Boiling glass again

[Marsha]

 I am still playing around with the boiled glass.  I used three  scrap glass layers. I think I am getting a little closer... :P

[Kev]

Cool Marsha...did you just do it on a shelf with no dams?

[Marsha]

Yep!  Just three layers and I was up to 120 minutes on the second seg.  I'm thinking about going longer on the third seg too.  It's weird how the colors come out. The one on the left was yellow, pink and green.  Did ya notice...no cracks or popped bubbles!

[ct4mom]

cool Marsha, what are you going to do with it?

[Anne]

interesting!

[Marsha]

I'll probably make magnets out of them until I get a really good one!!

[Kev]

Cool..looking good! Keep us informed with your findings like your doing.

Thanks in advance. My next trial is a pot melt. I picked up a scale and a few pots yesterday.

[Marsha]

Cool..looking good! Keep us informed with your findings like your doing.

Thanks in advance. My next trial is a pot melt. I picked up a scale and a few pots yesterday.

I am doing one today!!!

[Marsha]

Haven't had time to photo my potmelts....but I am beginning to think boiled glass is just a potmelt!!!!

[Kev]

LOL...I'm thinking a pot melt is the easier way to go.

[Becki]

Have you guys got Brad Walker's new book "Contemporary Fused Glass"?  It has great explainations of the 2 processes and the differences in them.  In a high temp melt (boiled glass) you want to trap air so that it rises to the surface as a bubble and breaks bringing the color with it.  A pot melt just pours and melts the colors together. Two totally different processes that just take practice!

[Kev]

I looked at the motion in some of the pot melts pics out there on the net and some of the boiled glass pics. I thought the appearance of the end result of both processes to be a little similar.

[Becki]

Do you think so?

[Marsha]

Here is my evidence!!  I'm beginning to think it is putting the holes in the right place with the selection of glass.  Mine has the soft "boiled" look!  What do you guys think??

[Alan]

Those are all very interesting, but the first one looks like it's already been et 

[Kev]

Your getting better results than I did. Are your pieces cracking on you? It looks like 1 and 3 are cracked.

I do think the melts and the boiled glass do look similar, expecially if done with multiple holes in the bottom of the melt pot.
 

[Marsha]

I used one big hole in the middle and a bunch of little ones all the way around.  I am going to have to break the saucers to get them out.  I am not going to use them anymore....

[Kev]

Were these pot melts or boiled glass?..they must be pot melts...I reread what you wrote. I'm hoping to start one maybe tomorrow.

[Marsha]

I'm thinking maybe the top heat is too much and I should use the side heat.   What one do you use most Kev? Since you have the same kiln.

[Becki]

Marsha, how thick are these and what was your schedule?  Are you annealing long enough?  Of course, if it's sticking to the saucers it's going to crack no matter what you do but it may be a matter of just tweaking your schedule.

[Kev]

I agree with Becki...I'm suspecting it's not annealed long enough, or sticking to the saucer.

I don't have the option of selecting top heat or side heat in my large kiln, and the smaller one only has a top element.

I'm going to try the schedule Steve Immerman uses and adjust it for Spectrum glass instead of Bullseye.


This is a great site with great tutorials.

http://www.clearwaterglass.com/Tutorials/TutorialAperturePour.html

[Marsha]

I'm already in my jammies or else I would run out to the shop and get the schedule.  It was one I have used successfully before.  I am just going to stop using the saucers and go with fiber paper.

[Kev]

Don't use fiber paper, it will get caught up in the glass and get moved as the glass spreads since by that temp it is merely powder. In Stephen's blog he suggests if you want to use thinfire, to place a disc of clear glass over it to prevent it from tearing and shifting. Of course this will add to the volume of the finished piece.

It's easier just to use high fire kilnwash and recoat it with each pot melt.

[Rebecca]

Hmm.  I think I used thin fire on mine.  Of course they were very small, so maybe they didn't move a lot.

Rebecca

[Kev]

I posted that not out of experience, but just from what I have read.

[Becki]

Maybe not Thinfire but fiber paper as in Laurie Spray's setup.
http://www.igrowhydro.com/fusedglassart/PotMeltTutorial.pdf

Oops...just realized that she doesn't use it on the bottom.    Never mind!

[ct4mom]

But a good oops..Thanks for posting this. I like the different shapes  she does. and looks like more holes in the bottom give cool effects too.

[Becki]

Laurie makes lots of cool rings and pots for melts.