Borax Characteristics

Borax is a glass making flux used to reduce the melting temperature of glass. 

It is almost colourless - grey, white, or yellowish; seldom bluish or greenish; and colourless in transmitted light.

The chemical composition of Borax is:  Na₂(B₄O₅)(OH)₄ · 8H₂O

It has a hardness rating of 2 – 2.5, about half that of glass at approximately 5.5.

The melting point is 878°C. At this temperature borax dissolves numerous metal oxides. In spite of this high melting temperature, it acts as a flux reducing the softening point at the surface of the glass at kiln forming temperatures.

The specific gravity of borax is approximately 1.7, considerably ligther than glass at ca.2.5.

Borax is sparingly soluble in cold water, although readily soluble in boiling water. It is insoluble in ethanol.

Description of devitrification
Temperature range

Devitrification spray

Does Wider Foil Give Greater Strength

The strongest part of a stained glass panel, whether leaded or copper foiled, is the glass.  The weaker points are the matrix that holds the panel together.

Of the matrix, the solder is the strong part.  The copper foil is weaker (and much thinner) and the adhesive is the weakest part of all.

A wider bead gives more apparent strength, but on the surface. It provides a broad line to grasp the glass.  But wide beads are often not what is visually desirable, nor practical.  And the wider the bead, the more solder will be used.

The most important part of a panel is the thin fin of solder between the top and bottom of the solder beads.  This is the connector between front and back. The strength of the whole panel depends on that fin.  So, it could be argued that very closely fitting foiled pieces lead to a weaker panel than loosely fitting ones.  I would not argue that, but it is important to have that connector of solder between the surface beads for a panel to be strong.

The solder connects the two solder beads together and forms the matrix which holds the panel together.

Here the fin of solder is a little thinner, so the matrix is marginally weaker

For larger panels, reinforcement will be required, either between the glass pieces, or on the surface.  The fact that reinforcement is so often used in the gap between the pieces, is confirmation that the fin of solder between the front and back is very important.

Cutting Fused Glass

The same principles of glass cutting are applied to fused glass as to the glass used to make the fused piece.  The differences relate to thickness and variations in thickness.

You still score on the smooth side.  More pressure is not required.  For glass thicker than 6mm, you may wish to use a wheel with a more blunt angle. as shown in this illustration.

www.oaklanddiamondtools.com

The main reason that people may feel it is difficult to cut fused glass relates to the additional thickness.  Just as breaking 4mm glass requires more force than 2mm, breaking a 6mm piece requires more force than a 3mm piece.  

floridastainedglass.net

Properly adjusted metal cut running pliers can do the job, but a cut runner designed for thicker glass can be a boon.  They are designed to provide greater leverage and so more force to the glass breaking.  With these the glass breaks along the score line cleanly.

www.glass-tool.com

The breaking of glass that is uneven in surface levels, as in tack fused pieces, can be more difficult.  One is that running the cutter over glass with distinctly different thicknesses can be difficult.  Maintaining consistent pressure and speed over the bumps of the tack fused pieces is difficult.  The second is that the running of the score will not always follow the score line.  For example, if the score line runs close to the edge of a thick piece, the break is likely to skirt around the thick piece, and possibly off to the edge of the piece, rather than continuing to follow the score line. Planning the score line on tack fused glass is important to avoid trying to break near the edges of thick pieces.

One possibility is to score the glass on the shelf side.  This is certainly possible, even though the surface is rougher.  It does avoid scoring across different levels and makes the break along the score line more probable.

Baffles in Side-Fired Kilns

The object of using baffles in side fired kilns is to keep the direct radiant heat from the edges of the piece(s) being fired.  If the edges receive direct radiant heat, they increase in temperature more rapidly than the interior of the piece.  This means the edges become sticky and seal before upper layer of the interior begins to conform to the lower layer.  This seals air into the piece.

fusedglass.org

The materials and placing of the baffles is important.

Baffles can be made from almost anything that can withstand the heat of the firing.  There is an argument that light-weight materials such as fibre board, vermiculite board, or fibre paper should be used to reduce electricity costs.  Heavier pieces such as brick and kiln shelf pieces require more energy to heat them up.  They then of course, store heat that needs to be released on cooling, so slowing the cool down and increasing the risk of devitrification.

