Jo's Things's Profile

I stopped using kiln wash on the majority of my plate molds and use fiber paper instead,as delphiehellper said it makes things slide off easier and the backs are smother. jo

When making cabs I use a 6x6 inch base glass and add my dichroic and top glass, I do a tack fuse with the dichroic and then a full fuse and then a full fuse with the clear topper and sometimes I still get craters. When this happens I clean the crater as much as possible and add the ends of my cab sheets that are too small to use or large pieces of scrap glass, I do a tack fuse add more glass as needed and then a full fuse, if possible I also do the full fuse with the top (clear) side down, any air that is left seems to rise to the back and not the front. Vitek, I had the same problem I watched a beautiful and thick plate crack and fall apart. I put all the pieces into boiling water and then froze then, after thawing the pieces back out I put everything in the tumbler for a couple of hours and out into the garden. It looked pretty and really added some umph to a dark area.

@TheDelphian A couple of years ago when I was getting ready for a show my kiln got sick would only heat up to a tack fuse, it did make some really nice pendants that ended up being a big seller but also taught me something, when I am using frit in jewelry molds I use the biggest pieces possible and I take the glass to a take fuse first, add more frit and take to a second take fuse and then to a full fuse. This really cuts down on any bubbles or hazing in the glass.