Super Glue

Super Glue

by Morganica

There are multiple cyanoacrylates (superglues) on the market, and they will give very different results. Gel superglue formulations usually have some type of rubber or fumed silica additive to make them thicker, and the additive usually doesn't burn out. That's probably where the "superglue leaves a mark" originates. Usually the cheapest possible superglue is best for temporary glass holds because it'll mostly be additive-free.

The glue will burn out around 700F or so, so it shouldn't be used to position the glass against gravity. I disagree, however, that it should never be used. I buy cheap superglue by the carton and use it in everything from temporary casting assemblages to making glass boxes for frit panels to tack-fusing. It is the best way I know to hold wobbly pieces in place until you can assemble the rest of the glass around it.

Some tips for using superglue:

• You are more likely to get whitish residues if you let moisture get to the superglue while it's drying, so keep the glass surfaces as dry as possible and don't put a superglue-assembled piece on a wet kiln shelf.

• Always try to put the glue under opaque or dark glasses, just in case something goes wrong.

• Use the smallest amount possible. Don't flood an area with glue and lay the glass on top - that will almost always leave too much glue on the glass. Instead, I assemble the glass and put a drop of glue right where the two glasses join. Capillary action sucks just the right amount of glue into the joint.

• If you wipe excess glue away with acetone, be careful about which acetone you're using. Some types (such as nail polish remover) can have additives that leave residues on the glass and make the problem worse. If the glue is in a readily accessible area, it is usually better to wait for it to dry, then peel it off the glass with a razor blade. Only use acetone where there's texture or something else that makes the glue difficult to remove. And in any case, don't worry much about removing superglue right on the surface--it will burn off.

• Superglue joints will NOT support the weight of your glass, i.e., never, ever lift your assemblage by a superglued-on piece of glass. Common superglue is actually a lousy glue for glass--which is why it works as a temporary hold.

Disguising joints

One advantage of fusing over leading or copper foiling is that shapes impossible to cut as a single piece can be made from multiple pieces. However these joints often show up in the finished work.

You are always more likely to have the joints show when the cut coloured glass is on the bottom. The infra-red heat of the kiln elements goes through the clear glass to the coloured below, allowing it to soften first. As the glass underneath softens and pulls in, it allows the top glass to sink into the space. Upon cooling the seam is kept open even sometimes showing a clear line at the joints.

Putting the clear as the base and the jointed pieces on the top has a better chance of having the joints fully fuse together. There is no glass above to spread the pieces apart.

When you need the joints to be concealed, you can put a line of powder the same colour of glass over the joint. This line should be slightly rounded above the surface along the joint to account for the reduction in volume as it fuses. When it is two colours meeting, using powder of the same colour as the darker glass is most successful.

Fusing to a contour fuse for 10 minutes is normally hot enough, but taking the piece to a flat fuse – again for 10 mins - will certainly be enough to fully melt the powder into the joint.

Installing Leaded Glass in Stone

Side rebates
One side of the rebate (or raggle) in stone should be deeper than the other. This allows the panel to be slotted in and then slid back into the shallower rebate. Which side the deep rebate is on is not important, but you must determine which is the deeper and its minimum depth all along the raggle.

Adjusting the placement of the panel
To help move the panel from side to side stiff oyster knives and lead knives are important. This allows you to get behind the edge and slide the panel to the side, especially when it is sitting on top of another panel to make the fine adjustments to get the lead lines flow correctly.

In some circumstances, especially when installing a single panel, it is necessary to bend the leaves of the lead toward the installation side. After placing the panel, you then fold the leaves out one at a time into the raggle slot.

Top and bottom rebates
For the top and bottom rebates it is important that the top is the deep one. You insert the panel up into the slot a the top and let it settle into the bottom rebate. The panel should be completely covered by the stone.

Extra came
In all installations into stone, you should carry extra came of at least 12mm (1/2”) to solder round the panel when the stone work is not as accurate as it should be, either through workmanship or weathering.

Wedges
Have some little blocks of wood and some whittling tool to hand to wedge the panel in till mortared. It is possible to use little scraps of lead for the purpose. These wedges don't need to be that robust, they are just there to hold the panel in place until the mortar is in.

Mortars
Mortars for stone should be of lime cement, or sand mastic. Don't use silicon, you'll never get it out again! Also don't use putty as this stains some types of stone and the oils leech in to the stone, causing the putty to dry and therefore the window ceases to be watertight.

