I managed to complete a new kiln load of fused glass cabachons. It was a nice quiet day after the excitement of last week. I managed to even get some peices with this really cool tribal thorn pattern, The last time I tried I screwed the pooch on the kiln load. Luckily I will have pictures later, and update the post with them.
My stepdad is off to Seattle and I am free to have a nice really quiet day at home. I've decided to watch Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason. She really is a dumb woman. She is just the type of "girl" that I don't like, and I feel that she really gets everything she deserves when things go wrong, but that she is undeserving of any of the positive things that happen to her. I think that's just it, they all happen to her, not that she goes out and in the change she wants to make in the world. She's just there. It's kinda like Will and Grace, they are horrible people, and things go well for them and their fabulous lives... it's just wrong.
Moving on, I am going to finish my movie about the whining cow... mooooo.... moo moo. How do you make it sound like a cow is whining? Moooow? mwooew!
Showing posts with label kiln. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kiln. Show all posts
Fusing Demo! (Day 5) IMAGE HEAVY!
Thursday, June 05, 2008
So it's been another day of waiting for you all, but only about 3 hours in the kiln time continuum. The kiln's temperature now reads somewhere between 100 and 200 degrees, but remember, most of the heat is coming from the actual kiln shelf and the pieces at this point.
If we look in, the pieces look cool enough to reach in to grab. I cannot tell you how bad of an idea this can be.
In this picture we can see that there is still light coming off of the pieces, which means that they still are hot enough to emit it. Not a good time to go grabbing things out of the kiln. I recommend letting the kiln cools till it does not register any temperature (or possibly room temperature as most kilns have a 70 degree mark).
After pulling the pieces from the kiln there is still work to be done. Most pieces will have some rough edges, or in my case, since I use some glasses in different ways, they will need to have what I term upside down dichro ground off.
While doing this, You typically can shape the pieces and want to have the smoothest surface available. So here is a before shot of the pieces being ground,
As you can see in this photo most of the pieces have shrunk in size and changed greatly in shape. I love this part of the process, because it really is like the piece discovering itself. These Pieces are ready for a second fuse up to 1500 again, a nice slow annealing, and then will be cabochons ready for anything.
So this post concludes fusing week. I hope you have enjoyed it, maybe found it a little educational about the process that this artist goes through. I know that other fusing artists make other choices and do other techniques, but this is what I find works not only for me, but also for the long term.
I feel confident about the quality of my workmanship, and hope that it shows in my love for the medium.
If we look in, the pieces look cool enough to reach in to grab. I cannot tell you how bad of an idea this can be.
In this picture we can see that there is still light coming off of the pieces, which means that they still are hot enough to emit it. Not a good time to go grabbing things out of the kiln. I recommend letting the kiln cools till it does not register any temperature (or possibly room temperature as most kilns have a 70 degree mark).
After pulling the pieces from the kiln there is still work to be done. Most pieces will have some rough edges, or in my case, since I use some glasses in different ways, they will need to have what I term upside down dichro ground off.
While doing this, You typically can shape the pieces and want to have the smoothest surface available. So here is a before shot of the pieces being ground,
As you can see in this photo most of the pieces have shrunk in size and changed greatly in shape. I love this part of the process, because it really is like the piece discovering itself. These Pieces are ready for a second fuse up to 1500 again, a nice slow annealing, and then will be cabochons ready for anything.
So this post concludes fusing week. I hope you have enjoyed it, maybe found it a little educational about the process that this artist goes through. I know that other fusing artists make other choices and do other techniques, but this is what I find works not only for me, but also for the long term.
I feel confident about the quality of my workmanship, and hope that it shows in my love for the medium.
Fusing Demo! (Day 3) IMAGE HEAVY!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Looking back on my blogs, I've noticed a decided lack of grammatical accuracy and a touch of spastic sentence structure. All I can say is that I am truly sorry and will try my best to get my crap in gear. I apparently am much more well spoken and may want to stick to teaching in person rather than online.
So this picture illustrates how NOT to set up your kiln space. This is just where the poor dear ends up when I am not using it. A kiln needs room! It needs to have all flammable material as far from it as possible, and it should be on a reasonably fireproof surface. I tend to fire my kiln on top of a few things, a stove, a dryer, a concrete floor (no oil spills in the garage), or on some other fire resistant surface.
For those with some major curiosity I have this picture to show what kind of kiln I fire. Nothing fancy, just a little hot box to get it going.
Next we have the insertion of the kiln shelf. I try to keep it equidistant from all sides so that the kiln walls do not touch the shelf. This is not always an easy task and sometimes a chopstick or some other long thin instrument is used.
All pieces of glass must be dry before being laid out on the kiln shelf. I cannot express how important this is. If the glass is not dry, it can lead to breaking or popping in the firing process. The glass that breaks tends to do so in a rather violent fashion and you can coat the inside of your kiln if it is fired to full fusing temperature with a little peice of glass shrapnel. Please always dry your pieces very thoroughly!
Here is a picture of all the pieces laid out in the kiln. They all need a little "breathing" room around them so that none of them get too frisky. If you leave too little space and the glass is too thick, you could end up with a big fused blob where two should have been. It is very important to properly space.
Then the lid! WOO! Almost there!
Turn the switch to high... and wait.
So this picture illustrates how NOT to set up your kiln space. This is just where the poor dear ends up when I am not using it. A kiln needs room! It needs to have all flammable material as far from it as possible, and it should be on a reasonably fireproof surface. I tend to fire my kiln on top of a few things, a stove, a dryer, a concrete floor (no oil spills in the garage), or on some other fire resistant surface.
For those with some major curiosity I have this picture to show what kind of kiln I fire. Nothing fancy, just a little hot box to get it going.
Next we have the insertion of the kiln shelf. I try to keep it equidistant from all sides so that the kiln walls do not touch the shelf. This is not always an easy task and sometimes a chopstick or some other long thin instrument is used.
All pieces of glass must be dry before being laid out on the kiln shelf. I cannot express how important this is. If the glass is not dry, it can lead to breaking or popping in the firing process. The glass that breaks tends to do so in a rather violent fashion and you can coat the inside of your kiln if it is fired to full fusing temperature with a little peice of glass shrapnel. Please always dry your pieces very thoroughly!
Here is a picture of all the pieces laid out in the kiln. They all need a little "breathing" room around them so that none of them get too frisky. If you leave too little space and the glass is too thick, you could end up with a big fused blob where two should have been. It is very important to properly space.
Then the lid! WOO! Almost there!
Turn the switch to high... and wait.
Fusing Demo! (Day 2) IMAGE HEAVY!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
If you repeat the process from yesterday over and over, you will find that you have a little pile of peices all ready for the kiln.
Next you have to get the kiln shelf ready. I personally use kiln wash, it cleans up easier than the fiber papers out there, and is much less expensive. =^..^= Thrift is not a dirty word!
After a few coats, you cannot see through the blue to the ceramic shelf below. This along with a smooth surface is the key to having a smooth backed piece.
Ten minutes at four hundred degrees, and you have a dry shelf, ready for it's trip into the kiln.
Time to clean the glass! I could easily use some windex, but I really worry about all the chemicals, so I will just use a little bit of soap. Simple and easy.
Once washed they will dry and then hit the kiln tomorrow
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