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I think those marks will probably disappear when you fire the strips. Unless you just absolutely have to use each and every one of the strips you made, take one of the ones that's least usable and test fire it along with something else you're doing.

And further, what do you mean by "laminated?" Are you asking if it should be layered with another layer of glass? Or perhaps layering your glass with some other backing substance? If glass, will you be fusing the two layers together?

Sounds like a very ambitious project!

... However, I have seen a few of these rings that have maintained their circular shape and are not quite as flat on the sides (see large rings in attached image). Is this the result of less time in the kiln or an artist who is very experienced with slumping? ... Paula Hmmm ... still a puzzle to me...

Our neighbor has some bottles she'd like slumped into a mold. The bottles are very tall (19 in.) blue glass Riesling bottles, with a narrow shoulder (brand unknown). None of the molds I've seen from some Googling are quite that long. I am not at all into bottle slumping, but have told her I'd try a ...

[Ooops! Meant to direct to @Judd. ]

I think she's talking about an outdoor fire pit (aka "outdoor fireplace") that uses propane as fuel, rather than wood. Such pits are frequently populated with lava rock which is then often topped off with [expensive] decorative glass beads.

@Bob: I have, so far, been unable to satisfactorily kiln wash a large diameter stainless ball mold I've got. I've tried heating, air-brushing, etc., but haven't found the proper combination of approaches yet. I'm wondering: a) What size grit do you sandblast with, and b) Once having sandblasted, can...

Mmmm ... perfect opportunity for some controlled testing. I, for one, would like to see your various results.

@LauraM: Sounds like an interesting process - how 'bout a picture of a finished product? Also: Do the pinprick holes you're talking about exist before firing? Are they a series of closely-spaced holes that appear in curving lines? Or do they only appear after firing? Are they [essentially] randomly ...

Thanks, all. I clearly wasn't diligent enough in my searching - the darn things are all over the place.

Saw some very nice fused glass drawer pulls at a builders hardware supply store today. Anybody know where I can find ready-made findings for such items? I.e., flat metal strips or small squares (to which fused glass would be glued) with attached female threaded standoffs/posts.

Thanks.

Wow. Are the tongues stringer? Or did you actually manage to cut those as part of the larger piece?

Breakage aside, I'm pretty impressed by the black figure. Did you cut that yourself?

Won't the contraction of a single layer possibly cause the glass to gather up the KW as it (the glass) contracts? Begs the question as to why it started doing that now though, after doing many other pieces successfully in the past. What's changed? Glass still the same? Schedule still the same? Any c...

Were the 5-6 rods visible in the image originally there to help arrange the glass pieces before the melt? Did they perhaps roll around when the glass started melting and allow the volume to shift towards the center while the rack was beginning to fall in? Not sure that has anything to do with the fr...

Sorry - I misinterpreted the disk measurement you cited - I thought you meant the abrasive disk was 6" in diameter, and you were talking about the glass disk. Right?

Some questions/comments: 1. Your disks are 6-8" in diameter, and the lap has a 24" diameter wheel? If that's correct, I would think you'd have to be really, really careful of not letting your piece extend over the edge of the disk, or you'll risk getting grooves in the piece where it laps ...

[... In my experience, fumes from uncapped silver are not significant enough to create any kind of problem. However, if you fire silver in a kiln, the silver can stain the shelf and cause a reaction with future firings on the same shelf. ... Brad: Those two sentences seem a tad contradictory - can ...

I have made a few pieces using capped silver leaf, and haven't seen any untoward lasting effects in the kiln from that work. Maybe the fuming problems occur when the silver is uncapped? Or against the shelf? And if on the shelf side, would the use of Thinfire mitigate the fuming problems?

If you're technologically comfortable with a PC, and an MS Office user, I'd highly recommend the use of OneNote for keeping records of your firings. OneNote will allow you to include text, photos, drawings, sketched annotations, etc. for each trip through the kiln. It will also make subsequent searc...

Are you talking about cooking up little 1/4" - 1/2" balls from small pieces?

I stack two squarish pieces of 3 mm, with the top one rotated about 45 deg. I fuse them on ThinFire and they come out clean as a whistle. No muss, no fuss.