Scrap Tekta

[jim burchett]

I have a huge quantity of clear scrap...just wondering if anyone has had experience melting back to sheets? Was thinking of pressing it down to 3/8". Just wondering if anyone else has tried this and if its worth the effort.

[Brad Walker]

Got lots of trapped air bubbles when I tried by just fusing scraps. Will probably try again using a pot melt approach to see if that's more successful.

If you try, let me know if you like the results.

[Faye Malench]

Stack it with other trans colors and high-fire it down to make garden stepping stones. I've even tossed in my irids to the soup to make 3/4 to 1 1 /4 inch stepping stones for the patio. Truthfully it's the only left-over project I have found for Tekta. Bits fire kinda skunky but for land-scaping you can't go wrong. Mine have been in situ mixed in as patio stones for 5 years without a problem (think midwest freeze-heave-thaw). Yeah, I know you want a flawless clear sheet from the left over tekta. It's not going to happen. Please prove me wrong - I have about 50 pounds of the stuff.

[seachange]

I find that fusing clear scrap glass together always leaves a shadowy line where the pieces meet. Unless you are going to do something with the resulting blank that you can sandblast (I mean the final piece has a sandblasted finish), have never found a good solution to this. If it is transparent or even translucent, the lines are visible.

Wish I had some better options...starting to accumulate quite a bit of it also.

Best regards, seachange

[David Jenkins]

@Faye: Do you pot melt it down? Or just stack it on a shelf and let 'er rip? What size (area) stones do you make?

[Morganica]

I essentially screenmelt mine--I have a bunch of square stainless steel rod that I set into or onto firebrick in a grid pattern, kinda like a bbq. I set the biggest scrap on that, flat, the stack the rest as vertically as possible. That seems to trap fewer bubbles. then i run it up to 1600F and let it sit there for about 3 hours, dripping into a rectangular plaster/silica mold. You could certainly do this with a steelring or ceramicmoldor even justthe kilnshelf, but I like the surface the plaster leaves and i have a bunch of it.

The long heat gives the bubbles time to fine out, although you don't catch all of them, and if somewhat clarifies the glass. it also slightly flattens the proflle (if it's thick enough), which improves using it as a base sheet in projects. And I have another mold I use for making ingots when I want to centerfill a sculpture, i.e., when the color I'm using in a casting will be too dark to transmit much light if it's solid through the center, so I use clear.

[Faye Malench]

David I use steel containment rings (squares and round shapes) lined with fibe paper. Just pile in the glass and fire as you would an open faced mold, including the anneal for thicker work. You can lay the scrap in neatly for a design but I like to pile high in the center and let the colors blend and flow. These are scattered through out a flagstone patio and installed the same as the large stones - on a bed of flat sand.

[jim burchett]

Lots of good ideas..I'm thinking the potmelt route may be the way to go...perhaps potmelt, then press the resulting blank, although so many firings would probably screw the glass up anyway. I've been cutting out large quantities of spoonrest and te resulting scrap has an interesting shape, which I have made into Garden Jellyfish, but can only use so many of them and its alot of glass. Will let you know the result.

[Dairy Queen]

Sometimes, I'm not very good at explaining. I may leave out a crucial word, so before you tear me apart, see if you can figure out what I am talking about.

Scrap must be clean, and stacked onto a square piece of tekta. This formula is for producing 6mm clear glass.

Determine the volume of the square piece of tekta on which you will stack. The amount of glass you stack on top should be at least 1.5 times that piece of tekta. I used to weigh my pieces, but now I guestimate. And, yes, it must be stacked. Just placing the pieces evenly across will leave marks. The glass should flow as a mass to the edges of the bottom tekta, and beyond, forming a circle around the square. If the corner of the original square tekta are just inside of the circle, and it is an even 6mm all the way across, your product is perfect.

If you have a lap grinder, you will be able to use the entire circle. If not, cut back to the original square, eliminating the curved overflow (which will have a different back side from the square.

Firing: Between 1170 f and 1235 f, travel at 25 dph. Hold for 10 minutes. Then 300 dph to 1450 f, hold one to three hours, based on the size of your original square. The slow travel from 1170-1235 f will squeeze out all the bubbles. The 10 minute hold allows the numerous pieces to become one unit, and act as one unit. The hold at 1450 allows the unit to slowly flow evenly outward, forming a circle.

Another usage of scrap tekta:
I use scrap tekta to add depth between elements in my fused glass. I put down a torch made leaf, then two layers of clear, then another torch made leaf. In the finished product, The leaf on top will always throw a shadow onto the bottom lear, as there is a space of clear between them. I fire at the same formula as above; base with 1.5 times base in toppings. Normally, if you stack items, displacement causes the bottom to scatter to the outside borders, meaning the bottom leaf would be diluted to nothing. This firing schedule allows the leaves and the clear in-between to become one unit, and move/expand as one unit, keeping the relationship between the leaves intact.

I have had a blast doing all of this experimentation. I am willing to discuss my methods at length, as long as you don't tell me how wrong I am.

Thanks,
Rose

[Dairy Queen]

I didn't say it above, but all of the scrap tekta and base tekta are 3mm.

[jim burchett]

Thanks Rose, Sounds interesting...not a blaster, especially when I'm asking for advice.

[Dairy Queen]

You're welcome. let me know your results.