WarmGlass.com

Does anyone have a suggested schedule or directions for making glass lace? I have done it two times before by accident and now that I want to try some experiments I can't get it right. I want to make glass lace to use in a multi layered slab to make pendants. At first I used deep red opal powder and sprinkled a fine coat on a kiln shelf. Then I took a small brush and just smooched the glass around to make some voids on purpose. I put some large frit in some places hoping to get some clear spots on purpose
Then I fired:
1000/hr to 1420 hold 30 min
afap to room temp.
Results were that many of the lace parts were kind of curled up leave a very sharp rough texture on top and actually some of the kiln wash stuck
to the back of the lace. I would like to see the lace more defined and not as "watery" as it is in the pic. I ended up adding an extra layer of clear glass to make sure everything was smooth to the touch on top.

I then tried again with 4 layers of light powder dusting using clear on the bottom and on the top of the opaque powder with the following schedule
1500/htr to 1420 hold for 10 min
afap to room temp

I ended up with a thin layer of basically thin glass with very little to no lace effect. I would really appreciate any advice as it is frustrating to know that I did it before but now I can't do it....

Terry,

I've been making lace and experimenting with it for close to ten years. I make my lace with frit and sometimes the addition of powder. There is a terrible tutorial on my website demonstrating the process.

I don't use it to make jewelry as you intend. I put my lace atop sheet glass and make bowls and platters. The combination of frit, powder and underlying sheet glass provide nearly limitless possibilities. Below is an example I made using red frit with yellow powder to make the lace which was then fused over transparent yellow irid sheet glass.

The lace process was discovered by mistake but the mistake looked interesting and I have been playing with it ever since. I won't go into detail here but if you and anyone else is interested we can work on a means of showing you how it's done.

Jim "The Hobbyist"

ps. Say Hello to your brother for me. We met on our tour of France a couple years ago.

Hi Jim.
I am certainly interested in learning this process.
The OTHER Jim


The lace process was discovered by mistake but the mistake looked interesting and I have been playing with it ever since. I won't go into detail here but if you and anyone else is interested we can work on a means of showing you how it's done.

Jim "The Hobbyist"

For those interested in making lace I suggest you start with my tutorial here: http://jimwolverton.com/html/lace.html

It explains how the process came to be and the basics of how to make it happen. After a few experiments you will either have it mastered well enough to achieve the results you want or you will have questions. I will answer any and all questions to the best of my ability. I have made a lot of laces and pieces using them so I should have ample experience.

In the tutorial I say there is no formula but since then I have taken notes and now know pretty much how much frit to use for each effect. It isn't exact because of variations in the grain and size of the frit as well as the viscosity differences between colors. Every new lace is an adventure which makes it fun.

Here are three pics of laces made with BE black (0100) frit laid out in a 12" circle. The notes alongside each tells the frit size and layup. The third lace is much thicker than the second and the first is much more open.

These were made as reference laces and center on using #02 and #03 frit with no powders added. Entirely different results are obtained using #01 frit. Adding powder to the top is a whole new adventure.

I weigh out the amount of frit I'm going to use because it is a critical component in the process. "Eyeballing" will probably result in too much frit and fewer holes than desired. I should also emphasize that spreading the frit evenly is another critical component which takes some time to get right. I use a medium foam brush and tap the frit with the side to move it around.

Jim "The Hobbyist"

The Hobbyist wrote: how much frit to use for each effect. It isn't exact because of variations in the grain and size of the frit as well as the viscosity differences between colors. Every new lace is an adventure which makes it fun.
Jim "The Hobbyist"

I think that where I have problems - I remember my accidents where done with frit and now I'm trying with powders and not succeeding. I'll give it some more tries now with the fine frit. Will post my findings. I know you don't want to post your firing schedules but I'm basically going AFAP to full fuse hold for 10 min then off - does that sound good to you? Thanks!!

I have no problem posting my firing schedules or anything else. Since it is frit there is no concern over thermal shock. I run up AFAP and since the resultant lace has lots of surface area I don't worry about an annealing schedule either.

The only concern is when I fuse it to the top of a piece of sheet glass I don't want any KW residue left over on the bottom of the lace. I sandblast and wash it before that next fuse. The laces are quite strong and will withstand considerable handling but they can be very sharp and needled. Handle with great care!

The time spent at full fuse when making the lace is a variable but not overly critical. When I'm doing new colors or sizes I will usually peek to make sure I am getting the effect I want. Longer holds at 1500 will make the holes larger but only to a small extent. A higher/lower process temp will also affect the holes somewhat. Most of the control is in the size and amount of the frit and how well it has been spread on the shelf.

Jim "The Hobbyist"

I'd also suggest Paul Tarlow's e-book called "Waste Not! Fused Projects Using Scrap" which contains the chapter "Lacy Glass".

http://fusedglassbooks.com/

His helpful e-books on several subjects are $15 and discounted for 2 or more.

Thank you Jim. Really interesting.

do you get better results on a kiln shelf or kiln paper? making frit balls and frit lace do they bead better on kiln shelf? I could experiment but thought I'd ask first

I've always made lace on a primed shelf.

Maybe I'll try it on thinfire sometime. Please report your results if you try it.

Jim

I make my “lace” on thin fire, I think the thin fire allows the glass to slide better with less friction than a kiln shelf. I use fits, all sizes not powder.

Babette (Shawn) wrote: I use fits, all sizes not powder.

14098330-6C93-4DF6-9DF1-DD8E41B8759B.jpeg

St. Vitus' Dance?
I've done some arcane things to get kiln stuff to work but haven't tried that yet.

Shawn. Great to see this photo of your lace. I miss being able to see your abstract (and all other) works. Good stuff!

Sharol