Glass Fusing

@cucabee your firing schedule appears to be a good one and I can't see any reason for it not to work for you. Perhaps your temperature gauge is wrong - all kilns vary a bit and this isn't entirely unusual. A solution for that can be simply experimenting with your target temperature (go a bit hotter) and hold times (hold a bit longer.) Another possible issue is that you are loosing heat out the bead door. A solution for that is to simply purchase a fiber blanket, cut it to fit the door, and use it to seal any gaps. If you are using dichroic or iridized glass the edges sometimes don't melt as smoothly as regular glass due to the coating - that could also be a part of the problem. If you continue to have issues please feel free to give our customer service department a call. We are here to help you be successful and enjoy your glass art!

@blaqsmoke you could certainly buy two and put them together to get the length but you will likely have a seam. If you try it I would definitely recommend some fiber paper at the seam.

Hello, I have done stained glass for maybe 10 years, just small things mostly for the enjoyment of making things for myself or as gifts. I recently purchased a used a Jen-Ken Kiln Bead Annealer with a 4 " flip door and with a AF3P ore-programmed "One Smart Controller". After several attempts I have ALMOST got the fused barrettes right, EXCEPT for they all have many "points" of sharp glass around the edges after fusing. I have tried gently grinding them off then doing a fire polish. It did work, but would like to know a way to NOT have the "points" on them to begin with. I asked on a Yahoo fusing group I belong to, and the below #'s were suggested to me. 500 to 1100; hold 30 500 to 1460; hold 20 <<<<< this segment would adjust up or down in time/temp depending upon results AFAP to 950; hold 30 I tired it, the glass looked like it barely got fused at all. SO could someone there suggest something different. I don't want to give up ;-)

there are some texture molds that are 9x9.....if i have a project 12 inches in length that needed texturing how could i accomplish this......do i need to buy (2) 9x9 to get the 12 inches......do i need to put a piece of thin fiber paper at the connection????

@greenthumbjen there is no limit to how many times you can fire a project. However, the more times a project is fired, the greater the risk of devitrification, especially with opal glass which tends to devitrify more quickly than transparent glass.

@comments2 thanks Jennifer. I used 2-3shelfs all the time but will try a little slower ramp up and see. I will try fusing them back together. How many times can glass be melted?

@greenthumbjen It sounds like you're firing in a ceramics kiln, which is fine. Glass requires a lot of heat circulations to ensure even heating so shelves stacked directly on top of each other are not recommended. Try slowing to 300 degrees per hour and add a 15 minute hold at about 1000 degrees to let the glass reach the kiln temperature before proceeding.

@Laceyboo I would not use granite. Have you ever put any rocks in a fire? they explode or at least crack most of the time and granite is afterall a rock

Please Help!!! I have been slumping bottles in my kiln for the past 2 years and last year started to fuse glass. I have been very successful being it is a large pottery kiln. I slumped a fused coe 90 piece a couple of weeks ago along with some specialty bottles a friend needed. everything great. I fused some very large pieces of glass art and they all came out great. I went to slump 3 large pieces of already fused glass artwork, one on 1"fiberboar with a whole cut out , one on a stainless vase cylinder and one on a Ceramic ring that I had used before. I ramped up the kiln at 500 degrees per hour and once it reached 1300 degrees I cooled to 980 and closed back up and soaked and then cooled. when I opened the kiln to cool the first time I thought the top piece already looked broken. all three levels were broken. Too hot on ramp up when glass is already fused? Bummed Jewelry has come out great and because I have all the pottery supplies I can make countless shapes to slump on and into. I really thought I ramped up at 500 degrees the last time but may have done it at 400 degrees I really did not think that would make a difference.

@cscheydt as long as you are using a decal that matures at a tack fuse temperature you can absolutely do both at the same time. Gold and other high-fire decals should be done in a separate process as they require hotter temperatures.