Pot melts & hole size

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The Hobbyist
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Pot melts & hole size

Post by The Hobbyist »

For those considering or already playing with pot melts I hope this helps a little to show how hole size is important.

Below is a picture of two small pot melts. They were done identically except one had a 3/8" hole and the other a 1/2" hole. Please try to ignore the shadows on them, there is no horizontal shading in the actual glass. The left piece (3/8") has very fine arcs. Looks like a feather. Maybe I'll refire it and try to pull a rake down the middle.

G'pa Jim

Image
dinah ihle
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Post by dinah ihle »

Thanks for the post. That info is VERY useful.
Jerry

Hole size

Post by Jerry »

Great to see them side by side like that. Now, alter the SHAPE! A 3/4" by 2" slot produces a wonderful ribbon effect. But I'm not telling you how to do design; just a suggestion.

Jerry
Dani
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Post by Dani »

I have to ask what is probably a dumb question. Why are these melts oblong instead of round? Can you control the end shape and how? I've been bad about reading all the posts, so if you've already covered this, I'm sooooorrrryy! :? Dani
Barbara Muth
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Post by Barbara Muth »

Dani wrote:I have to ask what is probably a dumb question. Why are these melts oblong instead of round? Can you control the end shape and how? I've been bad about reading all the posts, so if you've already covered this, I'm sooooorrrryy! :? Dani
Dani, that's a good question. I am guessing that Jim may have tilted his shelf some. we did that in Roger Thomas's class. The kilns we were using for the pot melts are front loading. We tilted the shelf some and then loaded the melts in the front (the high side). My guess is that you can very the shape of the melt by varying the angle of the kiln shelf.

Barbara
Barbara
Check out the glass manufacturer's recommended firing schedules...
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Dani
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Post by Dani »

Makes sense... I suppose you can also accidently find out if your shelf is level that way! Thanks!
Sonje
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Post by Sonje »

Out of curiousity, has anyone tried to use dichro in their pot melts? I am assuming that you would lose any "pattern" but I'm not sure if you would lose the dichroic aspects of the glass...I would experiment but I'm waiting for the electrician to come and do some necessary wiring so I can use my new kiln! Thanks, Sonje
Dani
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Post by Dani »

And who dreamt up this technique anyway??
Brad Walker
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Post by Brad Walker »

Dani wrote:And who dreamt up this technique anyway??
I think it was probably the ancient Mesopotamians, around 1500 BC. But don't worry, I'm sure there's someone alive who will claim to have invented it.
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Post by Dani »

Oh, silly.... the Mesopotamians didn't have clay flower pots with holes in the bottoms! (I made that up, how would I know?) Seriously, who thought to put a bunch of scrap glass into a flowerpot to make these cool rondels? Who posted the technique first at warmglass.com? I'll bet we could track a modern re-discovery. Why? I dunno... to kill time?? Because we have nothing better to do? Because we're nosey?? :lol:
Elizabeth in UK
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Who invented Pot Melts?

Post by Elizabeth in UK »

Don't know who invented the technique but I was taught it early 1980s by Detlef Tanz at a pate-de-verre course in Germany
charlie holden
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Post by charlie holden »

There are a couple of photos in Keith Cummings' book showing glass poured from flower pots. One of a standard pour and one of a tilted shelf. He says little more about it than that it has lots of potential for exploration.

A question for Jim: Might the pot with the larger hole have been a little closer to the shelf than the other pot? It doesn't look like there was any spiralling of the glass from that pot. This is usually a function of distance from the shelf as well as one of hole size. It looks to me like this pot must have been very close to the shelf.
The Hobbyist
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Post by The Hobbyist »

Just got back to town. Spent the entire last week without the internet. I guess it's good to see if you're addicted or not.

The two melts were as identical as I can make them. The hole size was the only change.

Barbara was correct, the shelf is tilted to get a non-rondel look. I learned it in Roger's class as Barbara said. We learned some other neat things that I'll be trying soon and will try to post pics if they look meaningful.

Jerry, I was wondering about a shaped hole. Thanks for the info, it is now on my list for future experiments.

G'pa Jim

ps. Margot just started walking!
Kitty
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dichro in the pot melt

Post by Kitty »

SONJE - i'm getting ready to put some scrap dichroic into a pot melt, so i'll let you know what happens. i'm pretty sure some of the more fugitive colors will burn off, but a few others might work. i'll be using dichro on clear ... don't think the dichro on black would work at all, would probably make mud. i'm also going to try putting some real gold leaf into a pot melt and see what happens. kitty.
Sonje
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Post by Sonje »

Kitty,
Thanks...I can't wait to see how it turns out! Sonje
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