Brushes for Painting

A quality paint brush will have hairs that form a point and have a good spring to them - they bend while painting but return quickly to their original shape. A good brush will also hold lots of paint and deliver that paint evenly throughout the stroke. Brushes usually have a number to indicate their size - the larger the number, the larger the paintbrush. The larger the brush the wider the line that can be produced, although with a light touch a fine long line can be made because of the pointed nature of the brush.

The best brushes are made from natural hairs, although there are brushes made from a combination of natural and synthetic materials which are adequate.

Sable hair brushes are considered to be the best for painting. The hair comes from a variety of pine martin and the Kolinsky sable from Siberia is considered the best. These brushes are more expensive than others, but are soft and flexible, hold their paint well and can make an expressive thick to thin line.

Ox hairs are normally used for making rigger brushes. This is a round brush with long hairs, said to be used to paint the lines of ships' rigging in the past. The hair is strong and springy making it useful for long lines and thicker paints.

Squirrel hair brushes are useful for applying paint in broad, thin layers for matting.

Goat hair brushes are normally known as hake brushes. These are a traditional, oriental style brush. It lacks spring, but forms a good point and so is useful to cover larger areas quickly with a gentle touch.

Pony hair is made into short round brushes used as soft stipplers.

Hog hairs are made into hard, very economical brushes. They come in flat and round shapes. They are most used for stippling and can be trimmed, shaped, used, and abused for years.

Badger hairs are thicker at the end and thinner at the root, creating a conical shape. These soft brushes are used to blend paint once it has been spread on the glass. The brush is swept across the surface of the paint to blend or move paint and remove stroke lines.

Glass Shifting on Mould

There are a number of things to investigate if your blank is shifting on the mould during firing.

Is there a heat differential?

Glass absorbs heat at different rates depending on colour and type meaning that one part may begin to move before another. The solution to this is to slow down the rate of advance to allow all the glass to gain heat at the same speed. It may also be useful to slump at a lower temperature.

There also may be a heat differential within the kiln. You need to run a check on the heat distribution of your kiln to be sure where the (relatively) hot and cold areas of your kiln are. Bullseye have a Tech Note on how to do this.

Not perfectly balanced on the mould?

Glass can be placed just off square or level and that can allow it to start slumping unevenly. Measurements and observation can help to get the glass placed squarely on the mould. Also a small spirit level placed on the glass can tell you if the glass is level within the mould.

The mould may not be level.

The kiln, shelf and mould should each be checked for level in all directions. The kiln level can be established and can be assumed to be level until it is moved. The shelf level should be checked each time it is moved. The mould level should be checked each time it is used.

Is the glass overhanging the mould?

Glass overhanging the mould rim can hang up on some of the edges more than others. Check the rim of the mould for any rough areas and smooth them. If you do have glass overhanging, you should slow the rate of advance to allow the edge of the glass to tip up and begin to slide down into the mould. If the problem persists, make the glass blank smaller, or support the overhanging glass with a collar.

Is the glass heavier on one side?

The glass may be uneven thickness and so heavier on one side. The heavier area of the glass will begin to slump first and so promote movement of the whole glass in an asymmetrical manner. The solution to this is to fire slower and to a lower temperature.

Do you have a wonky mould?

The mould can be imperfect. So you need to check the mould for accuracy. I have a slumper that has one side lower than the other three. Being aware of this, I can place the glass so that it is still useable. Measuring the mould in all directions will help determine its symmetry.

If all these things have been investigated and the solution not found, it is possible to create a bevel on the bottom edge of the glass so that the edge sits in the mould at the same angle as the mould. This provides a larger contact point for the glass and mould than just a thin edge. This appears to allow the glass to move evenly during the slump.

The major solutions to avoid uneven slumping are:

• Avoiding the hot and cool parts of the kiln
• Making everything level
• Careful placement on the mould
• Slower rates of advance
• Lower slumping temperatures

Using Space on Shelves

Often there is unused space on the kiln shelves when you are firing a project. With a bit of planning, you can make use of the spaces for a variety of things.

Frits fired on fibre paper

Bowl made from frit balls

You can place piece of frit in the clear areas to make frit balls

You can make colour tests on plaques of glass to see the results of strikers, powder combinations or results of various depths of colour.

