I'm not sure if "tacking" is even the correct word, but what I'm trying to do is fuse together 2 thin glass snowflakes I made with the Colour de Verre snowflake mold (about 9 grams of frit in each snowflake) without the little decorative "arms" of the snowflakes slumping. I was thinking of cutting a donut shape out of fusing paper so the stacked snowflakes fuse together in the middle but the paper holds up the top tips. Then after firing, pulling/tearing the paper out from between the layers.
Would that work?
What kiln settings would I use? (Most of the glass casting of the individual snowflakes was done around 1320F for 17 minutes and down to 960F for 30 minutes in a cone-art beading annealing kiln).
You can see some of the snowflakes and how I intend to stack and fuse them together here; https://goo.gl/photos/CCt9LycMybTmp1ZA9 and here: https://goo.gl/photos/LPdVCWvDBfbjDhgk9
(in that last photo you can see the kiln paper I have too)
Any advice would be appreciated!
(because I'm a total noob!)
tacking cast glass together
Moderator: Tony Smith
Re: tacking cast glass together
I should also add that this is using fine and medium System 96 Frit by Uroboros.
there are more pictures of my process here (trial and error testing testing testing).
https://goo.gl/photos/BbPWHXB3TxgrhUbK6
there are more pictures of my process here (trial and error testing testing testing).
https://goo.gl/photos/BbPWHXB3TxgrhUbK6
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Kevin Midgley
- Posts: 773
- Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 11:36 am
- Location: Tofino, British Columbia, Canada
Re: tacking cast glass together
You have nice snowflakes already and you want to stick them together in a firing without distorting them?
Don't.
Tack fusing something fragile like that is asking for breakage sooner or later.
Be better to use glue of some sort.
Don't.
Tack fusing something fragile like that is asking for breakage sooner or later.
Be better to use glue of some sort.
Re: tacking cast glass together
Thank you for your advice.
Would that be the same for Fire Polishing to get smoother edges? Or would that be possible with such thin glass? ( The snowflakes have lots of sharp edges and some jagged sharp "points" sticking up. So I was wondering if there was a way to smooth them out a bit).
Would that be the same for Fire Polishing to get smoother edges? Or would that be possible with such thin glass? ( The snowflakes have lots of sharp edges and some jagged sharp "points" sticking up. So I was wondering if there was a way to smooth them out a bit).
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Kevin Midgley
- Posts: 773
- Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 11:36 am
- Location: Tofino, British Columbia, Canada
Re: tacking cast glass together
Fire polishing is also tricky.
If you have needles, you need to adjust the way the glass is placed in the mold so as to minimize their possibility.
Then you will need for these snowflakes, to probably dremel grind or hand sand, taking all necessary safety precautions, the sharp bits off.
Then you would replace the piece in the mold and refire to a temperature that would allow the sanded and ground places to smooth off but not form new sharp points.
After you have done all that each snowflake has to be worth with the time and materials $50
Tack fusing always disappoints me sometime. Sometimes sooner sometimes later with a cracked piece.
Those snow flakes are imho an inherently bad easily broken design. Pretty but with the sharp bits problem unless the molds are filled perfectly correctly etc.
If you have needles, you need to adjust the way the glass is placed in the mold so as to minimize their possibility.
Then you will need for these snowflakes, to probably dremel grind or hand sand, taking all necessary safety precautions, the sharp bits off.
Then you would replace the piece in the mold and refire to a temperature that would allow the sanded and ground places to smooth off but not form new sharp points.
After you have done all that each snowflake has to be worth with the time and materials $50
Tack fusing always disappoints me sometime. Sometimes sooner sometimes later with a cracked piece.
Those snow flakes are imho an inherently bad easily broken design. Pretty but with the sharp bits problem unless the molds are filled perfectly correctly etc.