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Hi,

I often see a 'do not exceed x degrees' if fusing mica powders, but I never came across a 'you need at least y degrees' for fusing them!

Would mica stick to a pre-fused blank if applied and then heated to, say, slumping temperatures (e.g., 1150F-1175F)?

Lucie

Same as yours. They quoted me US$149 for: Pinch Valve, 1/2", direct air operated, union end socket Housing: aluminum; Sockets: 1/2" NPT zinc plated carbon steel; Sleeve: abrasion resistant natural rubber; Temperature: up to 175 Deg. F; Product pressure: up to 90 psi; Control air connection...

Rick,

The body of the pinch valve that you suggest seems to be made out of plastic while those found here:

http://www.akopinchvalves.com/threaded-union-end.html

are made out of aluminum. I was told that it does matter for our application. Any thoughts?

Lucie

Hi, I thought that I'd better check with the experts before embarking on my next project! I would like to try my hand at gold inclusions. Through internet searches, I found 23 kt Chinese, Italian and German gold leaves. The latter two types of leaves are up to twice as expensive as the Chinese ones,...

Hi Jeanice, I used Decocolor markers on Laurie's bottomless ceramic molds (to identify the size of the blank required) as well as on my kiln shelves (to identify my 'silver' shelf). So far so good, my markings are still there after several of firings. They come in different colours. Another big plus...

Hi, What is the best way to make 1/8 inch thick frit balls with a flat top (in other words, I need oval-shaped, flattened 'balls'...): 1- Make the frit balls (full fuse) then flatten them under a KW-coated dam that will fall onto 1/8 inch fiber paper strips during a 2nd full fuse or 2- Make the flat...

Thank you all for your two cents! You guys rock! Santa will have a blast shopping
Lucie

Thanks for the tip Rosanna!

That begs for the next obvious question: if you keep adding 1-2 coats before every firing, when do you now it is time to scrape it all off?

Lucie

When the last coat has dried I go over it lightly with a fine sanding block to smooth it out. Having used both paper and kiln wash, I prefer the kiln wash hands down. Hi Jeanne, I tried your suggestion this afternoon as I am not crazy about the fine lines that the haike brush leaves on the shelf, a...

Thanks Charlie! Would this dust deputy (http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=69841&cat=1,42401&ap=1) be a preferable to a HEPA filter? And I suppose that the shop vac has to be dedicated to the sand blast cabinet (that is, I can not 'confiscate' my spouse's for that purpose when I ne...

Hi, I asked Santa to bring me a benchtop sandblasting cabinet this year ( :D ). In reading about these cabinets, I found websites that mentioned that I also need a dust collector while others made no mention of that. Is it really necessary? Furthermore, there is only one supplier of brown aluminum o...

Thanks for your replies. I did not use Papyros or ThinFire. The chessboard was placed directly on the fiber board. I have just spend another 45 min cold working it again but this time with 200 grit. It is now nearly all covered with these 'blotches', sooooo.... Am I right in assuming that because of...

Hi again, After I cold worked my chessboard using a 400 grit handblock, I cleaned the project in lukewarm water then dried it. That is when I noticed for the first time that there were blotches on all the clear squares (not really apparent on the driftwood squares - but that may just be because of t...

Hi, I used the maximum footprint (10 1/4 in x 10 1/4 in) in my kiln (Paragon Fusion 7) to make a chessboard as a gift for Xmas. The corners were within 1.0 to 1.5 cm of the brick walls. There are two 3 mm layers (alternating BE driftwood and clear squares, topped with one sheet of BE green aventurin...

Greg Rawls wrote:Keep kiln closed when binders are burning off.

Greg,

Kevin had just mentioned in his post to vent the kiln when the Thin Fire is burning. His reasons made sense (for a newbie) as much as yours. I guess the jury is still out on that one too?

Lucie

When I do these I always lightly sandblast the surface and then give a coat of SuperSpray. Jim Jim, I do not have access to sandblasting equipment. Would using the Wash-Away remover be as efficient in removing KW residues? Alternately, if the piece was initially full fused on Papyros or Thin Fire, ...

Hi, So far so good, I do not have a lot of bubbles in my fused blanks. But I kind of like them... under certain circumstances, of course (e.g., part of the design). I read that there are products that allow you to control the size of the bubbles, their location, etc. I did not find any info on this ...

Thanks a million Cynthia! I really appreciate your response and especially, you taking the time to enlighten us, newbies! I have another melt waiting on the sidelines to be fused in a panel. Of course, I used only red,marigold and white (I apparently love living on the edge for a newbie! :wink: ). I...

Beginner's luck I guess: I always used devit spray before slumping and everything comes out shiny.

But with stuff breaking for my last 3 loads, I guess Imy luck ran out

Sorry for the confusion: I guess I should have mentioned that the schedule I posted was for a tack fuse. My blank cracked on the mold before I even programmed the kiln for the slumping... I always thought that from a full or tack fuse temperature, it was AFAP to 900 as this was the (new) annealing t...