WarmGlass.com

Up to what diameter blank are you trying to get to? I will watch this thread to learn also. These members have lots of experience and ideas.

http://www.mdpub.com/scopeworks/blanks/index.html has been fusing glass for sometime. Check it out.

Nice thought points all. Appreciate the info. Fiber blanket walls and roof. Hadn't considered that tack. Any suggestions of brands? I suppose plate glass will need heating to around 1500-1700F for the process. Annealing seems like a controllable process when one doesn't ramp down too fast. I can see...

@Morganica - Sorry that I am not him but I did read Byte magazine back in the day. Seems the WBs in the world are numerous. I have a funny story about how I got married in my previous life but I digress. :) @Bert - IFB are not the best choice then for kiln design? Seems most electric kilns use them ...

@Morganica - Yeah. It just needs to be close. The mirror grinding process can get better than 1/4 wavelength of light to the intended shape so no worries there. I have a CNC mill that can shape anything to form a mold mold. :) Just got to keep thinking. Nothing like generating a solution to keep me ...

@Marty - All points understood. I was thinking of maybe using Castalot for your mentioned graphite mold. Envisioned having the cap (top) mold sit above the glass surface off the glass until the slumping process was complete, then lower the mold cap onto the soft glass (a twist guide onto alignment p...

Thanks for the reply Tony. This process would involve having the glass conform to the mold for the bottom and top shapes. http://www.mdpub.com/scopeworks/hexagons/images/s_125hexback.jpg shows what the glass would slump to the mold. Now on top it would have a mold to shape the concave sagitta. The s...

Let's see if I can ask this intelligently. I am brain-storming about making telescope mirror blanks. The process I want to do involves slumping glass to a mold plus providing a curve to the mirror face to save grinding time. I guess my question becomes can one do both a slump and a press fit process...