My turn for a Pot Melt

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Diane
Posts: 56
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 3:59 pm
Location: Kennebunkport, Maine

My turn for a Pot Melt

Post by Diane »

I finally got brave and tried my own pot melt. I used some scrap Spectrum I had laying around, greens, blues, black baroque, clear/clearwhite baroque and a bit of yellow. It was very cool watching it drip down. All I could think of was getting a soft serve ice cream :lol:
Now I have a few questions...how can I get rid of the bubble holes. They all popped but now I have little craters. Should I just fill them with clear frit and fire again? Will the second firing smooth out the curlyQ in the middle?
Any advise, comments or suggestions are MORE then welcome.
Thanks for turning me on to this VERY cool process
Diane

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Steve Immerman
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Location: Eau Claire, Wisconsin
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Nice job!

Post by Steve Immerman »

Very nice melt!

If you can drill out the bubbles, or sandblast, then refire with a small piece of clear frit at the site of the bubbles, you may be able to minimize their appearance.

I found that the back side of the melt can have a very interesting and different appearance also.

http://www.clearwaterglass.com/aperture_pour_2.htm
http://www.clearwaterglass.com/whirlpool.htm

Steve
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Randy W
Posts: 91
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 6:19 pm
Location: Racine, Wisconsin

Post by Randy W »

Fixing the bubbles is easy. The smaller ones I fill with clear powder and the larger ones I fill with a small chip of clear glass and some clear powder. Of course you might be daring and try colored powders. Leave the powder mounded up a little, it tends to shrink a little.
I didn't lose any detail in the pattern when re-firing, if anything, it seemed to make the pattern a "little" stronger and more defined. Nothing drastic, but just a little.
Pot melts are a great way to use up scrap glass.
Thanks for sharing, it's a nice looking piece.

Randy
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charlie holden
Posts: 260
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2003 8:26 pm
Location: Atlanta

Post by charlie holden »

What I do is crash the kiln down to about 1350-1400 when the pot drip is complete. This gets the surface to glaze over enough that the bubbles either collapse or burst. Then I run the kiln back up to 1500 or so, wait for the surface of the glass to smooth out, then proceed to annealing. I think this is more efficient since the interior of the glass is still close to 1500 when the air in the kiln is down to 1400, and you don't have to heat all that glass back up from room temp. Of course if you're going to put a rim on like Steve has, you're going to heat it all up again anyway.

Sometimes I'll have the problem of one more drip dropping down when I heat back up and end up with a little blob on the surface that I either have to live with or fire out later.

If you're going to full fuse the piece in order to get frit to smooth over in the bubble holes, I don't really see the point of putting frit in them in the first place. A full fuse will smooth out popped bubbles with a soak of about 15 minutes.
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Amy on Salt Spring
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Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 5:43 pm
Location: British Columbia, Canada
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Re: Nice job!

Post by Amy on Salt Spring »

Steve Immerman wrote:Very nice melt!

If you can drill out the bubbles, or sandblast, then refire with a small piece of clear frit at the site of the bubbles, you may be able to minimize their appearance.

I found that the back side of the melt can have a very interesting and different appearance also.

http://www.clearwaterglass.com/aperture_pour_2.htm
http://www.clearwaterglass.com/whirlpool.htm

Steve
Steve that bowl is so cool! I love the back of the melt much more than the front--great idea. This is the first piece I've seen incorporating a melt like this. Awesome!
-Amy
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Steve Immerman
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Location: Eau Claire, Wisconsin
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Post by Steve Immerman »

Thanks. :D

Steve
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The Hobbyist
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Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 7:09 pm
Location: Sun City West (NW Phoenix), AZ
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Beautiful bowl

Post by The Hobbyist »

Steve, That is a truly beautiful bowl. What a fantastic finish to a pot melt.

I love it................Jim
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Jason Boebinger
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Location: Chicago Il
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Post by Jason Boebinger »

all I can say is "wow" .It always pays to experiment
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Claudia Whitten
Posts: 75
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 9:32 pm
Location: Idaho
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Re: Nice job!

Post by Claudia Whitten »

Steve Immerman wrote:Very nice melt!

If you can drill out the bubbles, or sandblast, then refire with a small piece of clear frit at the site of the bubbles, you may be able to minimize their appearance.

I found that the back side of the melt can have a very interesting and different appearance also.

http://www.clearwaterglass.com/aperture_pour_2.htm
http://www.clearwaterglass.com/whirlpool.htm

Steve

Steve,
You have out done yourself with "Whirlpool". What a stunning bowl. I think it's the best new thing I have seen in a while. I am sure you are very proud of it. The bottom design was a good choice,it is just outstanding. I keep trying to focus on narrowing my techniqes to find my own style,trying not to do it all but this look is very tempting. You did an excellent job on making it your own. Your signature design in the rim. WELL DONE!!....Claudia
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dinah ihle
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2003 9:22 pm

Post by dinah ihle »

Steve, that is a BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL piece. Thanks for posting it.
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