Fusing schedule question

[Susanbuckler]

Hi
I am experimenting with something new for me....stacked squares & rectangles. The base is 8 x 8 white opal. I plan to slump the blank. I used all opal BE glass for the stacks, which are three high plus the base except for the center, which is 4 high plus base. my kiln is an olympic champ XL. Since I've never fired something like this, I'd appreciate any suggestions to this fusing schedule. I plan to use the schedule in Brad's book. Do I need to anneal this longer because of the stacks?
1. 400. 1100. 10
2. 200. 1240. 30
3. Full. 1480. 10
4. Full. 900. 45
5. 150. 750. 0

I attached a photo for you to see what it looks like. Thanks for your suggestions.
Susan

[Brock]

More annealing. Your center is 5/8" thick. Give it 3 hours.

[lorimendenhall]

I would say you should also ramp up slower than normal because all those layers will heat up at different rates. I am a newbie but I had a piece which was all 2 layers but I had 3 circles stacked on top. I got a crack right by the circles and my teacher told me it's because the circles were so thick that they heated up at different rates.

[Susanbuckler]

Thanks Brock & Lori
I'm going to fuse it tonight and will use both your suggestions.

[Laurie Spray]

Hey Susan!

Your top temp........
When i do a piece like this I like it to not be totally flat in the final piece. Keep in mind that if you lower your top temp a bit you can add a slightly dimensonal look. The 1480 is fine if you want it almost flat.
I would also put in a bubble squeeze from 1100 to 1250
I would also slow down the anneal and cool down.
I would anneal for 3 hrs at 900
Then 100 to 800 hold 1 hour
100 to 700 and off


So the final schedule for me would be
300 >1100 hold 30
50 > 1250 hold 45
350 > top temp (your 1480 is fine if you want flat)
9999 >900. Hold 3 hrs
100 >800 hold 60 min
100 to 700 no hold
Do not open till cool!

Sorry this is sort of a mess.........been watching the news.......upsetting......
By the way....thanks for the email today!

[Susanbuckler]

Thanks for the input.

i used Laurie's suggested schedule and annealed it for three hours as she & Brock suggested. i used a top temp of 1460, so the piece has texture.

I'm pleased with the results, although the edges are not even enough. I may have access to some cold working equipment or do some coldworking by hand.

It is much heavier than my usual 8 x 8s. Does the weight affect the slumping schedule? Seems like it would need to slump longer to move all that glass.

This is definitely a process to try again and again to improve the results.

[Laurie Spray]

The weight will help the slump not slow it down.....but do heat it up slowly!

[Laurie Spray]

If the edges are smooth......not sharp edges.....you may want to take it as it is. Hand polishing would be way to much work.....(at least to me).!!

[Susanbuckler]

It's done & it's beautiful! Thanks to everyone who helped me...this was truly a community project. I took Laurie's advice & did not cold work the edges,giving it an organic look. I call it my "happy glass". Most of my other work was done with muted transparent colors so this is a big change. There are a few reactions between some of the colors that are novel to me and I am interested in learning more about Reactives (printed the charts from the BE site and read some of the info).... And I've already ordered more opals to experienent some more with this. I love working with glass....it is so exciting to open the kiln in the morning!

[Mark Wright]

Curiosity questions?
1) What happened to the 8x8 white opal base I can see in the first picture but not in subsequent pictures. It looks to be much larger than your stacks.
2) The last picture looks satin. Has it been sand blasted?

[Laurie Spray]

Mark......that is shelf paper not white glass.

Susan.....love the colors........you made a good choice leaving the edges alone considering the equipment you have!

[Susanbuckler]

Hi Mark
As Laurie wrote, the piece is sitting on 10 x 10 piece of thin fire. She helped me with this project quite a bit.
No sandblasting...wish I had the equipment but I do not
Must be the lighting