kiln questions

mktucker · Post by **mktucker** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 7:51 pm

I'm new to to this fusing and have a kiln that will temp up fairly quickly, how fast can I do simple fusing of bullseye, and can I just let it cool naturally once it is flashed to about l000? I can program the kiln if necessary but I hate to add unnecessary steps. I'm trying to learn on my own plus Brad's book (not much available here in the NC mountains) and hate to learn by trial and error. I've fused some small jewelry pieces and so far with no cracking, is that something I may expect later or is it what you see is what you get? Thanks, Mary Kay

KILN-TEC · Post by **KILN-TEC** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 10:46 pm

Welcome to the world of kilnformed glass! You do need to control how fast you ramp up and down, the larger the piece, the slower you go. You will also need to hold & anneal your glass on the cool down side. Is your kiln fiber or bricks? It makes a difference on how far down you have to control it.
I use Spectrum so am not the expert on bullseye, but you can get fusing & slumping charts from them, your glass store, & this websites archive. Most of the people here do use Bullseye and are full of good information.
Good Luck!
Rich Edelman KILN-TEC
http://www.kilntec.com
http://www.artnglasstudio.com

Barbara Muth · Post by **Barbara Muth** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 7:49 am

Mary Kay, while you may hate to learn by trial and error, modified trial and error is the best way possible. Having things that did not work as I planned has often taken me in new and exciting directions. Read the archives and you will find that you can learn a lot from the errors of the people on the board. I would say that about 90% of what I know comes either from reading the board or from experimenting in my basement. And I do have a lot of rejects in there.

You didn't tell us what kiln you got. I started out learning with a Paragon Quickfire. A year and a half later I was more than ready for my 24 inch Jen Ken and as soon as I fired that puppy up my work took off.

Have fun learning!

Barbara

mktucker · Post by **mktucker** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 8:45 pm

Thanks all for the info, I have an Olympic 189GFE, decided not to start with the tabletop type as I knew I would end up buying a second kiln. I hope to also do some pottery later but for now the glass fusing has my interest. I've done about 20 jewelry pieces so far and no cracks but plan to move on to bigger things as I find success and suppliers. Your achives are so helpful and I will keep digging through and learning. MK

Jack Bowman · Post by **Jack Bowman** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 8:50 pm

Mary Kay,

Being in North Carolina, you might want to check this out, if you haven't already.

http://www.penland.org/

Jack