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Hey guys, What kind of touble am I going to get into? I am interested in making some cabs for my daughters fastpitch softball team that has been together for five years and finally won their league championship!!!!Yeah for us. Anyway, I thought I'd make a blank using the colors of the team and some dichroic, then cutting the blank into the size cabs I need, fire polishing them and the gluing them to the great bails I got from Glass Orchids. What can I expect to happen to the cut edges? Thanks ahead of time, Ann D

Ann:

In my kiln I have good luck getting a fire polish at 1200. I sometimes throw them in around a larger piece I am slumping.

After I cut (saw) the cabs or barrettes, I clean them thoroughly and apply borax to the edge only. They come out edge polished and with straight vertical sides but without the sharp edges anymore.

Try cutting up a reject piece and test for the equivalent temperature in your kiln.

Jane

What is the reason for the borax? Are you talking about the stuff you use for laundry? Linda

Borax and water solution are a devitrification prevention tool - take a look at the "Make your own" section in the tutorial above.

From what I have read, the borax acts as a flux, it makes the glass soften at a lower temperature. For me, it seems to help keep the edges from clouding up with devit after the saw/grinder. 1200 degrees is below the typical devit range, but in this case maybe the flux lowers the temp necessary for the light firepolish.

i use black waterproof sandpaper. rub each cut side on the wet sandpaper, on a hard surface like the kitchen counter. it won't take much to clean it up. when you fire polish them, they should look fine, especially if your base color is black. i have not needed to use the borax because my top layer is entirely dichro on clear, and devit doesn't happen with what i'm doing.