WarmGlass.com

Way back in the day, I posted a question, about fusing 3 layers of 12mm float, and getting grapefruit sized bubbles, in the corner. Within a few minutes, Graham posted a good answer, which was don’t heat hot enough to get to bubble blowing viscosity (1450ºF). As far as I am aware, that was the last ...

I'm. making a 30 inch x 40 inch 9mm thick panel what should the anneal time be? I thought about 12 hours would that be enough I anneal 10mm float with a 1.2 hour soak at 1000, 1.2 hours down to 900, .8 hours down to 700, .8 hours down to 300. For fusing glasses, I drop those temps down 80ºF. A twel...

I have a new all-fiber kiln including the shelf. I have heard so much 'noise' about whether or not you can fire directly on the kiln washed fiber shelf OR you should use thin fire, I'm don't know how to proceed. Would really appreciate some advice. Thanks! I agree that kilnwash is problematic. Perh...

Try Hang Your Glass. Used properly it should provide a bond stronger than the glass.

Or trying heating the Hyxtal a bit to make it set up quicker.

There are 2 kinds of rigidizer, colloidal silica and colloidal alumina. Silica tends to land on the surface and sticks to glass (often the pink stuff). Alumina is probably what the boards are made with in the first place (green stuff as I’ve seen it). I sinks in and doesn’t stick to glass as much. B...

A simple rule is always give at least an 80% margin. So a 36 amp draw would need at least 45 amp relay. 50 amp relays are quite common and inexpensive. I recently got burned buying Chinese relays. They came with recommended light weight heatsinks. I had a fire, that luckily I could blow out with my ...

It is always a good idea to work within 80% of capacity only for wires, breakers, and relays. Putting 36 Amps through a 50 amp rated relay is probably how I’d go, but splitting them up is good too. In larger kilns, I always use 3 zones with 3 thermocouples, because the middle zone is always hotter t...

Thanks Bert, I think that I am going to wire a single female to the controller and switch out thermocouple lines when I need to. I am going to use a low voltage toggles to switch signal voltage lines but I would be worried about doing the same thing with the thermocouple lines where current accurac...

I’ve done pretty long runs of thermocouple wire with no issues.

The idea of one outlet wired to the controller and plug either one in to run it is the simplest approach I know of. This can be hard wired with some sort of knife switch or something so you can divert the power to one side or the other.

I am visiting Chicago, and popped in to a craft gallery when I saw Doc Steve’s work in the window. Always a pleasure to see it in person. My surprise in the gallery was some new work by Richard Parrish. I’ll comment that I have seen many pictures, but in person his pieces really shimmer with nuanced...

Jolly, yes you can shorten elements to get them to glow hotter. They will draw more wattage and more amperage. I would consult with Duralite. They can make you new coils designed with an exact amperage and watts per cubic foot inside your kiln. Meanwhile, I would make sure you don’t have a relay stu...

Aaron, your knowledge of glass is sorely lacking. You continually make wrong statements. Answering them all is book length. If you can purchase what you want for $75, I advise you to do so, unless you would rather spend $75,000 learning about glass. Tempered glass never breaks in 2 pieces. 2,000 is ...

Schott likely has heavier tougher bricks that stay about the same temp in their flow through set up. As for the temperature their shelf/mould can handle, their shelf is molten tin. I can not copy them. While SCHOTT does make float glass, their optical casting glasses are not float. I believe HIS gl...

I found the name for dental stone. Hydrocal. Melting temp is 2650 F, but upper working temp is 900 F. I wonder why it does not work higher. Remember that mold and glass must be compatible. That means that the glass would need a higher expansion coefficient so it will shrink more on cooling. Otherwi...

I found the name for dental stone. Hydrocal. Melting temp is 2650 F, but upper working temp is 900 F. I wonder why it does not work higher. Plaster has 2 kinds of water in it, the water you mix it with and chemically bonded water. Both need to exit the mold. Solid Hydrocal, will just crack. So you ...

WoW You are in for an extremely steep learning curve. First of all, float glass has a relatively high melting point. Second, refractory molds don’t fare well above 1400ºF. Third you will never get bubble free stacking glass. You would do best starting out with a piece of glass thicker than you want ...

Nice table Bert. It is underneath all the stuff they are selling. Barn board pattern shows well despite all the stuff sitting on top of it. https://homeplushome.com/ Odd Kevin. You describe the table. Your link is for my guy but at a different location. I don’t see the picture you reference. I’m so...

Welcome back, friend. Glad you';re on the mend! I'm in week 5 after hip replacement and doing well too. I finished and shipped out two commissions the day before surgery, and during recovery dreamed up all kinds of new pieces. Do report on your new works. Nikki, after my surgery, I had a large impo...

I haven't been around for a while, but this news came across my screen this morning. This was the factory I visited decades ago, where I was taken to lunch with 5 industry experts who let me pick their brains. Years later, they told me that my advocacy for using colors designed for ceramics on glass...

Bonnie

I consider successful drilling to be a successful annealing test. If there are internal stresses, drilling will find them.

Bert