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If I stack 3 or 4 pieces of float glass together and tack fuse them and then do a shallow slump will I get float bloom between the layers of glass? I am thinking of sandblasting the various layers before I fuse them to see if I can get some depth. will the sandblasted image's remain in the glass at tack temps ? Thanks

Bloom only happens on the surface. You need the tin side to be down when you fuse, and air side up when you slump, for best results.

Thanks

When I've tacked float glasses it's taken a fair amount of heat just to get them to tack stage, and even more to get them to round over. Unless the sandblasted image is extremely light it should stay visible within the tacked layers. But it depends on the amount of heatwork you're planning to give it, obviously.

Using float glass, you're able to fuse and slump in one firing. I typically fuse two blanks of 1/4" plate (from the same sheet) formed into large parabola shaped light fixtures, bird bathes, or giant bowls.

Bert,
For my education.
Are you saying that compressing the tin layer in a stack of glass will not cause the tin bloom except on the outer layers?
Thanks.

Stephen Richard wrote:Bert,
For my education.
Are you saying that compressing the tin layer in a stack of glass will not cause the tin bloom except on the outer layers?
Thanks.

I'm thinking. I always start with tin side down. I used to do some painting with a top layer air side down. If I slump that, the top layer, a tin side, compresses and blooms. As I think about it, when I use 3 layers of 10mm, I don't slump, so I can't say for sure. But, I don't think it would bloom if the top layer were air. I do quite a bit of work where I stack 2 layers of 10mm on top of a wrinkled blanket and fuse and slump in a single firing. In this case the bottom layer (tin) is compressed. It does not bloom. It has been quite a while since I stacked glass thinner than 10mm, fused and slumped. I don't remember the results other than the tendency for bubbles to form under the top layer. 10mm glass is much better with this.

Thanks, Bert
S

Go easy on the sandblasting. If the design is deep and does not have a vent, bubbles can be an issue.