The placing of the baffles is important too.  Baffles protect the glass edges from radiant heat until the general heat of the kiln can come into effect over the whole of the piece.  This means that if the baffles are placed against the elements at shelf level, the element above can still give radiant heat to the edges.  Therefore, baffles placed near the glass are better.  They protect the edges from radiant heat at whatever level the side elements are placed.  This is more important for pieces that are further from the edge of the shelf, than those nearer the edge, as the centrally placed glass can “see” the radiant heat from the upper elements. 

Anneal according to the Number of Firings - Kiln Forming Myths 17

You should anneal longer each time a piece is fired.

It seems the idea is that each time you do something to a piece the risk of poor annealing increases. So, an increase in annealing soak will reduce that risk.

In fact, you should anneal for the thickness of the piece plus any additional complicating factors introduced.  No further annealing based purely on the number of times fired is required.

If you have merely added a layer of powder to the glass, you only need to anneal for the thickness of the base.  It is when you begin to add significant amounts of frit or other glass pieces that you need to increase the annealing soak and also slow down the annealing cool.  If you go on to complicate matters by only tacking those elements to the base glass, you will need to slow down even more.  This blog post gives some indicators on how much you need increase the soak and slow the cool.

Score coated glass on the back - Kiln Forming Myths 16

Cut iridised glass on the back

The idea seems to be to get a more even score and avoid chipping of the iridised surface.

First, the iridised surface is almost microscopic in thickness.  It is put onto the surface as a mist of metallic oxides as it begins its run through the annealing lehr.  This thickness will not affect your scoring.

The back is usually rougher side of the glass and so will be more difficult to get a smooth, even score than the front iridised surface.

Chipping of the iridised surface is caused by too much pressure during the scoring.  Reduce your pressure and review your scoring practice.

Scoring the iridised surface with appropriate pressure will produce a clean break without chipping the surface.  These comments apply to dichroic and flashed glass too.

Elevation of Moulds - Kiln Forming Myths – 15

All moulds must be elevated to allow air out from between the glass and mould.

This is not a big problem, as it will not create any problems, but it does show a lack of thinking about the mould itself. 

There are some things you need to check.

Are the holes in the mould at last touchdown point(s)?  Sometimes the vent holes in moulds are made at convenient points rather than at the places where the glass will last touch down in the mould.  On a simple ball mould, a hole at the centre will be appropriate, as this is the last place the glass will touch.  On a bowl with a square base, the last places the glass will touch are the corners, so that is where the holes need to be.

Are there holes in the side of mould to allow air out from under the mould?  If there is one or more, there is no need to elevate the mould.  The air will move out from under the mould through the hole in the side. In general, moulds are not so uniform on their base that they fit the shelf enough to seal the displaced and expanding air underneath the mould. 

Are the holes clear?  This is more important.  If the vent holes are not open due to kiln wash or other things blocking the space, there will be no escape for the air.  The vents need to be checked on each firing to ensure they are open.

Does the mould need holes at all? There are a number of shallow slumpers and other simple moulds, such as a wave mould or any cylindrical mould form, that to not need vent holes, either because they are so shallow, or because the air can escape along the length of the mould.

How Much Annealing is Needed - Kiln Forming Myths 14

You don’t need to anneal as much on initial firings as on the last firing

This seems to be based on the theory that only the last firing matters to the soundness of the piece.  However, re-firing a poorly annealed piece may be at too great a risk from this kind of ill thought-out practice.

Even for properly annealed pieces, there is risk at each re-firing of a piece from thermal shock.  The rate of advance on the second firing of a fused piece needs to be reduced to accommodate the now thicker piece than the two or more original pieces.  Re-firing of tack fused pieces needs even slower rates of advance, because of the uneven thicknesses.   

The risk on each heat up to poorly annealed objects is even greater than indicated above for well annealed pieces.  Poorly annealed pieces can’t absorb temperature changes as easily, so are at greater risk of heat shock during temperature increases.  

