Houston, we have a problem, and its name is Brian

Today's kiln opening is bound to provide a number of lessons for me. Once I can figure them out.

I purchased a ColourDeVerre pattern fuser mold a couple months back and decided to try it out yesterday. I broke out the frit and started filling the piece with fine frit. My wife came down after a bit and helped out spreading frit around while we tried to figure out the best way to make sure each little detail was filled with enough frit to do the job. Finally, I cut a clear piece to cap off the mold and placed it in the kiln. I used the recommended firing schedule:

Segment	Ramp	Tempurate	Hold
1	100ºF/55ºC	300ºF/150ºC	30 min
2	150ºF/85ºC	1250ºF/675ºC	30 min
3	150ºF/85ºC	1400ºF/760-765ºC	5 min
4	AFAP	960ºF/515ºC	60 min
5	100ºF/60ºC	600ºF/315ºC	Off, No Venting

I was more than a little surprised when I opened the kiln and found this.

My impressions as to what went wrong are as follows:

Bubble:

The directions say the fill weight is between 900-1,000 grams of glass. Note to self, if I'm going to mess with frit buy an electronic scale just for glass. I did not measure the fill weight, I winged it. We went with what looked to be full. I'm not sure how much more full we could have gotten it. Each of the little channels were holding as much as they possibly could. The edge could have used some more frit, but I figured I could cut it off if it didn't work for me. In any case, the bubble is most likely not enough glass. I am kicking myself for not having taken a loading the kiln picture.

Cracked Glass:

It could be that the firing schedule just was not right, but I doubt it would be that off. It could be possible that the firing schedule was thrown by insufficient glass in the mold. The cracked glass could also have to do with the next issue.

Glass Stuck to the Mold:

The company only recommends preparing the mold with MR-97. I tend to take instructions like that as a push to sell more product. In truth, I don't know if they have any affiliation with it whatsoever. I used my normal kiln wash and then to be extra careful sprayed on High Temp 1800, which also uses boron nitrate as its mechanism. I figured with both kiln wash and boron nitrate I was golden. Not so much, apparently.

We had also tried to use a straight edge to run across the top to make sure the lines were distinct. It is possible that this scrapped off the release agent from the mold causing it to stick.

Take Away:

There are too many issues with this piece to say what exactly happened. It is highly likely that had I followed directions to the letter, I would have come out smelling of roses. 

I have a tendency to wing it and see what happens, but with items like this, I should be much more conservative. $65 mold gone with the wind.

New take on a broken plate

When I was first learning fused glass we made broken plates. You take a hammer and break a pieces of glass up and then arrange them on another piece of glass and fuse (bottom two images). I decided to do something different than your traditional broken plate and make some purposeful, semi-random cuts in a piece of swirled glass. I then plated them on a larger piece of glass and tack fused it. I then spread some medium frit in the empty spaces and did a little longer of a tack fuse. Next I slumped it in a gentlly sloped plate mold. I really like the flow of the swirls offset by the straight lines and texture of the frit.

Delayed Wedding Present

I finally gave in and bought weave bars so I could do an actual weaved plate, instead of a faux one. A couple friends of mine got married last April and I had not completed their present at that time. I was actually waiting for the weave bars to ship at that point. Before I knew it summer house projects took me away and I had not gotten back to this project until August of this year. So here you have it, my first weaved plate made with iridized blue, red, and blue glass.

Christmas 2012 projects

Last Christmas I made a couple small projects. The first (Top) was a faux basket weave. I cut the blue glass into a circle and then cut strips from it. I then cut a clear piece in the same sized circle. I placed every other blue strip on the clear glass then place the rest of the blue on perpendicularly to the first. From there a full fuse and then slump. It reminds me of a picnic table design. The great part of this design is that because it is a solid piece, it can hold liquids, if needed. I also spent some time creating Christmas tree ornaments from Spectrum Spirit glass. I got the idea from Spectrum's web site.I like the style of these pieces.

Catching up

I haven't been keeping up with the blog as often as I would like. I am hoping that I have the time and fortitude to do that going forward. My experiences of this past summer have led me to revelations about myself and my relationship with glass. In July, I spent a week blowing glass with a group of artists at the Pittsburgh Glass Center in a class taught by Ed Schmid and assisted by Ben Johnson. It was the hottest week of this year. The ambient temperature in the hot shop was 120 degrees, and I'm not talking about directly in front of the furnace. It was a tough week physically to get through. I know I came close to heat stroke at least once that week and had to call it a day. I learned a lot that week. My fellow artists were some of the most supportive/creative people I've had the pleasure to meet. What I discovered is that although I've had an interest in glass for the past 16 years of my life, I had not really had a passion for it. This class, the people and the physical struggle of getting through the class awoke the passion in me that must have been waiting just under the surface. Up until this point, I had made my glass items for myself, or to give away as presents or to donate for charities to auction off. I've not wanted to create an inventory of items because of the expense and fear that they may not sell. That is going to change starting now, well starting about a month ago. There are so many techniques that I want to explore and ways of manipulating glass that I want to try to gain mastery in that in order to finance all of this exploration and improvement in my technique, I am going to start making glass items to sell. I am going to pursue my fused glass, flame worked glass, blown glass, and the occasional stained glass simultaneously. Within the next 4 months or so I am going to open a web site with my glass and start selling on Etsy. I will also, once I reach a critical mass of inventory, start doing the occasional craft show. Who knows, I may try to enter some art contests. I will provide updates as I go along. In the mean time, to the left are items I made during my one week intensive class in July.