Using cracked pieces

[Steve_K]

Hey all, newbie here. I am getting into fusing glass primarily for use in my stained glass work, using abstract formed items the way you would use any piece of stained glass-foiled and soldered into a panel.
I am going the BE route, but many of my first experiments are using scrap glass...I have hundreds of pounds of it--from all manufacturers . Of course, many of these tryouts have stress cracks right off in some obvious areas where there are incompatible glass. But my question is this: how likely are future stress cracks in areas that look good right now? For me to get away with this do I really need to get the stress viewing tools?
What I am doing is breaking off bad sections, then grinding the edges and foiling them (so you dont see the edges anyway). My first attempts look good, but I don't want to create any panels that have fused pieces that will be full of cracks...I've read you may get them months down the road.
I am doing high fire and slow annealing times, on two or three layers of glass, in a Paragon Fusion7. Any tips geared for a stained glasser are much appreciated!

[Brad Walker]

Yes, you need to check for stress. That's especially true if the items are being sold. Cracks can show up right away, they can show up tomorrow, or they can show up months from now.

It's not a major expense to check for stress. Just get some polarized film for a few dollars. There's lot's on this in the Old Archives of the board (link at top of page).