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Hi Kathleen,
Yes, mix at least 50% silica flour with the hydrocal to make casting investment. It helps to add some chopped fiberglass too, to help hold everything together. Hydrocal by iteself can't handle the heat of the kiln and will break down and fail. Good luck!
Steph

I am getting down to the bottom of my stash of System 96 #146, Deep Purple. The color has been discontinued for a while. I use it quite a bit in my landscapes, so I thought I'd put out the call to see if anyone has frit, powder, rod, sheet - anything you'd love to unload? I'd love to buy it, it woul...

That's so funny. If it EVER dries out here in Washington, I might try that! Also, hubby used to fair the hulls on great big racing sailboats, I'll bet he has some tricks.

Thanks for the info. The board was pretty rough on both sides when I got it & I rigidized it myself at the time. I used it for a long time with 1/8" fiber paper & dry kiln wash dusted on, but that won't work with what I'm doing now. So I'll try the grind & patch and see how it goes....

Hi Guys, I have a 1" thick rigidized fiber board shelf that I've been using off & on for a few years. I just had an opal piece stick to it and tear some pretty good-sized chunks out of the surface. Anyone have suggestions about how to patch & level the surface? I have some liquid rigidi...

At an art festival last week, a customer came over to tell me one of the glass wall tiles in my booth was crooked. Turns out ithe glass was slowly sliding off the back... & old silicone was the culprit. It was the last bit left in the tube & should have opened a fresh one. I left it for four...

Thanks,

I'll start looking around for one - I'll check the classifieds.

Steph

Hi Lynne, Yeah, I think a dryer circuit is 30 amps. I wouldn't be surprised if I seem to remember that I knew someone who had a 24" kiln that ran on 120V, but it might have been custom and taken 12 hours to reach fusing temp, who knows. I'm just trying to keep working a bit while my regular kil...

I need some advice about a kiln. I am moving to a new place where I can build a studio. I won't have room to set up my large kiln until the studio is up. So while I wait for the studio to be done, I'd like to have a smaller kiln, maybe 24" or a bit smaller, that I can plug into a dryer circuit ...

So, if it's "out of print" so to speak, is it kosher to get a copy from someone else's copy? If I'm not mistaken, I think that's okay with printed material. Am I correct? Anyone know about that?

Steph

Hi Rodney, I know that theoretically the more cone-shaped the feeder gate is (whether built into the mold itself, or in the form of a crucible) the easier it is for the glass to flow down & out the hole. But on really wide molds I've used flower pots with a 6 or 8" flat bottom, and if you w...

Hi Rodney, I just go ahead and load the pot with glass, soak the mold at 250 and then 350 to dry it, then go on up. I hold a little bit at anneal temp to warm up the inside of the mold before the glass starts dripping into it. I usually design in a shallow feeder gate, so that if the pot drip starts...

Thanks you guys for looking around for me. I can't find anything similar either. These have a magnetic backing & no hole. I have no idea what they are worth. But thanks anyway for all your help!
Steph

thanks JC,

The ones I'm looking at are 24". I'll check around and see if anyone has them that big. Do you have the link for the lapidary board?

Steph

Thanks, that price reference gives me some idea at least. I had a flat lap grinder made, and I bought an 80 grit diamond pad. For as little as I grind, I thought I could try these for a while, and there is a cork & prepolish pad as well that I can use. I hate to offer a price when I have no idea...

I have a chance to purchase some polishing and grinding pads from another glass artist. I need to find silicon carbide flat lap pads, so I can figure out what a fair price would be for them. Any ideas? I can find diamond disks, but not the others.

Thanks
Steph

Hey Ron, I also have read that there is chemically bound water that is released at a higher temp. I checked during the last firing to see if a couple pretty large molds were all the way dry yet. 12 hours into a dry cycle at 350 degrees, I held a piece of glass over the hole in the lid, and no fog. W...

Hi Spark,

Yes, the fumes from hot microcrystalline wax are not good for you. Use good ventilation over the wax pot, and/or wear a good repirator. Warm wax won't hurt you any, though.

Steph

I wonder if the molds are getting thermal shocked at the end of the dry cycle, or if the dry cycle temp is too high. If the mold is dried too hot at the beginning of the cycle, then the steam can blow cracks in the mold. I think Carol mentioned 225 or so. I dry the molds for a week, then load them i...

Gale,

If you're packing frit the typical pate de verre way, Delores is a good person to talk to. She's got a lot of experience with this technique & firing schedules for different types of pate de verre.
Steph