hiding devit

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Kay McConnell
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2003 2:39 pm
Location: Hershey, PA

hiding devit

Post by Kay McConnell »

I'm still a newbie to kiln work. Last evening I was fusing two pieces together prior to slumping them. When I opened the kiln this morning, the piece was a gorgeous oval, beautiful rounded sides, but with devit all over the top. (sigh...). I've seen solutions that can be applied to glass that result in the glass appearing as if it were "etched". After I'm done slumping this, would this etching liquid be a possibility? Has anyone ever tried this? Will the devit get worse with the second firing for slumping?
Also, the piece is larger in diameter than the mold (guess it spread?). It probably extends 1/4" on all sides of the mold. Can it still be used? If I grind it down to size, I'll lose my beautiful rounded edges. Will those edges reappear on the slumping firing? Thanks in advance for your help.
Kay (AKA- Rushsmom)
Cynthia

Post by Cynthia »

As far as the size goes, it should be fine. I intentionally make my pieces about 1/2 to 1" larger in diameter than my mold (dependent upon how deep the mold is).

You should get a fire polish on a slump, dependent upon how high a temp you use to bend the piece. I bend at about 1150 to 1200 and it glosses up a ground edge alright. It won't round the edges at this low temp though.

Once you have devit, you have devit unless you remove that glass by sandblasting or grinding it off.

To mask the devit you can try to use an overglaze such as Borax, Supersray, Spray A, Bending glaze or Back magic. The last three contain lead as a flux, so will mature at lower temps. I think Bending glaze matures at 1000 or thereabouts. Check Fusion Headquarters for specifics (link through our sponsors at the top of the page) SuperSpray matures at full fusing temps, so that one, although lead free can only be used if you refire the piece to full fuse temps. Borax matures at full fuse temps as well in my experience. You still may be unsuccessful in masking the devit though with any of the oversprays....then again, it just might work. Might be worth a try though if you don't have access to a sandblaster.

Eching creams, found at the glass suppliers, for window glass don't seem to work well on BE...don't know about Spectrum or other glasses.

Someone else might chime in with other options for you.
Susan Moore
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Post by Susan Moore »

I'm still new at this as well but I tried Back Magic on a few pendants (white irid and spring green) trying to shine up the backs - took it to 1000 and let it sit for about 10 minutes. When I checked on the pendants there were portions that discoloured to an ugly grayish black (from the lead) and the back wasn't shiny either so I am not a fan of the Back-ain't-no-Magic.

Susan
Dick Ditore
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Post by Dick Ditore »

Back magic says it matures at 1000 but it is closer to 1200. All the sprays seem to require a higher fire polish. On bad spots I usually just sandblast and fire to 1300.

Dick
Tony Serviente
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Post by Tony Serviente »

I've found that etch cream is not useful for either BE or SP or any other glass put in a kiln. Doesn't remove enough material.
Suzan
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Location: Ottawa, Ontario Canada
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Post by Suzan »

Velvet Etch works well to etch away devit as well as kiln wash that won't come off the back on Spectrum 96 glass. I usually full fuse again to get back the polish, but recently I was in a hurry and went straight to the slump at 1350F. It was enough to return the glass back its glossy state. Of course, you need to experiment to see what temp fire polishes in your kiln.

I get Velvet Etch at my SG dealer, and leave it on for about 1 hour.

Cheers,
Suzan
Bev Brandt
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Location: St. Louis, MO
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Post by Bev Brandt »

Tony Serviente wrote:I've found that etch cream is not useful for either BE or SP or any other glass put in a kiln. Doesn't remove enough material.
In my experience, BE laughs at etching cream. Have you or anyone else tried HIS Glasswork's VariEtch?

- Bev
Bev Brandt
Kay McConnell
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2003 2:39 pm
Location: Hershey, PA

hiding devit

Post by Kay McConnell »

Thanks to all of you for your insightful input! Kay
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