Compatibility tests can be done with pieces of glass of which you are not certain.

simple stress testing set-up

Strip of fired glass samples for testing

Results - those with halo are stressed

In the same way, annealing tests can be conducted.

You can fire small pieces of jewellery at the same time as your larger pieces.

You can also prepare elements for incorporation into other fusing projects and lay them out in the open spaces on the shelf.  Your use of the spare space is related both to your imagination and to your future projects.

Cleaning Blending Brushes

Cleaning badger brushes just before use, is easy. Flick, gently and rapidly, the very ends of the brush hairs against the side of your hand – but use respiratory protection and be careful not to inhale any dust. If you notice flecks of dust in your paint when you create a grisaille you’ll know it’s time for a thorough and wet cleaning again.

After each use, rinse out the brush tips in cool water. Gently rub the tips of the brush hairs to loosen any extra paint. Grasp he hairs above the tips to keep the water from the main part of the brush. Then wet the exposed ends of the hairs and rub them gently until the water runs clear. 

If you use a blender for oil, you will need to use a small amount of natural soap, if so, thoroughly rinse.

Flick the brush to remove excess water, smooth the hairs into shape and allow to completely dry by hanging the brush with the hairs pointing downward – this avoids water flowing into the brush base where the hairs are attached. If you have round-handled brushes, you can twirl the brush between your hands to remove excess water.

Shape of Aperture Drops

The shape of an aperture drop can be controlled by the speed of the slump. The speed at which the glass drops is a combination of heat and size of the hole. Patience is required.

Rapid drops result from high temperatures. Rapid slumps cause a thinning of the glass at the shoulder where the glass turns over the inner rim of the aperture. The pattern is distorted and the colours are also diluted. And a relatively large rim is left around the fired piece.

A much slower rate of drop spreads the strain of the slump over the whole of the unsupported area of glass. This tends toward a bowl with a gentle slope toward the bottom, reduced distortion of the pattern, maintenance of the colour densities, and a more even wall thickness all over the piece.

The slumping temperature for a shallow angled slump is less than that used for normal slumps, and takes a lot longer – up to five hours typically. This means that observation is required at intervals, say every half hour.

A starting point for the slumping is around 100ºC above the annealing temperature for the glass. So for Bullseye and System 96 the temperature is about 615ºC. If after the first half hour, there is no movement, increase the temperature by 10ºC. Check again in another half hour and if the slump has begun, leave the temperature at that level and observe at the half hourly intervals until the desired slump is achieved. Otherwise, increase the temperature by another 10ºC with the check after half an hour, and repeat until the slump has begun. After you have done the first one of these with a particular size of aperture, you will know the temperature to start the slump.

The temperature you need to use is affected by the size of the hole. The smaller the aperture, the higher the temperature will be needed. But be patient. If the temperature is increased too much, you will get the thinning of the sides that you are trying to avoid.

Additional information on aperture drops can be found in this series.

Lead Came with Alloys

Lead came is available in several hardnesses. One (soft) is almost pure lead, another is half hard and contains up to 5% antimony, and the third is hard, containing up to 10% antimony. The difference between these is hardness, or resistance to creep, not resistance to corrosion.

elemental lead

Lead with antimony as an alloy is subject to the 

same corrosion rate in atmospheric environments as chemical lead (99.9% commercial-purity lead). However the greater hardness, strength and resistance to creep of antimonial lead often makes it more desirable for use in specific chemical and architectural applications.

The ability of some antimonal leads to retain this greater mechanical strength in atmospheric environments has been demonstrated in exposure tests in which sheets containing 4% Sb [antimony] and smaller amounts of arsenic and tin were placed in semi-restricted positions for 3 years. They showed less tendency to buckle than chemical lead, indicating that their greater resistance to creep had been retained.

Handbook of Corrosion Data, by Bruce D Craig, p89ff

Antimony crystals

Thus, the use of softer leads in conservation or restoration, because they were used in earlier periods, is not indicated. It is known that lead came up to sometime in the early 19th century was melted and re-formed into came, incorporating tin from solder and other trace elements which made the lead “stiffer” than the more pure lead that began to be produced commercially and used widely at that time. This may be the reason that so many 19^th century windows contain failing leads, while many earlier ones remain sound.

