Why can't I melt my pot...er, I mean...

charlie · Post by **charlie** » Fri Feb 13, 2004 9:45 pm

obtw: a fine layer of talc on the shelf will prevent most wash from sticking. it will be a little bumpy, but you won't have to scrap or blast off much of anything.

i use the cheapest baby powder i can find. make sure you read the label. sometimes it's corn starch, which won't work.

daffodildeb · Post by **daffodildeb** » Fri Feb 13, 2004 10:24 pm

Ah, now I understand. Do you have a suggestion for the paper thickness, or does it matter? Other than the thinfire, that is.

Cher · Post by **Cher** » Sat Feb 14, 2004 10:50 am

so then, what are you doing with these melts? After viewing some of the novel things you folks are doing with the slumped wine bottles, I'm real curious.
noimagination intheAMkid

Ron, would the same talc work in a shallow face mold used with frit for casting, to keep the mold material from sticking forever?

daffodildeb · Post by **daffodildeb** » Sun Feb 15, 2004 3:43 am

<<noimagination intheAMkid>>

Your signature says it all! Look at them again in the creative hours of Midnight to 5AM and you'll see all kinds of possibilities

I'm planning to make pendants out of them--either cut to shape and firepolished, or freeform and firepolished.

Barbara Muth · Post by **Barbara Muth** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 1:20 pm

daffodildeb wrote:Charlie, I can't post a photo of my setup because I don't really have one. What I want to do is a pot melt that I can later cut apart, OR have shaped in some respect when it melts. I've been talking with Tom in Texas, and he gave me some ideas using stainless steel.

Clearly the problem is the dam, and the reason I have it is because I want to prevent the glass from overflowing the shelf and damaging the kiln. In addition, I want a dependable way to suspend the pots above the shelf. What I have used, and what is failing, is the dam itself. The kiln wash is either not thick enough, or is failing, and whenever it sticks (even just a bit) to the sides, it's fracturing the glass. Not to mention the extremely sharp slivers of glass that reliably find their way to my fingers when I clean up.

Deb, if you follow Charlie's suggestion of weighing the glass for a 1/4 inch thick pot melt, you shouldn't have to worry about overflow. Weigh the glass so that it is enough to make a pot melt the diameter you want, suspend the pot over the middle of the kiln shelf and drip away. That way you don't have to have a dam! Alternatively, if your pot is in the middle, you can make a circular dam from fiberpaper, support it with a few kiln bricks and fire away. A circular dam should hold fine.

Is the floor of your kiln kilnwashed? If it is and you have no elements in the floor, you shouldn't have to worry about a little glass dripping down. It happens sometimes. If the floor is kiln washed brick, you should be able to pick the glass up when it is cool without taking up any of the floor. I wouldn't use it for routine firing without a shelf, but I don't worry when glass spills (which admittedly has only happened about 4 times, when I had a big boom thermal shock on the way up....

Barbara

charlie · Post by **charlie** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 5:55 pm

daffodildeb wrote:Ah, now I understand. Do you have a suggestion for the paper thickness, or does it matter? Other than the thinfire, that is.

i use 1/16".

Cher · Post by **Cher** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 2:23 am

....."I'm planning to make pendants out of them--either cut to shape and firepolished, or freeform and firepolished.[/quote]

OK, its oh-dark-thirty and the pot melts I've been looking at are 5-7 inches in diameter. Kinda big for pendants, cut them up and you loose the spetacular design elements. Slumps seem possible. Can't all be used as rondels n suncatchers??

charlie · Post by **charlie** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 2:24 pm

YoDuh wrote:so then, what are you doing with these melts? After viewing some of the novel things you folks are doing with the slumped wine bottles, I'm real curious.
noimagination intheAMkid

here's one that was in the kiln during the magless sort

http://groups.msn.com/ChaniArts/fusedgl ... hotoID=317

daffodildeb · Post by **daffodildeb** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 3:35 pm

<<OK, its oh-dark-thirty and the pot melts I've been looking at are 5-7 inches in diameter. Kinda big for pendants, cut them up and you loose the spetacular design elements. Slumps seem possible. Can't all be used as rondels n suncatchers??>>

Actually, I wouldn't be losing the design elements if I cut them up. I'm looking for color patterns and mixtures, and may add other compatible glass like frits, dichroic or stringers. I'll then fuse/fire polish as appropriate. I'm not really looking for a free-form blob of glass--I want more of a square or some other geometric shape.

Cher · Post by **Cher** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 1:21 am

.........here's one that was in the kiln during the magless sort......

Ah, Thank you Charlie! Thats what I was trying to think about. Head is in a fog these days, I've got a student. First time teaching in warmglass. previous teaching was computer classes. Really have to wrap the brain up cause it's soooooo different. Enjoyed your pictures of your incredible art. Thanks for sharing and your inspiration.
Glad you kept doing your artwork during the magless time. Looked like a great batch.

Cher · Post by **Cher** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 1:55 am

daffodildeb wrote:<<OK, its oh-dark-thirty and the pot melts I've been looking at are 5-7 inches in diameter. Kinda big for pendants, cut them up and you loose the spetacular design elements. Slumps seem possible. Can't all be used as rondels n suncatchers??>>

Actually, I wouldn't be losing the design elements if I cut them up. I'm looking for color patterns and mixtures, and may add other compatible glass like frits, dichroic or stringers. I'll then fuse/fire polish as appropriate. I'm not really looking for a free-form blob of glass--I want more of a square or some other geometric shape.

I get the picture. Kinda what I've been doing with frit casting. Not the best unblurry photo, (borrowed tonight digi camera) but one of the pieces I've been experimenting with lately. Piece was about 2x2. Now they're in little dime sized cabs. 'Tis fun, isn't it?
(but I like the pic that's "NEXT" : a sconce in the making.....)
http://groups.msn.com/empiregallery/sho ... hotoID=134