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Jerry · Post by **Jerry** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 11:58 am

I read all I could find about casting/draping/encasing rocks and wasn't happy with any of it. So I've put together a process that works well and answered the question; YES, you can cast/drape/encase rocks.

Pictures available via email; I haven't figured out how to post one on this board yet.

Jerry

Leslie Ihde · Post by **Leslie Ihde** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 12:51 pm

Jerry, I would love to see the pictures you have mentioned. I kinow what it is like to struggle with a process and develop new procedures to get the effect you want. I'll be an appreciate audiance. Leslie

Kathie Karancz · Post by **Kathie Karancz** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 6:08 pm

All right!!!! I have 3 bags of rocks sitting close to my kiln just begging me to join them with glass inside my kiln. I tried once and have been a bit nervous about it. I would love to know anything you would be willing to share on this topic.
Kathie from Calgary

Jerry · Post by **Jerry** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 6:18 pm

Well, the trick is to get the rocks dry before you try to cast them. Some rocks will split even after they are dry and it has to do with the things they have trapped in them; not much you can do about those, but the water you CAN do something about.

My trick is to toss them into a stainless steel mixing bowl without letting the wife see what I'm doing. Cover it with an old mold so if one of those babies DOES blow, your elements are protected. Now, fire them at moderate speed to your process temperature. Mine is 1500 for a double layer of Spectrum 96 clear. If they survive this firing, they will survive your casting. When you do cast you need to anneal based on the size of the rock. They do hold heat a long time so be conservative.

Got it? Let me know how it goes.

Jerry

Kathie Karancz · Post by **Kathie Karancz** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 6:29 pm

You know it really is amazing how things work!!! I am sitting at my desk at an Oil Company desperately trying to stay awake and then decide to look at the Board cuz I can't stand the paper anymore. Then there's this message from you and voila!!!!! I am alive and awake again.
Never thought about putting them in a bowl first and firing them by themselves.... dahhhhhh.... now why didn't I think of that??? So what kind of projects have you done?? I tried putting a rock on the bottom of a shallow mold and then just slumped some float over top. The result was a wonky bowl (which was fine by me). Do you do that, where you place the rocks in the mold prior to slumping?? What else do you do??
Thanks for all your help...
Kathie

Leslie Ihde · Post by **Leslie Ihde** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 8:55 pm

I saw your picture, Jerry- it looks like you suceeded very well. I've fired rocks independantly before (independant from glass, that is) under a pot. One think I've found is that sometimes the rock loses it's color. I wonder if there's a rule of thumb for that- eons of geological formation equals what % color loss? Thanks for sharing. Leslie

Alice DeGraff · Post by **Alice DeGraff** » Sat Mar 22, 2003 9:44 am

Jerry wrote:I read all I could find about casting/draping/encasing rocks and wasn't happy with any of it. So I've put together a process that works well and answered the question; YES, you can cast/drape/encase rocks.

Pictures available via email; I haven't figured out how to post one on this board yet.

Jerry

Hope I am doing this right??? I would like a picture of your work

degraff2@msn.com

Paul Tarlow · Post by **Paul Tarlow** » Sat Mar 22, 2003 9:57 am

Jerry wrote:Well, the trick is to get the rocks dry before you try to cast them. Some rocks will split even after they are dry and it has to do with the things they have trapped in them; not much you can do about those, but the water you CAN do something about.

My trick is to toss them into a stainless steel mixing bowl without letting the wife see what I'm doing. Cover it with an old mold so if one of those babies DOES blow, your elements are protected. Now, fire them at moderate speed to your process temperature. Mine is 1500 for a double layer of Spectrum 96 clear. If they survive this firing, they will survive your casting. When you do cast you need to anneal based on the size of the rock. They do hold heat a long time so be conservative.

Got it? Let me know how it goes.

Jerry

Okay - I understand how you make sure the rock won't blow -- but (for encasing) how are you dealing with the difference in COE?

- Scared of exploding rocks in Austin

Jerry · Post by **Jerry** » Sat Mar 22, 2003 3:01 pm

COE may be a problem if several different types of rocks are encased. They are minerals and have their own expansion rates. How they would do jammed in together is anybody's guess. However, when I dry mine I put them all into a bucket in the kiln. If there was going to be a coe problem you'd think it would show up there.

Jerry

Alice DeGraff · Post by **Alice DeGraff** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 9:33 am

Jerry please send me a picture of your rock in the glass. I would love tosee it thanks Alice De

Robert Burrell · Post by **Robert Burrell** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 1:22 pm

Yea Jerry, I'd like to see a picture.
robert

Barbara Muth · Post by **Barbara Muth** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 1:37 pm

Jerry wrote:COE may be a problem if several different types of rocks are encased. They are minerals and have their own expansion rates. How they would do jammed in together is anybody's guess. However, when I dry mine I put them all into a bucket in the kiln. If there was going to be a coe problem you'd think it would show up there.

Jerry

Jerry, I guess I would wonder, if you are casting glass and rocks together, if the COE of glass were different from the rocks, that you would get cracking in the glass where it meets the rocks, much like what you would see if you were to fuse, say 96 coes and 90 coes glass together. You haven't had that happen?

Jerry · Post by **Jerry** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 3:40 pm

Barbara Muth wrote:
Jerry wrote:COE may be a problem if several different types of rocks are encased. They are minerals and have their own expansion rates. How they would do jammed in together is anybody's guess. However, when I dry mine I put them all into a bucket in the kiln. If there was going to be a coe problem you'd think it would show up there.

Jerry
Jerry, I guess I would wonder, if you are casting glass and rocks together, if the COE of glass were different from the rocks, that you would get cracking in the glass where it meets the rocks, much like what you would see if you were to fuse, say 96 coes and 90 coes glass together. You haven't had that happen?

No, it hasn't happened. My guess is that the minerals in the rocks don't actually mix with the glass. Maybe if I increased the temp a few hundred degrees I'd have that problem, but I probably won't do that.

Jerry

Barbara Muth · Post by **Barbara Muth** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 4:51 pm

Jerry wrote: No, it hasn't happened. My guess is that the minerals in the rocks don't actually mix with the glass. Maybe if I increased the temp a few hundred degrees I'd have that problem, but I probably won't do that.

Jerry

is the glass fused to the rocks or are they loose?

Jerry · Post by **Jerry** » Tue Mar 25, 2003 10:32 am

The glass actually contacs the rock about 75% around. It encased the rock but not totally. The bottom of the rock is open and sits on the table, or floor, or what ever it's on.

Jerry

Luiza · Post by **Luiza** » Tue Mar 25, 2003 9:29 pm

Jerry wrote:I read all I could find about casting/draping/encasing rocks and wasn't happy with any of it. So I've put together a process that works well and answered the question; YES, you can cast/drape/encase rocks.

Pictures available via email; I haven't figured out how to post one on this board yet.

Jerry

Please Jerry , send me the pictures
Luiza
glass1@uol.com.br

Tess Farley · Post by **Tess Farley** » Tue Mar 25, 2003 9:36 pm

Jerry, your rock casting process sounds fantastic! Please send me a picture.

Thanks,
Tess

Katy Mattice · Post by **Katy Mattice** » Wed Mar 26, 2003 9:51 pm

Hi Jerry,
I would love to see you picture(s) also!
Thanks,
Katy Mattice
mkmice@charter.net

Bonita (Nita) Crawford · Wed Mar 26, 2003 10:14 pm

Jerry,

I'd like to see a picture, too.

Nita

glassfire@troycable.net

WarmGlass.com

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