WarmGlass.com

"Glass Notes" Henry Halem, for a broader than kilnwork picture. New edition (4 th?) may be out soon.

Hey Charlie What was the person making when you saw them using "a potter's wheel used in conjunction with an angle grinder to cold work a compound curve"? I am intrigued by this style of cold work as there are not many people doing it, even though it is a very old style of work. Here is a...

Only two juried classes. That's amazing. It means that all kilnworking classes will have an element of instruction for beginners in them. Kathie -- call them up in a week or two, once they've got your application into the computer, and tell them you want to add a third choice. You probably want to t...

Very few people here use that kind of glass. Don't know what to suggest.

I can't say how they actually decide on who gets a scolarship. I do know that the number of scholarships available last year was lower than in previous years, just because of the economy and lower donations. Many scholarship positions are taken by students at schools that participate in a partnershi...

Rodney- cast your piece, (or better yet, some test pieces), drop the temp down between 1450 and 1300 F, soak. You'll have to test in order to understand control of the process. It may be possible to soak in the devit range on the way up and get it started. I don't know. Devit is generally thought of...

I have seen a potter's wheel used in the finer grit and pumice stages of cold working a flat surface. In this case they were sticking a piece of float down to the wheel and dripping on a slurry of grit and water. The wheel was turning quite slowly. You need a seperate piece of float for each grit to...

She's teaching at Pilchuck this summer too.

I should add, not all of her work is cast float. The stuff that looks white, that is cast with a lot of copper powder on the surface of the mold, is the cast float I believe.

If it's borosilicate fiberglass and it is bound with a refractory that can stand the heat it can be used in a mold. You certainly cannot make a mold with fiberglass and normal resins -- they will burn up. I don't know if rigidizer will work with fiberglass or not. Do some tests.

First, I should say that I use Bullseye so I can't speak directly to how Spectrum behaves. It seems especially strange that you should be having most of your problems with clear, since that should be the base glass that everything is matched to, as far as compatibility is concerened. I don't believe...

Duralite, though the longest they have may be 6'.

I can't imagine that the temperature of your kiln went down fast enough to thermal shock a successfully slumped piece unless the lid was opened and it was hit with a blast of cold air. Thermal shock usually blows a piece apart -- there is some seperation between the pieces. If you looked in and coul...

You can't learn much by watching somebody cold work. You have to do it and screw it up and do it again. You have to feel how the glass is reacting to the abrasive to know if you are holding it correctly. You have to be able to look closely at the surface and know whether it is time to go on to the n...

When I do intricate detail in the surface of fused and slumped work I pick up the detail in the fuse firing then slump at a low temp over a smooth mold. You won't lose or distort any detail unless you are stretching the glass a lot, (something that is very rare unless you are doing deep drop outs.) ...

I've said it before, if you want to do a 24 hour cycle it's better to have an under-insulated and over-powered kiln. I'm not familiar with Mizzou, so I don't know if it is adding more mass or more insulation. Either way, an inch and a half is a lot, and it is slowing down the cool down. For a sand b...

Charlie, why not look at your glass in a room with no other source of illumination. Then you could sit in a dark little room for hours and at least have a legitimate excuse when you came out. 8-[ (Craftweb has better emoticons.) j. Jerry, The problem is, my source of illumination is so big that I h...

Charlie, To be precise, the reflection is not polarized, but the light that has polarity perpendicular to the reflecting surface is reflected more than the light with parallel polarization. The light is not polarized, but the distribution of polarized light is no longer even. That is why Polaroid s...

The twist is what a polariscope detects. Physics is not my strongest science, but I believe that as polarized light reflects differently, the thru going light has more the other polarity. When sunlight is reflected from a horizintal sheet of glass (or water surface), the reflection is polarized and...

It can be really tricky when a piece has lots of curves or relief. Transitional areas pick up light from some distance and shine more brightly than the surrounding glass. I've never heard of normal glass actually polarizing light, though it can twist already polarized light.

ch

In addition to the thickness of the pieces is the fact that there are voids running through them and lots of negative spaces. This increases annealing well over the amount needed for the thickest part of the glass. Stress builds up around the voids and inside corners.

ch