Screen Melt

[Valerie Adams]

Yep, agreed Terri!

I was sloshing through a long bitch-fest post about someone being insulted by a response...only to realize they were talking about me!!!

I had suggested somewhere that investing in a decent intro class and/or purchasing a few quality books would go a long way toward understanding the medium, instead of having to question everything they saw.

The person on the soap box basically said that she works too hard to have any free time to take classes, and shouldn't have to spend any money on books when people should just share their knowledge and answer her questions. She claimed I was being arrogant and rude.

What I don't understand is why people are willing to spend the amount of money they do on supplies but don't want to invest anything (time or money!) in their education.

[Terri Stanley]

I bet it's not you they're bitchin about now! LOL

[Stephen Richard]

I guess these guys will get the quality of advice they are willing to accept. There are enough groups around that there will be a natural migration to those which provide more helpful and critical support. It will take time though, and there will be a lot of drop outs from the craft before it settles.

[Andrea R]

Yep, agreed Terri!



What I don't understand is why people are willing to spend the amount of money they do on supplies but don't want to invest anything (time or money!) in their education.

Valerie I could not agree with you more. When I started I spent more on my education than on glass and kilns my holidays were spent traveling to class with great teachers. It was importanted to me to learn the craft and be as good at it as I can be Im still looking a classes because your never can learn to much
And you can always get better!

Andrea

[Lori Schinelli]

Going back to the original question of whether or not the wire will cause cracking due to incompatability. I was making these pretty regularly in 2010 and 2011.
I have all of them still intact.
At that time I showed one to Boyce Lundstrum. He correctly guessed that I had used galvenized hardware cloth.( This explains some other aspects of my personality as I undoubtedly have been affected by the burnoff).
He told me that the use of galvenized metal was the reason that I would not expect an eventual crack.
You science guys would probobly be able to understand why he might have that opinion. I am just passing it along, along with the fact that my pieces have not yet cracked.

[Lori Schinelli]

Never have posted any photos to this site- I am unsure how that works. If you have Brenda Griffith's new book you can see them in there.

[jim burchett]

Lori that is very interesting as I also used Hardware cloth...looks as if it was a good choice

[Stephen Richard]

There might be a big difference in thickness between hardware cloth (?) and a cooling grid as used in kitchens, which is what is currently being recommended

[Bert Weiss]

The magic word is compatibility. Glass must be compatible with itself, as well as any inclusions, and of course, the mold it is formed with. Coefficient of Expansion is one of the big drivers of compatibility. If the metal has a higher COE than the glass, it will shrink more upon cooling. If it is embedded, this could cause problems during a reheat, as it also expands more than the glass. Because of all the factors of expansion and contraction, the gauge of the wire is critical as well as it's COE.

Galvanized steel is toxic when heated in a kiln. Not recommended at all.