(click on photos for larger versions)
The idea was to fuse onto a mix of "play sand" and plaster. Designs in the sand show up in the fused piece. I mixed 4:1 sand with plaster and placed it in a big bowl ceramic mould. The sand did indeed create a very textured piece and maintained the squiggles. The mould did crack; was this due to the sand??
and then did a full fuse of a ~10" square clear piece with shards of glass on it.
 post fuse still on sand. Note the crack in the mould in the upper left!! |
 front |
 note depressions etc |
 back view; some embedded sand still needs picking out. Lots of texture from the sand. |
A while ago, I tried Spectrum's Inferno glass in a small bowl. It has survived for about a year; the issue is whether the recent Pearl Opal glasses are close enough to S96 (I suppose I should do a physical test using a polarizing filter to really know).
Composition: (6")
I had it in my head that tungsten would make a good kiln shelf - it has a high melting point and doesn't oxidize. I interpreted this as non-interactive. Not. Now I know to scotch that idea.
 firing on a borrowed piece of tungsten. Taken to 1550F in Hot Box |
 glass interacted with the tungsten. So much for that idea! |
The next phase of "build my own mould" is to use Ceramaguard to make a 7" bowl. I fired the Ceramaguard to 1300F and then put kiln wash on it.
Firing of the glass was standard full fuse to 1500F. Slump to 1250F at 750F/hr. The glass slipped through the mould - not enough rim. Note that the paint on the mould did indeed flake off.
This piece remains cursed. The kiln failed somehow on the 2nd fire of the piece, yielding (apparently) an unannealed tack-fused piece. The total fire time was consistent with a full fire time, so it's all very odd.
Composition: (8 1/2"):
This one uses a fiberboard mould with a 6"x7" opening. I carved some slots along the top.
Composition (8"x9"):
Upon re-firing the cereal bowl, I found that the final temperature seemed to be low. A 1500F full fuse was yielding a tack fuse and the glass did not anneal. I verified that the elements were working, and was left with the thermocouple as the culprit.
Gene ordered a type K replacement (4811TC) from Ed Hoy. Here are the steps in the repair:
I undid the bolts attaching the RM2 to its bracket (not detaching the bracket from the kiln). I removed the old t/c after loosening the screws on its terminal block and inserted the new one. I had to wind its wires around in the controller box - the old one was custom made to just fit.
Click on pix for larger versions.
 cracks from failed anneal are evident |
 can just make out the cracks from previous anneals. Also, edges have devit where there are only two layers of glass. The top layer shards did not flow over the underlying layer as usual. |
 not a happy piece after slumping to 1350F @750F/hr |
 Closeup. The glass "tore" and the piece was severely cracked. Very unhappy glass! |
Suggestions from the Warm Glass bulletin board:
Here is another try with the new thermocouple - successful this time!
Composition: (10"x11")
Standard fuse to 1500F; Slump at 750F/hr to 1350, then anneal. Advice from the bulletin board is to slow down the slumping ramp. Slumped over a Duraboard mould (same as for the Dichro Rectangular dish).
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Now that the thermocouple is working again, time to complete the cereal bowl.
Composition (9 1/4"):
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Last modified: 03/29/04 20:26:06 -0800
