The picture below shows the molds I bought on Temu
Here is what the rises look like after firing
Beautiful detail. The white ones which is actually clear could have been kiln fired for less time but still good detail.
Temu Silicone Molds
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TEMU for fusing?
Yes, yes and yes! I buy silicone molds and stencils for my fused glass along with tools. Usually I buy from a large online retailer (can you guess who?). Well I had to buy sets all together and some just cannot be used for fusing.
So I am now buying single silicone molds from Temu. And the best part is you have 30 days for price adjustments so you save more than you think.
I am an affiliate of Temu so please use this code to start saving apk19127. Just enter it into the search bar.
Bubbles Not The Good Kind Part II
So the super bubble squeeze for the champaign bubbles did not work. I, personally think, that they add interest to the piece, and was just trying to see if it would work.
I did smash a glass dish that was chipped. Love to smash glass and have been wanting to try different types of glass to see how it would fire in the kiln. I also had some attractive stained glass and thought I would fire a couple small pieces to make some small dishes out of it and all got larger bubbles.
For the green glass above, I have already fired with the schedule to get rid of bubbles and it actually moved the bubbles closer to the surface, so I will try again. I actually think if I would have held the piece longer, it would have completely removed the bubble.
Glass, Glass Glass
I fell in love with Glass at an early age. I am sure I wrote of this before on how my mother collected Glass elephants (only with the trunks up for good luck).
During my early 20’s I started doing stained glass. My favorite was wind chimes. Wind chimes not only looked good but also sounded so sweet.
Not many years later I live doing fused glass. I have two kilns and can’t wait to open the kilns after they have finished their firing.
My husband has always wanted to blow glass but has never done it. I have been watching TikTok videos such as this one https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRC5joTL/ and now I wonder when I will make the leap. Looks pretty amazing!
Have you ever considered doing g any type of glass work? If given a chance what type of glass work would you be interested in? Stained glass? Fused glass? Blown glass? Bead work? Other.
Pizza Stone as a Kiln Shelf
I decided that I should have an extra kiln shelf for my 16″ Evenheat kiln. The prices were high, so after seeing other artists on Facebook, using a pizza stone I decided that was the way to go.
Of course, there were many pros and cons of using a pizza stone posted in the Facebook groups, but I decide to give it a go. The pizza stone I bought was a 14 x 16. I pre-fired the stone slowly to 1500 with a short hold.
I have used this stone now numerous times (50 – 100) for firings up to 1400 degrees which is what I use quite often. So far so good. Soon I have been thinking of trying this for a full fuse firing to 1475 to 1500. I will make an additional post after I have done so.
I love saving money!
Drying Kiln Shelves
My studio, if you would call it a studio, is two sheds. One I do all my cutting and designing in and the other has my two kilns. I heat my work area with a kerosene heater and the other shed that holds my kilns I have an electric heater.
This type of setup has its problems. I have a smaller Jen Ken firebrick kiln and an Evenheat 16 x 16 kiln. I bought additional shelves for my Jen Ken, so now I have a total of three shelves and my Evenheat only one shelf though I did buy a 14 x14 Pizza stone for my lower firings.
Drying my kiln shelves can take days in colder weather so here are some of the ideas that I use to help my kiln shelves dry a little quicker.
- Should I have my Jen Ken, firebrick kiln running I place the newly primed shelves on top of the kiln and the heat from the firebricks will dry my shelves a bit quicker.
- Place the shelves on edge against a concrete brick and place my electric heater in front of it.
- Use a hairdryer.
- Place on top of my kerosene heater. ( I only do this when I am absolutely sure my kerosene heater is heating correctly or you will have black sort all over the shelf)
- Use a fan. I usually only use a fan in the summer. Of course, there is also no air conditioning in my sheds.
My least favorite of all the above ways to dry my shelves is the hair dryer. I detest wasting my time holding a hair dryer instead of cutting and designing my glass.
I do not recoat my kiln shelves after every firing. I find there is no need unless you see places where the primer is no longer on parts of the shelf. If some of the primer is missing, I definitely recoat my shelves.
