bottle glass firing schedule

[G's]

Hi. I want to fire some wine bottle glass just enough to remove sharp edges, NOT to fully fuse it. What might my target temperature be? Do you have a sample firing schedule?
Thanks,
Ginny

[AndyT]

Hi. I want to fire some wine bottle glass just enough to remove sharp edges, NOT to fully fuse it. What might my target temperature be? Do you have a sample firing schedule?
Thanks,
Ginny

I go to around 1250.

[G's]

Thanks Andy,
Does 1250 just round edges and NOT slump the glass?
Ginny

[AndyT]

Thanks Andy,
Does 1250 just round edges and NOT slump the glass?
Ginny

so, are you firing pieces of wine bottles? I'm pretty sure if you are firing rounded pieces then they will most likely start to flatten out unless you can fit them into a mold of sorts or maybe some fiber blanket.

[Brad Walker]

Does 1250 just round edges and NOT slump the glass?

If you want to round edges, but not change the curve of the glass, you can't easily do that in a kiln. The heat required to round the edges is higher than the heat required to change the curve

[G's]

Brad,
Do you think I could just use a torch? Picture the bottom of the wind bottle cut from the narrowing neck.... Can I use a torch to just slight melt/take of sharp edges on the piece?
Thanks,
Ginny

[AndyT]

Brad,
Do you think I could just use a torch? Picture the bottom of the wind bottle cut from the narrowing neck.... Can I use a torch to just slight melt/take of sharp edges on the piece?
Thanks,
Ginny

Nope. the bottle would need to be heated up entirely at the same temp. Unless...you put the bottle in the kiln and take it up to 1250 or so and then take a torch and fire polish the edge. I think you have to be pretty quick and have plenty of protection.

[AndyT]

Brad,
Do you think I could just use a torch? Picture the bottom of the wind bottle cut from the narrowing neck.... Can I use a torch to just slight melt/take of sharp edges on the piece?
Thanks,
Ginny

Nope. the bottle would need to be heated up entirely at the same temp. Unless...you put the bottle in the kiln and take it up to 1250 or so and then take a torch and fire polish the edge. I think you have to be pretty quick and have plenty of protection.

I'm probably wrong on the temp but someone might chime in.

[Stephen Richard]

As has been said, this is where the kiln won't help.
This is cold work territory. get out your wet and dry sandpaper and work down through the grits, keeping everything damp all the time. If you get down to 1200 grit, the edge will be rounded and close to polished. Of course, you can use machinery, but this process does not need to take long.

[Pat K.]

I've just cut off some bottles to make glasses with my tile saw. Then I ground them flat with my lap grinder, but I'd like to get the inside of the lip a little less sharp. I used my regular grinder, but it left the not-so-pretty grinder mark. Is it possible to use my dremel to smooth this out? I'm not sure my hands are up to the task using a variety of sandpaper and grits. Thanks for any info.

Patty

[G's]

OK. So, here's the deal. I got a set of 6 glasses made from old wine bottles from my sister-in-law for Christmas. (No, she doesn't know who made them.) In looking at the edges, it looks like they were fired and began to sag (only) on the lip. The reason I think they were NOT cold-work polished is because the lip is wider ("bulbous-domed") than the bottle/glass itself. If they were cold-worked, the lip would be thinner than the glass.

Incidentally, I took photos of two of the glasses to show this, but Warm Glass BB says my "format is invalid." I tried to upload them as JPEGs and as TIFFS - neither worked. Would like to post these for you to see - does anyone know why they will not upload?
Thanks,
Ginny

[G's]

OK. Check out www.winepunts.com
How did they do that???? It HAS to be easy because they mass-produce!
Ginny

[Dairy Queen]

G.,
Those were hand cut and polished. Cerium infused sponges from HIS Glasswork preforms wonders on cut glass bottles.
Just when I think I'm out of bottles, they pull me back in...
Rose

[Valerie Adams]

For $7 a "glass", it doesn't seem worth the labor. Why not just buy them, and then you can devote your time to making art!

[Rick Wilton]

these definitely weren't hand ground and polished. The polish is definitely achieved through heat not abrasives. How exactly I can't say but heated to around anneal temps, then torched would be my best guess.

watch this video it'll explain how this can be achieved.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SFwNK-EPRI

[G's]

Hey Everybody! Thanks so much for all of your input. The video gave me some more ideas and if I figure this out and it is productive time-wise, I will post back here.
Thanks Again,
Ginny