day setting up the Traveling Vietnam Wall .
Will be leaving again soon . If you first fuse the tempered glass together you can put it on the out side of the SS bowl.
if you are just stacking it goes inside but not SS the bowl will contract faster then the glass and might crack the glass bowl or hold on to it so you cant get the glass out ..
again sorry for the short answer but got to run .
Cheryl
In many ways, stainless steel is the perfect mold material. It is lightweight, difficult to deform, and able to last for a thousand firings or more. Simple bowl forms are relatively inexpensive to buy -- you can even use cheap stainless steel bowls. (All you need to do is drill three or four small - 1/8" or less - holes in the bottom for air to escape.)
Stainless steel molds do need to be covered with kiln wash. This is difficult to do when the mold is at room temperature, but it can easily be accomplished by heating the mold to around 400 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, then brushing or spraying on the kiln wash while the mold is hot. The water in the wash will evaporate, leaving the protective elements behind.
Also, it's important to realize that steel contracts more than does glass. (That's the opposite of clay, which contracts less than does glass.) As a result, slumping on the outside of a stainless steel form generally works better than slumping on the inside.
Still, you can get away with slumping inside gentle bowl forms; just make certain it's well covered in kiln wash (you might even sprinkle a little kiln wash powder inside) and be aware that slumping inside deeper forms (such as inside a stainless steel cup) may not work.
"Stainless steel molds do need to be covered with kiln wash. This is difficult to do when the mold is at room temperature, but it can easily be accomplished by heating the mold to around 400 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, then brushing or spraying on the kiln wash while the mold is hot. The water in the wash will evaporate, leaving the protective elements behind."
The above way is a pain in the UKW...
Here is a much easier way .. make your kiln wash thick like a paste and just kind of pat it on with your brush get a good coat on and let it dry put more on where needed.
I found this out when I got to the bottom of my kilnwash jar ..and a lot of the kiln was had settled to the bottom :-) works great you can also dry it useing a hair dryer.
Cheryl
I'm new to this thread, and just happened upon it while searching for something else. I'm so intrigued by this process and am looking into buying the necessary tools to take up this craft.
Looks like there hasn't been a post in 1.5 years?! Is that true, or did the thread move and I missed the new link? I can't imagine that such a popular thread would end so abruptly. Please advise, as I'd love to continue following the creative minds behind tumbled glass art.
Most of the gang hangs out on the Trash to Treasure thread. It's not
that we've given up, we're just doing other things. Trust me, these great
threads always make a comeback. They may take a bit of time, but it
will happen.
Hi Tonifafa,
Karen is so right Its spring gardens are taking lots of time .. Im still melting glass just different glass:)
And a new thread has been started for kiln work
Well, it seems hubby has moved things around in the shop, so
firing the kiln would mean a sure fire or explosion.
He promises (heavy sigh) to install wiring so I can fire my kiln
outside in the carport, on the deck, or someplace other than an
enclosed small room with paint, solvents, giant propane tanks, etc.
It is the only reason I haven't run the kiln, but I am verrrry anxious
to get moving!
Hoping he'll install soon, or maybe I'll hint about hiring someone.
"Hoping he'll install soon, or maybe I'll hint about hiring someone".
either that or I start to do it my self ... That always gets them going ...lol
Cheryl
Hi..I am new at this...my name is Maria I just bought a 111F kiln for glass , ceramic and pmc...metal glass...do u have any information on cones...and other supplies for this kiln..I haven't use my new kiln..because I want to learn alot about it before I use...thanks for ur help.
Maria,
Hi and Welcome,
I only play with glass and dont use any cones as you dont use them with glass
heres a good place to ask questions about ceramic
Im wanting to try a little pmc as soon as I have a few extra bucks to play with ...there are a few things I have seen that look really useing the PMC and glass
