WarmGlass.com

I'm using GEII on a sign for the studio that is outdoors. About 80 pcs or so of glass are glued to a substrate of concrete board hung vertically. In the summer it gets to well over 100F, and in the winter it's seen 10 below. It's about five years old now. Interestingly the only failure I've seen has...

Did the crack occur where the glass was thinner? And how close to the surface was the wire at that point.

Linda-I'm puzzled that the bottom is very rough. What is the surface of the mold like? When you're done with the slump is the glass conforming to the mold completely. I don't know what could happen in a slump with a smooth mold that would have the glass go from smooth to rough, short of an overcook ...

Ed Hoys has a product available called Invisible Shield. It's a polymer coating that works well on sandblasted surfaces. Gives a less matte look and seals from fingerprints, dust, etc. I've used it and it works as advertised.

I second Jim and Brock. I take notes, digital shots, and put it all in an Access database, and I use controllers exclusively. I would characterize my approach as not set and forget, but as remember and set. The remembering is gray matter augmented with records, the set part of it is determined by th...

If you can babysit your kiln for every firing, have a good pyrometer, are good at record keeping and will mainly be doing onesies then you can get by without a controller, or to put it another way, you will be the human kiln controller. If you want to fire unattended, do some kind of production, and...

While using paper used to solve bubble troubles, the new thin fire is much denser than the old, and I've had to work through some problems I have not seen in years. Generally, the bubbles arise when the glass size exceeds 12 x 12. The new paper has some great attributes, but letting air out is not o...

I've been using the new thinfire for a few months now and have noticed a few differences. The burn off is same as always, but the new paper is much denser, and in fact behaves like kiln shelf at full fuse. I have had air entrapment issues with the new paper that I have not had since firing directly ...

First thought is why do you need more and more water? Are you doing some kind of unusual grinding? I have a half dozen grinders in my studio and the usual sponge delivery suffices 99% of the time. If you want to rig up something fast and cheap, I'd get the kind of hummingbird feeder that uses a tube...

I agree with rosanna-Your kiln just couldn't get hot enough to burn off all the binder. If your kiln has multiple elements I would bet that you've lost one or more, leaving it limping along on impulse power. If you only have one element, it has to be a poor connection, which will not only get worse ...

I second Bob and Jack. I use silicone for many glass to glass and glass to metal bonds, and have seen it hold up to both high and low temps for years. Hardware store will most likely have small tubes of GE Silicone II for about $4. Just be careful applying it, as it can be very messy and is tough to...

Quick addendum. Was back in the studio and for fun pulled out six sheets of float that were factory cut. I could easily tell the non tin side on every one by looking at the edge, so method may be more reliable than I previously indicated.

This is not as useful a method as UV, but in a pinch it may help. On occassion, if you look at the edge of the float (but only on sheets cut at the factory), you can see that one side of the edge has a rougher texture than the other. This indicates the non tin side. The roughness is a result of the ...

Another aspect of either peeking or flashing is the corruption of meaningful data. If you are trying to be methodical about learning the glasses behavior, as well as your kilns, you'll be keeping some sort of records. The simplest being graph paper and a notebook, the other extreme being a software ...

Linda-Easiest thing to try is a lower target temperature. Don't know what the mfr. meant by bringing it down slower, but my guess is that you can dramatically reduce your target and get a good slump with no bubble. Susan-Unfortunately you can't fill the bubble with frit and re-fire. The fusing temp ...

Unfortunately, if only the control circuitry is on the timer and the relay siezes in the on position, turning off the control circuitry will not shut off the power. Tony is right, but this scenario has never happened with my mechanical contactors. The biggest failure issue I have is associated with...

Unfortunately, if only the control circuitry is on the timer and the relay siezes in the on position, turning off the control circuitry will not shut off the power. Tony is right, but this scenario has never happened with my mechanical contactors. The biggest failure issue I have is associated with...

I fire my kilns unattended about 95% of the time, and have used mechanical relays(contactors) from the start, about twelve years ago. In that time I have had numerous relay failures, but never have had them stick closed. The problems I see are : 1-deterioration of the contacts, which once begun caus...

Greg-I just drilled a 1" thick sink a couple of months ago. It was too big for the drill press so I did it by hand with my porta cable 1/2" drill, and a core bit. These drills are relatively low rpm, but with high torque, so one must be very careful about the angle of approach. I started f...

Bert, Tony and Bob are right-Go with Omega, spend the $ and get a stainless sheathed thermocouple. One failure of a home made weld and you have most likely more than offset the savings. I have been using the Omegas for twelve years, and have thousands of firings on them, and only three failures.