Pink Confetti

Because confetti needs to be so heavily saturated with colour, some of the opalescent colours tend to devitrify. The pink is particularly prone to devitrification. Therefore, I cap (which can lead to bubbles), add a devitrification spray, or cover with powder or frit.

Covering with several milimetres powder gives the most even result. Using frit can provide a speckled appearance that is useful in some circumsances.

This tendency of pink opal to devitrification applies to all formulations – Bullseye, Uroboros, S96 and float.

What is Viscosity

What is Viscosity?

An example of differing viscosities

There are a variety of definitions, but these two capture the main elements.

Informally, viscosity is the quantity that describes a fluid's resistance to flow. Fluids resist the relative motion of immersed objects through them as well as to the motion of layers with differing velocities within them.  Source

Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's resistance to flow. It describes the internal friction of a moving fluid. A fluid with large viscosity resists motion because its molecular makeup gives it a lot of internal friction. A fluid with low viscosity flows easily because its molecular makeup results in very little friction when it is in motion.  Source

A demonstration of the resistance of different viscosities of oil to a weight moving through the liquid.

Almost all liquids are viscous fluids having viscidity. For example, when rotating a drum container filled with water on its vertical central axis, the water that was at rest in the beginning starts moving as it is dragged by the container’s inside wall and then whirls completely together with the container as if it were a single rigid body. This is caused by the force (resistance) generated in the direction of the flow (movement) on the surfaces of the water and the container’s inside wall. A fluid that generates this kind of force is regarded as having viscosity.

Temperature is a very important factor for measuring viscosity. In fluids, as temperature goes up, viscosity goes down and vice versa. In the case of distilled water, if the temperature changes 1 centigrade, it produces a difference of 2 % to 3 % in viscosity.  Source

Viscosity is the measurement of a fluid's internal resistance to flow. This is typically designated in units of centipoise or poise but can be expressed in other acceptable measurements as well. Source

Why is viscosity important?

“Near the strain point the expansion increases rapidly and sometimes erratically.” The links between the molecules has reduced in strength and so have a lesser role in the forces acting at higher temperatures. “In those upper ranges – the temperatures where glasses are formed and re-formed with heat – viscosity is a much more useful indicator of how glasses will behave.

“The combination of viscosity and COE are what make glasses more or less compatible, i.e., containing stress in amounts low enough to allow them to hold together without breaking at room temperature for extended periods of time under normal circumstances.

Bullseye found in the early 1980s in their efforts to mix coloured glasses in streaky colour combinations that the COE could not be used to predict compatibility. In trying to correct the compatibility of certain mixed glasses, the closer they brought together the COEs, the more incompatible became the mixes.

“The reason that we could not use COE to successfully predict whether a coloured glass would fit the base clear glass was/is because, as the base glass composition is altered with the addition of the necessary oxides to colour it, the viscosity is inevitably changed. This viscosity change causes the coloured glass and the clear base glass to strain themselves in the cooling cycle of the fusing process (a viscosity mismatch). Therefore once the two glasses reach room temperature they have undue residual strain that may lead to failure.

“In order to prevent this undue residual strain an equal but opposite strain must be introduced into the coloured glass to cancel out the strain induced by the viscosity mismatch. This is accomplished by introducing an expansion mismatch of equal but opposite strain. The two mismatches cancel each other out, leaving the two glasses nearly strain free.

“It is this phenomenon (viscosity mismatch cancelled out by an equal but opposite expansion mismatch) that enables glasses of very different compositions to be formulated to fit each other. The very fact that the expansion of a coloured glass has to be altered to make it fit a base clear glass implies that COE cannot be used as an indicator of compatibility. It is also why it only makes sense to describe these glasses as tested compatible to a specific manufacturer's base glass for a specific glass forming process.“ [L. MacGreggor]

Even different formulations of glass have different viscosities and different rates of softening with temperature increases.

How does viscosity apply to us?

Although viscosity is of major importance to the manufacturer, it does have some relevance to kiln formers too.

Understanding that glasses have different viscosities – most often referred to as hard and soft – can help in the choice of colours and styles of glass to combine. Some glass will spread more, and also allow other glass to sink deeper into the layer than others. It might help avoid combining extremely hard and soft glasses next to each other.

It should also help explain some results that were not planned. It may help in when thinking about uneven slumps.

It is important to recognise that glass chemistry is extremely complicated, and to see that the expansion characteristics have to be balanced with the viscosity characteristics as the two main elements in compatibility. There are others, of course, but these appear to the two main ones.

