Stained Glass - Scrap Pieces

[John Armstrong]

Hello,

I am totally new to fusing and slumping and don't know anything about it other than knowing the glass is heated to high temperatures.

I have been in the stained glass business for many years and have accumulated several thousand pounds of scrap stained glass and have it stored in 50 gallon barrels. A couple of years ago I purchased the inventory of a stained glass shop that went out of business and a Paragon Fusion 7 kiln came along with the deal. Now I would like to learn how to use it.

My question: Can I use the scrap stained glass for fusing and slumping? I have no idea what the COE is of the glass. Any recommendations on what I could do with the glass if it can not be fused or slumped?

[Marty]

Without knowing what the glass is, you'd be (mostly) wasting time and energy. Even single draped or slumped sheets can be problematic. You could lose those neat mottles and streaks; some glasses will strike to muddy colors and you'll be inviting devitrification. Annealing will be hit-or-miss too.

Start working on some really large scale mosaics?

(In spite of all that, I'd still try fusing pieces from the same sheet together, and I'd do some simple slumps just to see what happens. You've got the glass and kiln, now you need Brad's book.)

[Morganica]

What Marty said. It is possible to test two glasses for compatibility (that's how the factories do it). That will give you a pretty good idea as to whether or not you can use those glasses in the same piece. If you're interested in doing that you'll want to grab a book that shows how to do it. Don't remember if Brad's book does or not. There are downsides, though, to running your own compatibility lab:

--It uses up a bit of the glass that you're testing, which can be a problem with scrap
--It probably only works for THAT scrap--it doesn't identify the glass being used, and unless the factory follows fairly strict manufacturing controls, there's no guarantee that a different sheet of the same glass will also be compatible
--The preferred test (for fusers, anyway) requires that at least one of the glasses be transparent--you check it by putting it on a light box with a polarizer, so if the glass is opaque you're not going to see anything.

Any cold process would probably work well with your glass--the problem is heating the glass. There's a lot you can do with laminations, painting and coldworking (grinding/blasting/polishing), for example. Look up the work of Sidney Hutter, Christopher Ries, Cassandria Blackmore, Jiyong Lee, Lutz Haufschild, Kent Lauer, Toland Peter Sand, Wilfred Grootens--there are a lot.

I've done some messing around with travertines and sculptural concretes, where you mix small chunks of glass in a cement matrix, then grind and polish it back to expose the glass. That might be a nice alternative to mosaic, too.

[Kevin Midgley]

Many forget the ancient way of testing glass for compatibility.
It is quick and sometimes exciting when the glass explodes from being heated too quickly.
Two small strips of the different glasses being tested are gripped with pliers and waved in the flame of a propane torch or oxy propane burner. When red and softening another pair of pliers evenly grabs the hot mass evenly and pulls a thread perhaps 30 cm in length.
If when it cools the thread remains straight the glass is possibly compatible. If there is a curve to the thread it is not so long as you have pulled evenly on both pieces of glass.
Protect yourself.
Take appropriate precautions while heating the glass such as didymium safety glasses and heat resistant clothing for protection from flying red hot bits.
It is a seat of the pants method which can be confirmed by the chip test method and a polariscope.

Then there's all the issues of not using proper fusing glass and its irregular results.... but you can learn a lot from the experimenting.

[Morganica]

Many forget the ancient way of testing glass for compatibility.
...

...and many do not. There are a bunch of variables in pulling threads that make it an uncertain test, not the least of which is that the results depend on your skill in pulling hot glass. That's why the preferred method is to actually examine for stress through a polariscope. If you're going to do chip tests anyway, the pull test doesn't buy you much.

[Kevin Midgley]

except he has a zillion tests to do with those barrels of scrap!

[S.TImmerman]

If you decide not to use it, don't toss it. I've donated scrap glass to a local high school for mosaic classes before.
its worth checking
shereen

[Laurie Spray]

You can also sell it by the pound on ebay to mosaic folk. I had a customer the other day that bought what to me was junk.....added up to almost what the sheet would be. She was so happy with the variety. Win win!

[John Armstrong]

Thanks to all for the feedback!

I think using scrap stained glass for slumping and fusing may be more trouble than it is worth. So, I'll just start buying glass for this purpose.

As for giving the glass away to the local schools, I was amazed at the complexity due to bureaucratic regulations in doing this. They wanted the glass sorted by color and the number of pounds each. Yeah right....as if I'm going to sort through about 7,000 pounds of glass to do this. So, I nixed that idea in a heart beat.

Selling scrap may be more realistic. Maybe some folks like Hobby Lobby would be interested?

Again thanks to all who provided info!!!!

[Laurie Spray]

Make 5-10 lb boxes, take a couple of pics and say "all boxes different mix" and post on Craigs list and ebay. You will be surprised how many mosaic people are looking for exactly that! Using usps free boxes is the way to go! (unless you ship across country then they are just too high these days......Maybe flat rate.....
Just thinking over coffee here!

[Kevin Midgley]

Brilliant solution selling mosaic kits.
Do use some for playing with the new kiln.
Your quickest way to learn how to use the kiln is to have someone local come around and actually show you in trade for some of that scrap mosaic glass That or take a local class from someone.
Get all the fusing books by Boyce Lundstrom and read them. They will answer your questions.
Doing all that stained glass over the years you haven't wanted to do painting on it? You've now got the kiln.

[Morganica]

Make 5-10 lb boxes, take a couple of pics and say "all boxes different mix" and post on Craigs list and ebay. You will be surprised how many mosaic people are looking for exactly that! Using usps free boxes is the way to go! (unless you ship across country then they are just too high these days......Maybe flat rate.....
Just thinking over coffee here!

Very nice idea!

[Brad Walker]

Using usps free boxes is the way to go! (unless you ship across country then they are just too high these days......Maybe flat rate..... !

The least expensive way to send heavy items by mail is USPS Regional Rate. This is a flat rate box that must be ordered from usps.com. The box is free and comes in several sizes. For instance, you can send up to a 15 pound package in a 10" x 7" x 4-3/4" Regional Rate A Box from the east coast to the west coast for under $10. And east coast to east coast is around $6.

The Regional Rate boxes are domestic only, must be ordered online, and paid for online (not at the post office) at the time of shipping. The A and B boxes are less expensive than the corresponding regular flat rate boxes you get at the post office. The boxes are free and if you need to double box the A box even fits inside the B box.

[S.TImmerman]

Thanks to all for the feedback!

I think using scrap stained glass for slumping and fusing may be more trouble than it is worth. So, I'll just start buying glass for this purpose.

As for giving the glass away to the local schools, I was amazed at the complexity due to bureaucratic regulations in doing this. They wanted the glass sorted by color and the number of pounds each. Yeah right....as if I'm going to sort through about 7,000 pounds of glass to do this. So, I nixed that idea in a heart beat.

Selling scrap may be more realistic. Maybe some folks like Hobby Lobby would be interested?

Again thanks to all who provided info!!!!

Yes, one local school would only "accept" FULL sheets. I felt bad for the students as its fairly unlikely artists are going to just give away glass like that.