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Just curious if anyone can tell me what trick to use to keep glass from sliding off of a face mold prior to and during fusing? The nose just seems to get in the way. Any info. would be greatly appreciated! ]
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Try and balance it on the nose and the forehead, or, support a band of glass that crosses your mold with kiln furniture on the sides. Remove the furniture at the appropriate time. Brock

Prop it on kiln furniture set on each side of the mold, about an inch or so above the nose. The glass will slump onto the nose first. Watch it, then remove the furniture as soon as it starts to drape over the nose. Then increase the temp a bit and let it finish the job. The chin usually takes the longest to slump.

And make sure you kilnwash the kiln furniture.

I've had problems with the glass folding somewhere between the chin and ear. Everything went OK except for the fold of glass. Would the kiln furniture prevent that from happening as I just balanced the glass on the nose. Thanks Linda

Linda Hassur wrote:I've had problems with the glass folding somewhere between the chin and ear. Everything went OK except for the fold of glass. Would the kiln furniture prevent that from happening as I just balanced the glass on the nose. Thanks Linda

If you're making a mask, you should just slump some thin float, to define what actual shape your blank should be. Refine it by observing the results and cutting/trimming away excess glass from the shape of the original blank for the next try. It took me several attempts to get the shape I needed for a torso blank, but now I have a template I can use forever.

If you use the band technique, it seems to work okay, you probably won't get a lot of details off the side of the mold, but the face will work. Brock

I feel so enlightened about the information provided by everyone. I will give it a try ASAP. Thanks again!!!!

Kim

What are the alternatives if you are:
1) Chicken about lifting the lid of the Jen ken when that hot
2) Chicken because I don't have a fireproof hood
3) Chicken because I would like to keep my hair thank you

Clucking girl Jeri

Jeri Dantzig wrote:What are the alternatives if you are:
1) Chicken about lifting the lid of the Jen ken when that hot
2) Chicken because I don't have a fireproof hood
3) Chicken because I would like to keep my hair thank you

Clucking girl Jeri

1) Assistants
2) Assistants
3) Assistants
4) Make something else

Brock

Jeri Dantzig wrote:What are the alternatives if you are:
1) Chicken about lifting the lid of the Jen ken when that hot
2) Chicken because I don't have a fireproof hood
3) Chicken because I would like to keep my hair thank you

Clucking girl Jeri

More beef!

Well, you can leave the glass just on the edge of the kiln furniture and pray that when it droops over the mold it slips off the furniture and manages to conform to the mold without hitting the sides of the furniture or messing things up.

It's a gamble, but then it's probably a gamble being a chicken in a world full of meat-eaters.

Well, I feel plucked. And Damn, I just found casting material to make some faces, and heck, with my size , I could fit a me in the kiln. Guess I'll have to grab a leg of venison and chew on that for awhile to toughen up . No sympathy on this site

going atkins jeri

Jeri Dantzig wrote:What are the alternatives if you are:
1) Chicken about lifting the lid of the Jen ken when that hot
2) Chicken because I don't have a fireproof hood
3) Chicken because I would like to keep my hair thank you

Clucking girl Jeri

I wouldn't think you'd need a fireproof hood. Just keep your face back when you first open it, to let the blast of hot air escape (like you do with an oven baking chicken, if you remember....), then don't get your face closer than you need to. And keep your hair tied back -- it makes the chicken hard to chew. Protect your hands, though.

I´ll be using my front loading kiln and some common sense for this project. It is definitely doable.

Kim

As a sculptor I got interested in slumping face mask.
Isn't it easier to slum *into* mold instead of over it?
What are the pros and cons?

-lauri

lauri wrote:As a sculptor I got interested in slumping face mask.
Isn't it easier to slum *into* mold instead of over it?
What are the pros and cons?

-lauri

I don't think slumping into is any easier, and you'll get mold texture on the "face" of your face. Brock

The background for my question is

that I slumped 3/4 thick glass *over* a ceramic mold
(because I wanted the face (=mold marks) on the back.
On both attempts the glass broke over the midline of the face. Glass contracts more than ceramics.

-lauri

lauri wrote:The background for my question is

that I slumped 3/4 thick glass *over* a ceramic mold
(because I wanted the face (=mold marks) on the back.
On both attempts the glass broke over the midline of the face. Glass contracts more than ceramics.

-lauri

I've slumped over ceramic face masks often. I really don't think that there is a general rule of thumb about slumping into or over, steel or cdramic. Success, in my opinion, is particular to the molds shape, not it's composition. Brock

can someone post the make and model number of any ceramic mask that were easy to slump over? I would like to try out some of my "portrait" designs in a mask format. THanks!

Brad Walker wrote:Prop it on kiln furniture set on each side of the mold, about an inch or so above the nose. The glass will slump onto the nose first. Watch it, then remove the furniture as soon as it starts to drape over the nose. Then increase the temp a bit and let it finish the job. The chin usually takes the longest to slump.

And make sure you kilnwash the kiln furniture.

I'm wondering....is it possible to use a broader-based support (like a triangle or a cone) attached to stainless steel wire put through an observation hole and to pull the support from under the glass from outside the kiln as the glass starts to drape over the nose? Watch out, that wire may be hot!!! So many thoughts, so little time to experiment. The thought of working in a hot kiln literally scares the hell out of me!

It is all about the shape of the mold. I was working with a potter. She gave me a bisqued face. I could set the glass balancing between the nose and the chin, such that it was at an angle. I fired slowly enough to make an excellent drape over, conforming to the face and spreading out flat on the shelf around the face. The catch was that both times I did this, the glass cracked, during the cool down, because the glass shrunk more than the ceramic mold. So, I made a rubber mold from the ceramic face, and cast a refractory face. I did the same setup, and got excellent results. The expansion characteristics of the refractory shape caused it to shrink more than the glass during cool down, leaving me glass that was easy to remove, and shaped just the way I wanted.