wire in glass?

aly · Post by **aly** » Tue Jun 24, 2003 9:03 pm

I am new to glass fusing and was wondering if you can fuse thin stainless steel wire between glass. Would that cause it to break? Thanks for any info.

Linda Reed · Post by **Linda Reed** » Wed Jun 25, 2003 12:36 am

Sure. Check the archives.

Lots of us include various wires/pieces of various metals in our work. Either for effect or for hanging it later or whatever? Someone might be able to share when a little bit is too much? What is your plan? Just a hanging wire?

Inclusions are funny - you can put a fair amount of an incompatible thing like metal into your work and have it turn out fine (I've actually never had any problem with metal inclusions), and some little piece of off-COE dichro sends cracks though everything...

Linda

aly · Post by **aly** » Wed Jun 25, 2003 12:52 am

Well a friends brother in law is having a birthday next week, and my friend asked if i could do a copy of john lennons self portrait sketch (very cartoonish and simple) in glass. So i thought something very stark as in thin wire in clear glass would be interesting. I have it firing at the moment, just dont know what to expect... i was just curious if i should expect a disaster when i pull it out tomorrow or if it could actually turn out to be a cool present, i dont want it to spontaneously shatter when I hand it to him, slicing up the birthday boy would be a major faux pas....lol

Brock · Post by **Brock** » Wed Jun 25, 2003 1:32 am

If it's a continuous wire that you have bent into a caricature, you will probably, almost certainly, trap air bubbles in "corners". Brock

Mira · Post by **Mira** » Wed Jun 25, 2003 1:37 am

Aly - i like your idea. I hope you'll post a picture in the photos section.

-Mira

Annah James · Post by **Annah James** » Wed Jun 25, 2003 11:42 pm

One of the tricks that I use for almost all the inclusions I do is that I layer everything on the base glass (wire or leaves..) then spoon frit over it. Not the powdered frit - the next size bigger. I use crystal clear. Then I put the top sheet of glass over all that. What it does is lets the air escape before the top sheet of glass slumps down on the edges, making bubbles. If the inclusion is large, like a big leaf or a complex wire pattern, I try and take the frit out to the edges for a little bit of insurance. I have also discovered that if I don't fire quite so hot that I get fewer bubbles with inclusions. Good luck!

aly · Post by **aly** » Thu Jun 26, 2003 12:38 am

Well it came out, my friend really liked it, i am kind of so-so on it. Lots of air right around the wire, but he thought it would catch the eye alot more. he thought it was really cool so if he is happy with it then good, he waited until the last minute to ask me, so I have time to try once more. The idea about the frit is great, I will try that and post a pic of the finished piece. Thanks for the advice!