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There are also some steel cleats that work the same way; they're called "Z-bar" and can be ordered from most framing shops.

I've seen a few interesting approaches to crushing/grinding glass. One was a hammermill (it looked to be the same thing we used on the farm to grind corn for the horses) that was used by Bob Wasser. My wife runs recycling in our area, and has a similar (larger) device that sits on a 55-gallon drum a...

And sometimes, just blasting the back side of the glass with silicon carbide, etc. will change the color enough to get the effect you want.

I finally gave up on Shop Vacs (they leak badly and the motors won't last long with silicon carbide dust). I've had reasonable success with the dust extractors supplied by Glastar, as they're fairly dust-tight and the motors, when the do fail, are easy to replace if somewhat expensive. I use a 2 1/2...

I think the 3/4" zinc will be strong enough; just be sure it's nice and clean when you solder the joints, and use plenty of heat to insure you get a good solder bond. You could reinforce the top piece of zinc by sliding another piece of 3/8" zinc into the channel and then drilling through ...

You might be able to use brass, zinc or copper came; it's possible to fit 1/4" thick glass into this if you grind a slight bevel on the top and bottom edges. But with the weight of the fused pieces, I think you'll probably need some reinforcement if you use high-heart lead: the high-heart I've ...

If it's possible with your design, you might want to consider fusing your individual panels so there's a single-thickness "flange" at the edges. Then you could use a brass-cored lead such as Cascade's Reforce instead of high-heart lead. The brass-cored lead is quite a bit stronger, and wil...

When I was at Camp Colton in 1992, Jay Jett did extensive tests with GNA, and found all of it he tested was 90COE plus or minus .5. Based on this, I've been using GNA since 1992, mostly as a base glass for fused tiles. The GNA is fairly hard, and I've found it useful for keeping the exact shapes I w...

Terry, I've got a digital camera now, so as soon as I get a chance I'll get some photos of the effects I've been getting with Wasser/DTI. I shouldn't complain, but I've been so busy for the last year and a half that I haven't had time to do much but work on commissions. Or maybe I'm getting older an...

When using farm machinery parts, I stack these up in the kiln so as to form the shape I want. There may be quite a bit of steel in the kiln, but the glass only contacts it in a few places: it's the outside shape of the "stack" I'm interested in. I haven't had problems with the thermal mass...

I've used the old Wasser (mostly red) for a number of years, and have made a few pieces using the new Wasser/DTI (gold, sliver and antique copper). Wasser will melt at a lower temperature than other 90 COE glass I've used, and the substrate of the metallic colors will flow out from under the top col...

I've had good success using various non-stainless steel parts for forming glass. Disc blades, cultivator sweeps, sickle guards, etc. are all readily available around here; one of the advantages of living in a farming community. There are treasures behind every barn! My technique is to clean the part...

Bits will definitely last longer with a coolant/lubricant rather than just plain water. Some commercial glass shops use a mixture of water and antifreeze, but I have some core drills that came with instructions not to use antifreeze with them. If you do use antifreeze, make sure it's kept away from ...

I've used silicon carbide for a number of years and have noticed that careful cleaning is necessary because it's very easy to leave a slight silicon carbide residue on a piece that you think is clean. This is even true with clear float glass. I first discovered this when I lit a "clean" pi...

I agree that blasting is the way to go for this project. And if you're not set up to do this, you might be able to find a sandblaster who will do the blasting after you've cut the resist. If you can bring the glass to a blaster with the resist cut and everything masked off and ready to go, this proj...