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what would happen if i put glass scraps on the kiln shelf and ran a firing schedule similar to a pot melt? My kiln is not deep enough to do a pot melt. What about using a dam? lets say i fired the kiln to 1600 degrees then to full fuse without using a damn. would the glass get all over the kiln shelf or will i end up with a relatively even circle? Im not saying im going to do this, im just trying to think of solutions to my kiln not being deep enough to do a pot melt. just brainstorming really. I have a skutt hotstart pro if anyone knows any other ideas. Im short on money and dont have any dams yet that im very happy with. They are either very large and hard to place in the kiln or fall over every time. I was using ceramic tiles but they started to warp. I may cut more but they seem to warp every second firing and its kinda waste. What are some other alternatives to a pot melt. Iv been using a a solid square of clear glass with scraps placed on top and firing at full fuse, but i dont like wasted the clear glass. I have so much scrap bits of clear glass i want to get rid of. pot melt seemed perfect until i set it up and no matter what i did the 4 inch pot was touching the lid. its a very shallow kiln.

Thanks
Dennis

Do a wire melt instead of a pot melt. That takes up far less space and will fit in most kilns, including yours.

The differences between a wire melt and a pot melt is that with a wire melt you use stainless wire on top of supports (instead of the flower pot) and you fire a bit lower (around 1625 to 1650F is usually fine). You need wire with around 1/2" holes, but other sizes will work.

You can also try cutting small strips, maybe 4 inches long, standing them upright with flat stacks to support it, leaning pices against each other vertically, etc., inside a dam. Get the glass good and hot, hold it there for awhile to flatten it out.

Makes some very interesting flow patterns. I did one with nothing but whites,creams and pale ambers, just 1x2inch strips that I stacked and leaned on end throughout the dam. Still one of my favorite pieces.

I've done a successful pot melt in my Skutt Hot Start. I used small (4") pots raised on a stainless steel former (Laurie Spray's) on top of a ss former for the dam. I've also used the mesh melt as suggested. With the short depth of this kiln, you don't quite get the flow you would in a deeper kiln, but still some nice designs.

Good luck! Patty

I'd also suggest Paul Tarlow's e-books "Waste Not! Fused Projects Using Scrap" and "Mesh & Trough Melts".

http://fusedglassbooks.com/

Also @ FusedGlass.org there are PDF firing schedules for pot drops and wire mesh melts.

http://www.fusedglass.org/tools/firing_schedules

I have done a lot of "heap melt". Stacking a pile of scrap on the shelf - without dams - and let it melt to an irregular puddle.
http://lauri.lsd.dk/lasi/galleries/lauri/kierratys.php
In those works I have used punty pint from glass blowers. They are thumb size bits of clear glass with some surface color, usually transparent. The color forms interestin veils inside the glass.

It depends of temperature and time how flat it becomes. I do peek until the surface seems smooth. At that stage 850 grams of glass forms a puddle of some 20-25 cm diameter and 9 mm thick.

A table of glass amount and size is
http://lauri.lsd.dk/lasi/liitteet/taulu ... avalu.html
and to translate the netric units to imperial, use the calculator
http://lauri.lsd.dk/lasi/liitteet/convert.html
Use decimal point, cot comma.
-lauri

Another way to use up clear scrap......we pile it into a stainless steel ring (with 1/8" fiber paper lining it) and add colored scrap randomly throughout and make "scrap melts". Use a good bubble squeeze schedule. The stainless steel rings are only 1" deep so they will fit any kiln. We also make pot melt pots with numerous holes that are 2" tall for people with short kilns. That over a 1" stainless steel ring is only 3 inches. How big is your kiln?