Is CoE Important?

CoE is more important to the manufacturer (in combination with viscosity) than to the kiln worker. It has gained a heightened profile, as it has been used as a shorthand for compatibility. So it is important to know what CoE is and what the numbers mean.

“During heat transfer, the energy that is stored in the intermolecular bonds between atoms changes. When the stored energy increases, so does the length of the molecular bond. As a result, solids typically expand in response to heating and contract on cooling; this response to temperature change is expressed as its coefficient of … expansion. 





“The ... expansion coefficient is a thermodynamic property of a substance. It relates the change in temperature to the change in a material's linear dimensions. It is the fractional change in length [metres] per degree [C] of temperature change [expressed as a two digit whole number]. 





“Most solids expand when heated. The reason for this is that this gives atoms more room to bounce about with the large amount of kinetic energy they have at high temperatures. Thermal expansion is a relatively small effect which is approximately linear in the [absolute] temperature range.”

Source

What does CoE mean?

There are at least two types of expansion with increasing temperature. One is volume expansion and the other that we are more interested in, is the linear expansion. “The Coefficient of Linear Expansion of a substance is the fraction of its original length by which a rod [or sheet] of the substance expands per degree rise in temperature.” Source 

What do the numbers mean?

The numbers attached to a CoLE -usually referred to as CoE – are an expression of the average amount that a material expands per degree over a given temperature range. The standard temperature range is 0ºC to 300ºC and the unit of length is one metre. They are expressed as a two digit number to the power of -6. That means the two digit number really has 6 decimal points in front of the whole number. So a CoLE of 85 means the same as an expansion rate of .000085 metres per degree C; or .085mm/ºC.

However the rate of expansion is not a straight line when graphed against higher temperatures. The ranges in which kiln formers work show an erratic and much higher rate of expansion. Have a look at the blog entry on CoE ranges [http://glasstips.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/coe.html] to see how variable the expansion rates are at elevated temperatures.  Other examples are:

Graph showing the change in the CoLE of aluminium between 0ºC and 527ºC (Kelvin being about 273 degrees lower than Celsius)

This graph shows a material that actually contracts briefly as it warms.  Its CoLE would be between 2 and 3.5 - an extremely low rate of expansion.

This shows an idealised material that has a CoLE of  about 4 at 0ºC and around 6 at 300ºC, remaining thereabouts as the temperature rises toward 1200ºC

Should We use CoE?

CoLE is “a meaningless number unless defined by the temperature range in which the measurement is taken. Calling any glass or glass combination “compatible” without specifying under what conditions is no more useful than identifying a glass by its COE without specifying the relevant temperature range.” [L. MacGreggor]

Bubble Reduction in Casting

There are several things that can be done to reduce the number and size of bubbles in casting.

• Fire higher - to 830ºC instead of 815ºC - and soak for at least four hours. This allows more bubbles to rise to the top and burst. If there are still more bubbles than wanted, increase the soak time.

• Stack the glass in the centre of the mould, allowing a few centimetres from the mould walls. This allows the glass to spread and flow from the bottom and up the sides, reducing the likelihood of trapping air. If you have more than one stack, keep the same space between the stacks as the mould walls.

• Make sure that the way you stack the billets or casting plates so there is a smaller space at the bottom of any cavity than at the top. The reverse allows the glass to soften and seal in the air in the space.

• You can construct a mould to make billets of the general shape of the final object. This of course, is much more work, needing two moulds.

• A major thing to avoid is the use of frit, especially at the bottom or deep in the mould as bubbles will collect around each piece and lead to a multiplicity of bubbles throughout the casting.

Thinfire as a Separator on Moulds

"I was told that it was possible to put a piece of thinfire paper under a circular piece of glass that is to be draped over a mould....  Has anyone done this or heard of doing it?"

Yes this can be done. Some caveats are in order though.

It is important to put a separator on the mould -normally kiln wash - before using it. Once coated, it will not need to be re-coated unless the surface is damaged, scratched, etc., for a very long time. If the kiln wash seems to be rough you can smooth it in various ways as noted in this tip.  The advantage of kiln wash is that it does not cost much and lasts a long time. The thinfire or similar is a one-time-use product.

