Joining pieces

Cheryl Wade · Post by **Cheryl Wade** » Sun Mar 23, 2003 5:55 pm

I'm a newcomer to kiln work. I have fuse and slumped individual pieces but now want to make a 3D piece - a vase - but don't know how to fuse/tack the 5 separate pieces together. I could copper foil them but want the piece to be entirely glass. Any advise gratefully received.

Tess Farley · Post by **Tess Farley** » Sun Mar 23, 2003 10:37 pm

You first need to lay your five pieces on a flat base, such as a compatible clear glass, and place them on your kiln shelf. Then you fuse them together in flat form. After the piece is fused flat, place your vase form upside down on the kiln shelf, then lay the flat fused piece on top of the inverted vase form and take your kiln to slump temp. When your kiln approaches slump temp, be sure to keep an eye on your project so you can flash vent when your project reaches the slumped shape you want.

Cheryl Wade · Post by **Cheryl Wade** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 9:31 pm

Tess thanks for the reply. Will this work for a rectangular shape? I should have said that the 4 sides are each 20 cms x 10 cms with the base 10 x 10. Cheryl

Tess Farley · Post by **Tess Farley** » Tue Mar 25, 2003 9:54 pm

Rectangles, squares, circles, whatever will work. When I do vases, I make sure the base is large enough to contain all the pieces in the design. If I want to have an irregular shape in the design, I cut my base to match the finished shape. Perhaps some of the other people here have experimented with design pieces that exceed the size of the base. If so, does this cause weakness in the finished piece?