Float refers to the technique used to form the glass sheets. They are floated on a bed of molten tin. Typically a float line is a mile long, and only has 6 humans in attendance, including a room where all of the sensing instruments report their status.ironman55 wrote:Thanks, where would I find a supplier for that? I have tried searching and nothing specific comes up. I was thinking of trying pieces that start with broken glass and would only be tack fused and then possibly slumped. Art for walls and as a center piece only. Is a kiln that heats to 1700F sufficient?
Thanks, Joe
So, you buy it at your neighborhood glass shop or hardware store. Markups are very high, typically about 500% of wholesale. They figure they lose half when cutting to exact sizes, between breakage and waste. I nearly gagged the first time I saw 3mm glass for sale at a hardware store for $10 a square foot, which at the time was the cost of German Handblown glass at the wholesaler.
I never fire my kilns hotter than 1500ºF. There are some I know who go as high as 1650. Often they have devit built in to their look. One person I know fires hot without devit.
You can fuse broken glass. If the air side goes against the mold, it will come out rough. I use a short wave UV light to detect the tin side. All glass must be compatible. So, either you test or get lucky. Cleanliness is next to g-dliness. Never use Windex.