Help! Can my ceramic frit mold be saved?

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Sue Bell
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2019 11:50 am

Help! Can my ceramic frit mold be saved?

Post by Sue Bell »

I have been screwing up my attempts at kiln casting and am afraid I am destroying my molds in the process. My glass is sticking in spite of applications of ZYP, forcing me to fire them again upside down to try to remove the stuck glass. I got most of it out, but as you can see, some has remained on the edges of the mold. What (if anything) can I do to get these last bits of glass out? If I can get rid of the glass, is there anything special I must do to the mold before trying to use it again? #-o
butterfly mold
butterfly mold
Sue Bell :)
Kevin Midgley
Posts: 773
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 11:36 am
Location: Tofino, British Columbia, Canada

Re: Help! Can my ceramic frit mold be saved?

Post by Kevin Midgley »

Just because something like Boron coatings are new and expensive does not mean that they are better than traditional coatings such as Bullseye kiln wash.
My suggestion would be to get a dremel out and taking safety precautions, grind away the glass.
Then I would sandblast the mold and apply kiln wash.
But then I don't use those 'other coatings' and have no experience with them.
JestersBaubles
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Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:01 am
Location: North Logan, UT
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Re: Help! Can my ceramic frit mold be saved?

Post by JestersBaubles »

Kiln wash will leave a more textured surface than the BN. Make sure you are spraying from all directions; e.g., spray, turn 1/4 turn, spray, turn, etc.

Make sure you are using Zyp and not the HighTemp 1800. My experience is HighTemp is inferior. Also, fire at the lowest temp possible and hold at short as you can - BN actually starts to break down at fusing temps.

Dana W.
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