melted bottles

[Mary V]

Hi everyone- I am a newbie too and I want to try something that I think should be very basic-
I want to flatten a wine bottle to make a tray. I have seen this in shops, and I think that it would be a good way to try out my kiln for glass- What do I place the bottle on? how do I know what temps to go to if it is a bottle? I have 2 kilns ( I work at a school) one is a top loading skutt with a temp tender attached, and the other is a big old front load alpine with a weird little shut off device. Which one should I use?
can anyone help???

[Brad Walker]

Lots on this in the Archives.

This will get you started: http://www.warmglass.com/Bottles.htm

[Linda Hassur]

I've had problems with a bubble at the neck of the bottle when the rest of the bottle was perfectly flat. Any suggestions on how to avoid that? Thanks Linda

[Diane]

it's hard to avoid that bubble at the neck. The neck closes in before the rest of the air is forced out and a small amount gets trapped. No way to really avoid it that I know of. I think it adds a little character to it.
Good Luck, Diane

[charlie]

if you turn it over, that bubble and the folded over foot make a pretty stable platform. i sandblast a pattern into the top flat layer that was against the shelf.

another idea is to not slump it flat, but rounded off. the center caves in and the neck droops, but the bottom is flat. this makes an ideal spoon rest. you'll have to experiment with temps and times to get it to look good for you.

[Lauri Levanto]

I made a clay support under the neck.
It goes half way around, and keeps the neck loger in shape.

Id you wish, you can remove the suppoert when the
body has collapsed and let the neck flatten out.

I prefer to leave the neck raised and round to form a handle.

-lauri

[Nancy Juhasz]

Linda, I have found that wine bottles that are more streamlined have less of a bubble or no bubble. The bottles with shoulders (beer bottle shape) have more of a bubble. Like Charlie said turned upside down the fold and bubble do turn into legs. When you look at the schedule that Brad directed you to you can try slowing down a little more between 1100-1300 degrees to see if that will help. Personally I like the bubble so I don't try to get rid of it. If you get a bubble on the bottom between the shelf and bottle either slow down at 1100-1300 or just put the bottle on fiber paper. In my new kiln I got bubbles between shelf and bottle. Thanks to Judy Schnabel I now use 110-J and the bubbles are gone. Good luck with your bottles.

[Mary V]

so does anyone have any suggestions on which kiln would work better? there are no elements in the top of my Skutt, but from what I have been reading that shouldnt matter much- If I have a kiln master, can that be programmed for the soak time, and the ramp speed? See how new to this I am?

[hoknok]

I have seen people slump bottles with the neck opened and then they place a cork back in it afterwards. Looks nice so I tried to do it myself and got some results. What I did was place a big piece of chalk inside the openeing all the way down the neck into the chamber a bit. Then I drilled a thin hole into the chalkmiddle to allow for the air to escape. They may be a better way so let me know.

Mike

[Dani]

if you turn it over, that bubble and the folded over foot make a pretty stable platform. i sandblast a pattern into the top flat layer that was against the shelf.

another idea is to not slump it flat, but rounded off. the center caves in and the neck droops, but the bottom is flat. this makes an ideal spoon rest. you'll have to experiment with temps and times to get it to look good for you.

The Christmas gifts went as cheese trays with the foot and bubble mentioned above as the base, with the flat surface facing up.... because I get a little kiln-shelf etching on that side, I often etch something into that side... a design or the word "peace". That has brought on all kinds of debate on how these bottles are most commonly used. One local artist sells her version shiny bottom-side up. I now wonder - what is most common?? The flat side certainly seems more logical and useable for slicing cheese.

A quick repeat on my fusing system for bottles: Find the flat side and mark the upside with a sharpie (a tip from Carol), apply overspray and let dry, place on shelf/shelves sprayed side up. Fire at cone 015 in my Skutt or Duncan ceramics kiln, don't vent and let cool overnight. This works most of the time, although I've noticed a few bottles could have used an 014 cone. Simple enough.