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I am helping with a fundraiser for a local school. The kiddos are each going to make 2" tiles that will be assembled at school and transported to our studio and fired into a platter. Question.....the only glue I have ever used in my own work is super glue....which is not good for kids to use. If they just use an elmers white glue will it all burn off? Knowing kids they will use more then they need.....could get messy. I am sure this may have all been discussed but I was looking for a quick comment or two.

I've used Elmers and Weldbond. Just a very small dab is all you need. Usually a dab the size of a pin head is enough.

You may not want to use this with the kids but a hot glue gun works great, A little dab will do you.
Bob

Keep the Elmer's near the edge of the piece or it won't burn off. But the edge is about 1/4 inch.

You could also have them use cheap non-aerosol hairspray. I keep it in a little bottle with a narrow pointed tip.

What Valerie said...El cheapo, White Rain, unscented hair spray in a little "plastic oil dispenser" with a fine metal tip. Works like a charm!

Of course!! Hair spray!! Thanks guys! Happy holidays!

hair spray smells. somebody in a class is bound to be chemically sensitive.
white glue in small open container and a box of toothpicks telling everyone to keep their hands really really clean
Make laser printer decals of all the kid's names. Get list in advance of class and make decals.
soak and slide decal on the base. kids love doing that.
Let any kids who finish fast make one for the absentee kids.
If you don't use decals, nobody can remember what they made.

My main glass work is with kids for school auctions. We use(and reuse) paper plates with kids names and take a digital picture of each to keep track of whom did what. I use elmer's blue school glue with toothpicks. While I have not had many issues typically, I did notice some darkened smoky looking areas when I used that glue, BE French Vanilla and a small piece of copper sandwiched between clear and BE French Vanilla.

Next time I'll try the hairspray. How do you transport your glass works from school to kiln with the hairspray? Does it hold like glue?

Jamie

Hairspray holds really well. I use unscented White Rain or Rave non-aerosol hairspray from the dollar store.
If you're already putting the kids' work on paper plates, you could just cover them with saran wrap and gently stack. The hairspray will hold just fine, and I've never had any issues with residue or smell.

Great idea, Valerie. I've worried about transporting the work to the kiln. Even looked into buying a fiber kiln but opted out on that.

dawnsud wrote:Great idea, Valerie. I've worried about transporting the work to the kiln. Even looked into buying a fiber kiln but opted out on that.

I've got a couple of the fiber kilns, which I originally bought for travel-teaching. But while they're lighter than brick kilns, they're not exactly light enough to tote around. The BonnieGlo is fairly easy to manage but the 16" square fiber kilns are too large to move alone. I also had my neck rebuilt in April, so carrying kilns around is not in my immediate future!

Kevin Midgley wrote:hair spray smells. somebody in a class is bound to be chemically sensitive.
white glue in small open container and a box of toothpicks telling everyone to keep their hands really really clean
Make laser printer decals of all the kid's names. Get list in advance of class and make decals.
soak and slide decal on the base. kids love doing that.
Let any kids who finish fast make one for the absentee kids.
If you don't use decals, nobody can remember what they made.

Laura , if you'd like to do that and don't have the printer/decals. I'm happy to help you, email me the names and I'll mail you the decals -