WarmGlass.com

Which kiln(s) are y'all using for your pot drops?

I've got my workhorse evenheat "coffin" but it's not very deep, I don't have a kiln that's deep enough by the looks of all the great photo's that are being posted. And all the rest of what I have are much smaller.

What do YOU recommend?

Warmly,
JC

I used a Paragon front loading GL22-AD. It's kind of tight, but seems to have enough room for a 6" pot.

Steve

http://www.clearwaterglass.com/aperture_pour_test.htm

Steve - great pictures of how you did the pot melt - thanks -

With the three pounds of glass - how big did the blue rondell end up - I would really like to make sure that I don't end up with glass off the shelf?

Also you said the thread was small - how big was the hole in the bottom of the pot? Jim Wolverton has some great pictures of what happened when he
tried two different size holes.

Sue,

That was my first try, and the hole was small - I think about 3/8th. Not all the glass came through, and my glass ended up about 8".

I tried another one with a pot that came with a 7/8th inch hole and the results were better:



For this one I used 3.25 lbs of glass, and the resulting melt was 11" in diameter. http://www.clearwaterglass.com/aperture_pour_2.htm.

I actually used this disk by grinding to a true circle, flipping it over (we liked the bottom better), sandblasting, adding a rim with details and fusing. It's in the kiln right now. I'm planning to slump it into a bowl if it looks OK.




Steve

Steve, that looks great. I've noticed the back of some of my pot melts were just as interesting as the front. Please post a picture of the completed piece.

Thanks,
Randy

Randy,

OK Here it is:

http://www.clearwaterglass.com/whirlpool.htm



Steve

That is a glorious bowl!

Heidi

Steve, your bowl is beautiful !!!! Just beautiful!

Thanks for sharing.

Randy

Very nice Steve. It's a good idea to add the rim. Takes it beyond a piece based solely on technique.

To answer the original question, it's tight, but you can do a pot drip in a 9 inch deep kiln. Look for cactus or bonsai pots. They are shorter and fatter.

Steve: What a fantastic bowl! I love the way the white, amber, and green interplay on the backside, giving the piece a lot of depth. So organic. It's a really nice use for a pot melt. Several weeks ago I made a couple of pot melts using french vanilla, medium amber, light green, and olive green. The colors were great, but the ring pattern was so tight that even on the back there was not much going on. From your results, it looks like increasing the hole size or making it an oval or slit would have resulted in a much more interesting piece. Thanks for sharing your results.

p.s. I had the opportunity to visit with Cynthia Oliver and see her beautiful and inspiring work at the Smithsonian Craft Show last night. There was lots of interesst in Susan Glasgow and Ruth Gowell's glass work too.

I'm embarrassed to ask this but I would be afraid of the pot cracking. Does that not happen with going up to this high of a temperature.

Thanks to all for your comments.

Steve

Steve,

That is one terrific bowl! How did you add the rim?

Warmly,
Nita

Nita,

Thanks.

The pot melt was about 1/4" thick, maybe a tiny bit thicker. I cut a 3mm clear circular base, and cut two 3mm thick rims: one clear, and one grass green tint and placed them around the melt, but on top of the base. Added the details and fired. The piece is now 3/8" thick. It did not really increase in diameter at all.

Steve

Steve,

Thanks for the info. I saw Patty Gray's technique for cutting thin
circles for rims. Do you cut your glass that way, too?

I have never added a rim, but I have wanted to many times.
You have inspired me to try it.

Warmly,
Nita

Steve,

Thanks for the info. I saw Patty Gray's technique for cutting thin
circles for rims. Do you cut your glass that way, too?

I have never added a rim, but I have wanted to many times.
You have inspired me to try it.

Warmly,
Nita

Yes. I cut the rims just like in Patty's tutorial.

Try it. It works. It's easier with transparent glass because you can see the score propagate, but I've done it with opals as well.

Steve

Very cool bowl.. I can't wait to try this technique..

Thank you all!

I'm almost caught up on my production work so I get to "play" soon. Yipee!

JC

I've said it before, that is a fabulous bowl, I love it!

When you cut the rims you had to cut one relief score to break out the center, right? Did that cut heal up when fired or is it still noticable?

G'pa Jim

Yes, each rim had a relief cut. They are very hard to see, but you can find them if you look.

Steve