The binder in the thnifire burns away during the heat up and allows the now unbound separator to drift down to the mould before the glass begins to conform to the mould. In that way it is very similar to a fine dusting of kiln wash powder over the mould surface before firing.

I don't see the point of using Thinfire or similar during slumps (although I can see that there are occasions where this method would be useful). For drapes, placing a bit of thinfire over the mould - especially if it is metal – is an additional precaution.

My view is that you have to kiln wash the mould anyway. KIln wash is cheap and long lasting while thinfire needs to be replaced after each firing.

Clearing Small Core Drill Bits

Core drill bits are very useful, as only a thin wall of glass is removed, leaving the main part of the hole as a single piece. This means that it is quicker than a solid drill bit through not having to remove so much glass. However with small diameter core drills they often jam up with waste glass. This is evident when the drill ceases to drill through the glass, leaving a broad circular mark as it moves around on the glass.

Inevitably, at one time or another, the glass core will get stuck inside the drill bit. This needs to be cleared before any further drilling can be successfully done. It seems to be more common with the smaller diameter drills – from 5mm down.

The broken off core needs to be cleared from the back of the bit, not the diamond coated end. So you need to take the bit out of the drill and use a thin nail or piece of wire into the hole to push the glass out.

My collection of core drills.  At the front you can see copper wire and a thin punch for clearing blocked drills

Core drills need a more accurate means of steadying the bit than your hands. Imagine that you are trying to get that core out of the glass in tact. Any wobbling as you drill will break that core. When the core breaks, it is inclined to jam the cylinder. So a drill press is almost essential when using a core drill.

They also need water like any other drilling of glass. Normally this is supplied through the hollow core of the bit, which is beyond hand held drill motors.

For something as small as 3mm, a solid drill that removes all the glass rather than a core is more likely to be most successful. You can get diamonds bonded to piano wire that will give you holes from a fraction of a mm up to 2 or 3 mm and these can be used in dremmel-like tools that take small diameter bits.

It is absolutely NOT recommended to use a core drill at an acute angle to start the hole. The wall of a 3mm core drill is very thin and easily damaged. It is ok to start a solid drill that way, but not a core drill.

There are a number of related posts beginning with this one which give advice on the many ways to drill holes in glass.

Finger protection

Grinding lots of glass pieces often leads to a number of small cuts on the tips of your fingers. There are several things that can be done to reduce these cuts and the tenderness that comes from lots of grinding.

The first thing is to take the sharp edges off the glass. You can do a simple, light grind all the way around the piece. This removes the extra sharp edges that often remain after breaking the glass.

You can go a step further and do a light arris around the piece. This is just lightly holding the glass at about 45degrees to the grinding bit and going all the way around on all sides. This does not take off the shape of the piece, but gives a more rounded feel to the piece.

Illustration of the effect of holding the glass at an angle to the grinding head - not so much needs to be taken away as in the illustration to get the effect

It is not generally recommended that you wear gloves around rotating machinery. There is too much risk of injury, even on a small grinding machine. Some of the alternatives to gloves include plasters (band aids), masking tape, electrical tape.

Other purpose-made things you can buy include rubber finger protectors, finger tip pads, finger caps (as used in counting money).

Other tools are made to hold the glass such as the grinder cookie

and Nick's Grinder's Mate 

Reclaiming Solder

Re-using solder can range from simply soldering the ends of the solder sticks together (if you are using blowpipe solder). This will then form a useable stick with solder blobs on its length.

If you have a number of blobs and splashes, don't throw them out. Collect them together and when you have enough you can make them into another stick of solder.

You can tape two narrow pieces of glass onto a length of marble or heavy steel about 3-4 mm apart. Put the pieces in the channel formed by these two pieces of glass and melt the pieces with your soldering iron. This will form a useable stick.

Lifting the new solder stick from the wood

The same can be done by cutting out a 3mm wide and deep channel in a piece of timber and doing the same as above. The wood will smoke a bit and blacken, but not ignite.  And you can use a blowtorch to melt the solder if you do it this way.

Using the (slightly irregular) solder stick

Assembling Foiled Pieces

Keeping foiled pieces together while assembling them prior to soldering is sometimes a problem.

If the panel is rectangular - or at least one with multiple straight sides - you can use short battens of the length of the sides. Nail or screw them down to a board so that about one half of the panel is contained. So if it is a rectangle, two sides will be enough. If it is six-sided ,three pieces would do.

