WarmGlass.com

Delberta D wrote: I should have grabbed the stainless steel screen out of the kiln before cooling because when you open the kiln there are shards of glass all over that popped off during cooling, they are not stuck but it is a mess and they get into the elements, then the next time you heat the kiln they will stick.

Dairy Queen wrote:SR,

If the kiln went up as fast as possible, glass pieces can shatter all over the kiln.

This does not seem to me to be a sensible scheduling of the firing, especially as this will fracture the glass. Why would anyone want to spray glass around their kiln? Also it will clearly disturb the arrangement of glass, and possibly cause glass to fall off the grid.

During the drip and annealing phases, the spalling of the metal can throw glass around the kiln.

The spalling of the metal normally occurs below the softening point of the glass, so any oxidised metal can be removed both from the glass at the bottom of the kiln and by vacuuming the interior of the kiln. Better, choose stainless that does not spall for the grid. Secondly, my experience shows me that where the metal is coated with glass (unless paper thin) it does not spall, as the oxygen cannot react with the metal, being coated with glass.

DQ
ps. just use clay

I have used clay as a support for glass. Although it normally it does not break, when it does, it leaves large chunks of ceramic imbedded in the glass. Its structural characteristics make is less than suitable for a mesh melt. It can and often is used as a vessel to contain the glass while it is heated to flow temperatures - a purpose its structure suits very well. However, to get the best out of a clay body, its characteristics must be respected (http://glasstips.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03 ... sions.html), especially slowing the rates of advance at around 225ºC and 560ºC to avoid damage to the ceramic. Advancing AFAP is inviting problems at some point with the ceramic body in the kiln.

So my recommendation is to find the appropriate grade of stainless steel grid, or use stainless steel rods as Cynthia Morgan does. In any case, the relatively thin rods can give a much more flexible approach due to their much smaller volume than clay.

Stephen Richard wrote:Apologies, I did not take in that the initial post talked about glass all over the kiln - which I think is a bit of an exaggeration anyway. I have never had that happen. It could come from far too rapid a cooling, but then I think the glass on the shelf would have shattered too.
A mystery to me

David Jenkins wrote:Stephen:

How do you deal with the stringers from mesh to melt? Once you've separated the two, do you remelt to smooth out the resulting mountain peaks? Grind? Or what?

Thanks.