How many bottles can be fired at once

This is the main board for discussing general techniques, tools, and processes for fusing, slumping, and related kiln-forming activities.

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Sandi
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 4:41 pm
Location: McKellar, Ontario

Post by Sandi »

hoknok - Your bottles some neat. Do you have any pictures of your bottle work on the internet? I would really like to see them especially the table.
whitejoyce
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat May 10, 2003 6:06 pm
Location: Phoenix,AZ

Post by whitejoyce »

Not sure if this is meant for me, and I do not how to post pics here, but if you send me your email address I will show you some of my art with wine bottles. :D
J. White
Tyler Frisby
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:27 pm
Location: Canada

Post by Tyler Frisby »

Id like to see them,

I worked for a bottle flattening Family for almost a year in Ottawa. I did all there "grunt" work. Thats how I got into this.

please send picture(s) to: tylerfrisby@hotmail.com
hoknok
Posts: 61
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2003 9:18 am
Location: Raised up North, living in the South

Post by hoknok »

Hay Sandi,

I am getting up my website sometime this month. As for the tables, I got the idea from a lady who arranges all the bottles in a circle. All the tops are close together and the wide part is the edges. Just take some bottles and play with some designs. The tables take a lot of bottles. I would try something small at first like coke bottles.

You lay the bottles next to each other, they are touching, with the necks in towards the center. The circle will just create it self.

I use sand below the bottles, just a little sprinkle, to keep the bottles in position and the fronts face up. I fire to 1450 or higher depending on what else I have in the kiln. Slumping bottles has been far the easiest thing with glass I have done. The harder things I like to do is casting, but when ever I have some free space in my kiln, I always throw some kind of "test" project in the mix... including bottles. The time consuming part is soaking, cleaning the bottles and getting the labels off.

For me, half the fun is just experimenting. I photograph all my before and after fires with my digital camera and keep kiln fire records. I am new to glass since my past is mostly ceramics and photography.

When I launch my site, half of it will be devoted to "odd" tests. Some are not much to see but the results are very informative for projects down the road.

When the bottles come out, I will acid etch and soon try sandblasting an image on the side. I hear people sell them, can you make money at it? I guess, but for me, its more for just playing and then giving them away. I really have no desire to be a bottle slumping facility. If money can be made at it, I would probably let my kids do it to earn extra money? Since my kiln is large, it costs me about $25 for each fire in electricity, this is an estimate and could be a little high.

They do make great gifts though, it was the main hit for all my clients, friends and relatives. I made about 30 to give away. Not sure what I'll do next year... :wink:
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