An assembled piece illustrating the two battens - although with a leaded panel

For ease of assembly, a copy of the cartoon should be fastened to the board first and then the battens fixed on top of the cartoon. The pieces can then be placed against battens and held there with pins or nails until the next pieces are ready.

Illustration of the cartoon fixed by the surrounding battens

Some prefer to tack solder the pieces together as they foil. This can be done in combination with the use of battens. However, leaving the soldering iron idling while foiling and using it only occasionally is very hard on the iron's tip and your electricity bill. I prefer to assemble the whole and then solder all at once.

Illustration of placing pins all the way around an oval panel

For circular or irregular shapes a slightly different approach is required. You can use multiple pins or nails along the perimeter to hold the foiled pieces together. An alternative is to cut a piece of scrap window glass to the shape of the external perimeter of the panel. Hold it is place with nails or pins and proceed as with a rectangular shape.

Placing nails all the way around an irregularly shaped piece

Rates of Advance

There is a lot of literature about annealing and cooling rates, as they are the most critical elements in producing a piece with minimum stresses within it. But there is not so much information on initial rates of advance.

It is possible to break the glass in heating it up by going too fast during the initial temperature rise. How fast you can increase the temperature is dependent on how even the heat is within your kiln. So any suggestions have to be tested within your own kiln and setup rather than relying exclusively on others' experience. Some of the considerations relating to the kiln are given in this blog about initial rates of advance.

So with those precautions, I put forward a suggestion based on my experience and information gleaned from the Bullseye site, education section and from Graham Stone's work. These lead me to suggest that the initial rate of advance can be twice the actual or planned first cooling segment. This rate of advance applies up to the softening point of the glass.

So this theory implies that a piece of glass 6mm thick - that might be annealed at 80ºC per hour during the first cooling segment - can be taken up at rate of 160ºC/hour to the softening point. And by extension:

• A 12mm thick piece could be taken up at 110ºC
• A 19mm piece could have an initial rate of advance of 50ºC/hr
• A 25mm thick piece of glass could be taken up at 30ºC/hour.

These all depend on a number of factors:

• how the glass is supported,
• the nature of the shelf,
• the composition of the mould, and
• the kiln characteristics as well as
• the colour combinations and
• whether the piece is tack fused or full fused.

If the glass is heated only from the top with no ventilation beneath the shelf, more caution is required.

Slower rates of advance are indicated if 

• the glass is supported only at a few points, 
• or if the kiln is side fired or has cool spots.
• If the piece is tack fused, you need to slow the rates of advance. 
•  Consider the rate of advance for the next thicker glass as your starting point as a minimum.

Remember that these numbers can only be used as a guide in conducting you own experiments.

Fusing with Painting

Combining Painting and Fusing

Painted oyster catchers with frit and stringer

It is possible to combine glass painting with fusing. Tracing paints are generally powdered iron rust and fused to the glass by the glass powder that carries this pigment. So it is possible to paint and fuse a project at the same time without loosing the intensity of the paint.

In general it is best to work down from the highest to the lowest temperature in your firings. This does require planning of the firing sequence in addition to the usual design considerations.

This sequence of firing depends on the glass stainers' paint you are using. The tracing paints (blacks, browns, some whites, some blue greens) that fire at 650ºC and above can be fired up to around 800ºC without losing much of their intensity. If you use Debitus paints, they can be fired to 850ºC without loosing their depth of colour.

Fused, painted and slumped piece painted both at fusing and slumping operations

If the paint is under glass pieces or under frit, the paint will appear to spread and the lines thicken. This is due to both the lens effect of the covering glass and the weight of the glass over the lines. If you require the lines to be of consistent thickness, you probably should paint after fusing.

You can, of course, use low firing ceramic glazes as they mature in the region of 700ºC to 850ºC. These can be painted on to the unfired glass and taken to full fuse without any fading. You do need to make sure the glaze has time for any volatile materials to burn off, so a slow rate of advance up to the slumping temperature of the glass is advisable.

Painted and fused, then painted and slumped.  Note the paint lines and coloured glass do not always match or need to.

If you are using glass stainers' enamels, you need to fuse and shape before firing. You can fire in the mould for the enamel firing as the temperature range is in the 520ºC to 580ºC range and will not add more mould marks to the glass. Keeping the glass in the mould protects against any tendency for the glass to alter shape.