I can use my shelves multiple times at lower than full fuse temperatures and depending on how many coats of kiln wash I place on the shelves I use each shelf at least twice. Now BEWARE, you must make sure there is enough kiln wash on the shelves before firing a second time. And if I believe the primer is not thick enough and there are no chips or knicks in the kiln wash than I simply add additional kiln wash. Usually 3 coats.
Glues for Jewelry Bails
Some of the Facebook groups that I am a part of have had new artists ask what to use for the gluing of bails onto pendants. I personally have used two types of glues, one of which I prefer to the other.
I have personally used both E-6000 and Goop. Both hold equally well with the way I attach the bails but I prefer E-6000 as it does not have as strong of a smell as the Goop does.
Now I attach the bails with allow the pendants to sit for 24 hours and then I place them into a toaster oven and heat to 200 degrees to 250 degrees for 30 minutes. The toaster oven is one that I have dedicated to only my glasswork. This means that I do not use this toaster oven for anything food-related.
Every time that I have suggested this method to those on Facebook, there has been some backlash. People suggest that the glue will give off a toxic substance and of course that it does work. Well, I put this to the test today when I put some pieces that had been dried for 24 hours into the toaster oven and found a few pendants that I had forgotten about in a baggie that had not been cured in the toaster oven. The pendants had been glued over two weeks before.
After my pendants were completed and cooled I placed pressure on each bail to make sure they held. Out of 35 pendants, only one did not hold. Then I took the 12 pendants from the baggie that had been glued over 2 weeks before but had not been placed in the toaster oven. Out of these 12 pendants, all but one came off.
After my pendants were completed and cooled I placed pressure on each bail to make sure they held. Out of 35 pendants, only one did not hold. Then I took the 12 pendants from the baggie that had been glued over 2 weeks before but had not been place in the toaster oven. Out of these 12 pendants, all but one came off.
Pulling Stringers from Scrap Glass
Have you ever wanted to use stringers in a project only to find out that you don’t have the color you need? This happened to me today. I went out bought MAPP gas and came home to turn my scrap glass into stringers.
Years ago I tried my hand at bead making so I had a torch head already. After some internet searching I found an article at http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-66657.html.
Here are some of my observations from my first stringer pull:
- Whichever type of gas you use, you do not have to have it on full blast. You can better control your stringers when the gas is not on full blast.
- 1/8″ glass is the size I thought was a good pull
- Make sure the glass is clean. I made this mistake and black soot appeared on my pulls.
Good luck if you are trying this .
CMC Uses in Fused Glass
Glass Campus has some great tutorials on their website. One of the tutorials is about using CMC (carboxyl methylcellulose) in fused glass. CMC is used by potters and chefs. I decided to give CMC a whirl and see how well it works.
Several directions I found on the internet suggested using 2 Tbsp. CMC to 1 pint (2 cups) boiling water. It was also suggested to make the CMC thick as you can always add water to thin as needed. I decided to add roughly 2 1/2 Tbsp. to the 2 cups of water.
Lots of white clumps formed and it was hard to smash these clumps to break them up. I broke as many of the large clumps as I could and then let it sit overnight. The next morning all the white clumps that were left were clear. I put the CMC into a squeeze bottle and was ready to try this gel.
Next, I thinned a small portion of the CMC. I used this as a glue to keep my fused glass pieces together as I carried them to the kiln. I left the glass pieces dry overnight. Some of the pieces needed to be fired upside down.
The pieces stayed together when placing them upside down on the kiln shelf. Very impressed with how well this gel worked. None of the pieces moved. One of the pieces was a 4″ square 3 layer of 3mm glass turned upside down on the kiln shelf stayed intact.
I vented the kiln to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit ( I do this on most of my firings to allow whatever needs to burn off). The pieces fired well with no scummy residue like Elmer’s glue can cause. I was impressed with how well this worked.
Next post will deal with using CMC gel to make a lump of clay with powdered glass.
Love Making Glass Wind Chimes
I just love glass. So I taught myself how to do stained glass.
One day a neighbor asked if I could make her a wind chime with my stained glass. Now my favorite projects, though time consuming are my glass wind chimes.
Here are two I currently have up for auction but they end on Wednesday 4:37 p.m. If you wish to see the item on Ebay just click the picture.
Barb's Art Glass Studio 