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I assemble the whole piece, dam it if necessary. Then just before firing, sprinkle a layer of fine frit over the top of the whole piece

I have recently produced an item on selecting a kiln. It is available from http://shop.stained-glass-supply.co.uk/ ... uctID=1880
It may be of some help

I spread a layer if fine frit after assembly before firing. No sandblast or grinding after the cutting

Warren, Your statement "Firing to 1470 (held for 10 min.) did not cause your glass to break. Glass can be fired up to 1700 or more without causing subsequent breakage. " in this simple form is not right. It is possible to break the glass with too fast an initial rate of advance. I suspect ...

More info please.
Full schedule
Full lay up
Size of blank in relation mould.
Preliminary view indicates volume control problems or thermal shock, firing too high, and you have an annealing break. Lots of problems indicating some basic errors

I've found sprinkling a small amount of clear powder over the already placed complete pieces keeps the stringer in place without glue

Mile,
I have recently discovered calcium silicate boards. 25mm thick. No fibres. Carves easily. Needs kiln wash. Lighter and cheaper than Vermiculite.

If it were me, i would invest in an inexpensive controller. You can hook the pyrometer to it and combine digital output as well as a means to control your segments without bothering to know what 1, 3, or 9 do. Just set the rheostat to maximum and let the controller do the rest. Yes, you will learn a...

If it were me, i would invest in an inexpensive controller. You can hook the pyrometer to it and combine digital output as well as a means to control your segments without bothering to know what 1, 3, or 9 do. Just set the rheostat to maximum and let the controller do the rest. Yes, you will learn a...

There might be a big difference in thickness between hardware cloth (?) and a cooling grid as used in kitchens, which is what is currently being recommended

Some more questions - Can I dry the rigidized vermiculite in the kiln, or does it have to air dry?? Bert has already said there is no necessity (or in my opinion, any advantage) to rigidise. Can I apply kiln wash on the wet rigidized shelf and have them dry together? Not a good idea Can I dry the k...

Different manufacturers have different annealing, softening and strain points.

I guess these guys will get the quality of advice they are willing to accept. There are enough groups around that there will be a natural migration to those which provide more helpful and critical support. It will take time though, and there will be a lot of drop outs from the craft before it settles.

I questioned the moderators' application of the rules about promotion. Turned out one of the people I complained about was a moderator. I was banned fo failing to respect the moderator's decision. It is run on the lines of "if you don't show respect for the whims of the moderators, you must lea...

I agree Valerie that the FGF group does not seem particularly interested in learning. But that seems to be the way with a lot of the Facebook groups. However I persist. I have set up a group (Fusing Q&A) which attempts to give reasons for doing things and includes a weekly tip for people to cons...

Cynthia,
Once the fiber board has been rigidised, is it still porous/permeable to air?

"BTW Valerie. Seems as if there are some people who sleep with their computers set to FGF and are ready to post at the ring of a bell. Too many uninformed answers.

Barry"

" Do I need to flip and fire, then fire AGAIN to get a gloss back on the top? Then slump..."
Yes

I know you want an answer to your question, but there is nothing there that really shows up as a possibility in the information you give. So I suspect the difficulty lies in something you have not mentioned. The one thing that occurs to me is cleanliness. It does not happen all the time, so maybe so...

I suspect your wire is too thick. The expansion differences between glass and element wire are very big. You can get away with thin pieces. Element wire is strong although brittle after fired and thin wire can hold a lot of weight. Many times we get too fancy and include too much coiled and twisted ...