Glass hanging methods

[CCVICKERS]

I would like to fuse a hanging ring between the layers of a glass piece. I've seen this done with a piece of hardware that looks like a D ring washer that is flat and narrow. The curved portion is fused into the glass with the straight portion exposed. I cannot find hardware like this. The washers I find are too wide (center hole much smaller than the diameter of the washer).

I made a decorative spiraled hanger out of nichrome wire and fused it between the glass. The glass cracked and crumbled horribly. I would imagine this is from too fast of a cooling and uneven cooling between the glass and the wire. I can experiment with this more, but would prefer the D ring shape and simplicity.

I've searched for hangers and washers of all types. I've looked at belt and strapping parts. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Bert Weiss]

This is not anything I have ever tried to do. I can tell you the theories at play. It is all about expansion and contraction. If the metal contracts more than the glass, the project could live (until you reheat it). The catch is that the size of the wire matters. The larger the diameter, the less likely it is to work, even with a metal that shrinks more than the glass.

Personally, I would try and master a gluing technique.

[CCVICKERS]

When you say reheat... are you referring to kiln temps or a hot sunny window temp?

[Kevin Midgley]

Tandy Leather has such shapes.
That hot sunny window or temperature change may be a problem.
I think everyone here on the board would like to see or hear about the results of any experimentation.
Might be nice to include a photo through polarizing film to show the stress level achieved in the metal and glass area.

[Bert Weiss]

Theory again. COE means that a material with a higher COE both expands and contracts more than one with a lower COE. So, a metal that contracts more on the cooldown, would expand more on the heatup. It is hard to say at just what point on the way up, this becomes a problem.

[CCVICKERS]

Ok... you all got me thinking a little clearer. I found this useful chart here (go figure! ) http://www.warmglass.com/COESummary.htm#metal

And another chart here http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/therm ... d_859.html

Would I be reasoning correctly if I were to start any experimentation with a metal that had a thermal expansion of 9.0 microinch for use with COE90 and 9.6 microinch for use with COE 96?

[Stephen Richard]

You are mixing metric and imperial here. 2.5 times difference

[DonMcClennen]

You don't mention the size (weight) of the piece... Small pendant size pieces will work with wire... but larger panel size work your asking for trouble at firing or later after installation. Drilling holes, then lining holes with a grommet, using cable or small chain, is a cleaner, more professional, safer way to go.

[bhawbaker]

I've been experimenting with creating hangers out of heating element wire. I got a bunch of tails from a kiln mfgr for the cost of postage. I straightened the coils out using a vice, then bent the wire into a loop shape. I protected the loop with a piece of 110J, leaving only short tails that would extend into the glass when fired. The 110J also creates a space so that the glass piece hangs flat against the wall.

My first experiment was with a small (4" x 6") cross I made for a friend. That worked fine.

My second experiment was a large (16") wreath. My error there was leaving too much of the element wire extending into the glass, and the glass cracked even though I moved very slowly (50º/hr) thru annealing. The other difference was that the cross was made of solid color glass, and wreath base (where the wire was fused) was clear. Both were COE 90.

[Stephen Richard]

I suspect your wire is too thick. The expansion differences between glass and element wire are very big. You can get away with thin pieces. Element wire is strong although brittle after fired and thin wire can hold a lot of weight. Many times we get too fancy and include too much coiled and twisted wire in the glass for the glass to accommodate.