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huge bubble in full fused glass

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 11:14 pm
by babs
I have over 900 firings in this kiln and lately the large pieces have developed a large bubble while doing a full fuse -- a schedule that has worked well for years. Could it be the coils, heat, what???? I'm anxious for suggestions. I can return it to the manufacturer for an overhaul if push comes to shove. Help!

Re: huge bubble in full fused glass

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 1:51 am
by Kevin Midgley
shelf warped

Re: huge bubble in full fused glass

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 2:12 am
by Morganica
Might be a shelf warp, but a friend of mine experienced the same issue and has replaced her kilnshelf twice without relief. Check your kilnwash carefully.

Re: huge bubble in full fused glass

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 10:10 am
by babs
Interesting, never thought about the shelf or wash. I have two shelves but I haven't correlated whether it happens on a particular one. I have switched my brand of wash, that might be a factor. I'll try experimenting, just hate wasting the materials.

Re: huge bubble in full fused glass

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 7:04 pm
by Bob
Hi Babs,

Take the glass piece with the bubble and lay it on a flat surface. Does the non bubbled part lie flat or does in lift on two corners or sides? If the glass is warped then the shelf may have warped during firing and the glass is recording the shape of the kiln shelf at elevated temperature. I had a similar problem and noticed that the glass itself was no longer flat after firing. I changed shelves and the problem stopped. I use the "rogue" shelf for tack fusing now.

Brad has a FAQ on the large bubbles... might be helpful.

Cheers,

Bob

Re: huge bubble in full fused glass

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 8:19 pm
by babs
Thanks. I'm on a mission to solve and will report back.