We suggest using a soft bristle brush to scrub the pieces with your flux remover as well as when washing with soap and water. Because of the slightly raised solder seams flux can hide in the joint between the raised solder and the glass so a brush is the best way to remove the flux which cuases the oxidation. Seal and shine with a polishing product - Simichrome Polish (5524). If you continue to have new pieces oxidize make sure your flux remover is still potent or try a different brand of flux remover and clean as before. IF you are still having issues with new projects oxidizing shortly after finishing, after scrubbing your piece with your flux remover use distilled water to wash the piece instead of tap water – this is not a “guarantee”, but it can’t hurt – finish off with polish.

Glass when it's hot wants to be a 1/4" thick.

Single sheet glass is generally 1/8" thick; therefore when you heat it up it will shrink up to try and attain a 1/4" thickness. If you have several layers of glass together (over 1/4" thickness), when fused it will spread out to be a 1/4" thick. It is recommended if you want to keep your shape/design without this shrinking/spreading distortion you should start with a project that is already 1/4" as it goes into the kiln - approximately two standard sheets of glass thick.

Even with sandwiching in between clear glass I would recommend the standard horizontal reinforcement from one side to the other at 18" intervals up the piece.

Maybe this will help: http://www.artglasscabinets.com/pages/howto.aspx

The BEST way to cut zinc came is with a Came Saw/Chop Saw (Delphi item numbers: 84120/7990/7355DT) This gives you a quick clean cut with little effort and the ability to do large quantities and similar angle cuts with ease. Next best is the Precision Saw (5050) with the clean cut Miter Vise (7159) - this takes a little elbow grease, but you'll still get nice cuts.

You can use either method. Zinc rebar attached to the back of the piece will do the trick…but might interfere with the aesthetics of the panel. If you have the time and skill to take apart the piece (at 18” intervals across the width) to insert steel line reinforcement to the lead lines/solder, in the end it not only will give the extra strength needed but may be more aesthetically appealing.

Delphi recommends doing a minimum of four washes with the kiln wash for any mold; (up & down/side to side/diagonal one way, then the next making an “X”) allowing each coat of wash to mostly dry before adding the next. For any casting mold we always suggest the Primo Primer (48325). This product is specifically designed to allow glass to release from the steeper sides and carved details of casting molds, as well as not breaking down at the higher temperatures needed for the glass in casting molds. Standard kiln wash occasionally works for these molds, but because it’s not dependable in this situation using it is risking your glass and your mold.

If there is ever an issue or questions on a product or a project, Delphi is here to help. 

Delphi has a 30 day money back guarantee.

Unfortunately the issue is most likely not with your fusing schedule. The main reason this product disappears during the fusing process is because the ink used to print the picture does not contain enough metal. You must have a black and white Laser Jet printer with an ink cartage that contains Iron Oxide. Most commercial printers will say their company can print these off for you, but we have found they do not work, so do not waste your time/money going to a professional print shop. Check the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the printer cartage you are using in your laser jet printer. (You can ask an office supplies store associate for this sheet which gives you a list of the content of the ink.) The ink must contain iron oxide for the image to remain. The metal content of the ink is what is left behind on the glass to create the image while the other binders/components burn away.  

Yes you can! Make sure the glass is fully washed and dried, removing all labels and glue. You can flatten/slump all sorts of jars, bottles (wine/pop/etc), and glass containers in your kiln. Just place the jar/bottle on its side on a washed kiln shelf, or use fiber paper, to flatten or put the bottle directly into a kiln washed bottle slumping mold and turn up the heat. The catch is you will not know the COE (coefficient of expansion) for the multitude of different glass types used for these vessels; therefore I would NOT recommend mixing/fusing anything with/to these pieces. Items such as dichro slide, copper metal, and some of the enamels could be used to embellish/decorate this glass type because these items are not COE specific. A standard full fuse/slumping schedule will work fine for flattening and slumping jars/bottles into molds. Have fun!

Even if you did use kiln wash on the mold when slumping OVER ceramic molds you MUST MUST MUST use fiber paper as a release not just kiln wash. (2 pieces of thin fire, or 1 pc of thicker fiber paper.) Because of the expansion/contraction difference between ceramic and glass it is best to always slump INTO ceramic, not over…yet we have several molds that break this rule (nightlights, business card, floral slumpers). Using just kiln wash does not allow the extra wiggle room needed to remove glass off of ceramic, the glass has clamped down on to the ceramic during the cooling process.

You can break your glass, or break your mold (or both) to remove them from each other.

You might try putting the glass/mold back in kiln (flipped) with glass on bottom, (place on kiln washed surface or fiber paper) fire it to slump fuse again hoping that the glass will pull away from the mold if you wish to try to save them both. Good luck!