When considering whether to reduce the annealing at the early stages of your project, you need to consider at least: 

• time saved versus risk, 
• the size of the piece,
• The degree of fusing.

The time saved will depend on how you fire.  If you fire overnight, there usually is no saving in time, so why increase the risk of breakages?  Time savings normally relate to how many firings you can get out of your kiln in a day.  So the number you need is an element in thinking about the risk too.

If firing during the day when there might be time savings, consider the size.  Smaller sizes usually can survive being under-annealed more easily than larger ones.

The degree of fusing is an important element in the risk.  The closer you are to a lamination fusing, the greater the risk of under-annealing causing a break on the next firing.  A full fused piece is more likely to survive an inadequate annealing on the subsequent firing.  These factors indicate that it is less advisable to under-anneal tack fused pieces that are going to have several firings.

You also need to be careful about applying the practice of blown glass workers to flat glass.  Blown glass, because of its curved shapes can withstand more stress than flat glass.  Although blown glass pieces can be under annealed before going through another process of heating, it is more difficult to do this with flat glass.

If you decide to reduce the annealing process at the early stages of a project that must be fired many times you need to be careful to avoid breaks. To avoid thermal shock of inadequately annealed pieces, the rate of advance must be reduced.  This reduction should be at 75% or less of the normal rate of advance for a piece of the size and nature of your project.

To have the best chance of survival throughout the kiln forming process, each piece needs to be properly annealed every time the temperature rises to or beyond the annealing temperature.

Peeking into the Kiln at Low Temperatures - Kiln Forming Myths 13

Do not peek between 100C and 540C – it will break the glass

Not necessarily.

To think about this systematically, you need to remember that the temperature readout is of the heat in the air, not of the glass.  On the way up, the temperature of the glass will be less than that of the air. On the way down the air temperature readout will be lower than the glass.

You can see from the readout how quickly the air temperature recovers to the original temperature.  This is generally, more quickly than the glass can lose its temperature.

The glass will be increasingly brittle as the temperature falls below the annealing point. 

The risk of thermal shock increases as the difference in air and glass temperature increases.  So shock is likely to be less at a readout of 100°C than at 400°C. 

The risk of thermal shock also increases with the thickness of the piece.  A piece of 25mm is more likely to be shocked at any given temperature than one of 6mm.

Whether you can peek depends on several things:

·        Temperature – e.g., just above the annealing soak a quick peek is less likely to cause problems than one at a lower temperature.  The shape of the glass will not change significantly below 600°C, so a peek while the kiln is cooling to the annealing point will not affect any but very thick pieces.

·        Length of peek – The key element is peeking is to affect the temperature as little as possible. So the opening should be as brief as possible.  The essential element in peeking is to take a mental snapshot of the glass, close the peep hole or lid, and think about what you saw.  Do not look or stare while the kiln is open. 

·        Size of opening – The smaller the opening you can manage during the peeking, the less risk of shock.  This is because less relatively cold air can enter the kiln.

·        Use of peep holes – set up your piece in the kiln in such a way that you can see your work through them.  At lower temperatures you will need the assistance of small intense light to illuminate the work.

·        Thickness – remember that thicker work is more likely to thermal shock because of the slow transfer of heat from the internal parts of the piece.  Peeking needs to be more cautious as the thickness increases.  Again, peeking above the annealing point should tell you everything you need to know about the final shape of the piece, making peeking in the brittle range unnecessary.

It is a good idea to minimise the viewing of your piece below annealing, but it is not impossible, if you follow the principle of avoiding drastic temperature falls during your peeking.

All myths have an element of truth in them otherwise they would not persist.

They also persist because people listen to the “rules” rather than thinking about the principles and applying them.  It is when you understand the principles that you can successfully break the “rules”.

Slumping and Draping materials - Kiln Forming Myths 12

Always slump into ceramic, drape over steel

This myth is based on the fact that steel expands and contracts more than glass and ceramic expands and contracts less.

So, the myth goes, slumping into steel means the glass will be trapped or crushed by the contracting steel.  But draping over means the steel will contract more than the glass making the removal of the glass easy.

The reverse is the expectation for ceramic.  Slumping into the ceramic allows the greater contraction of the glass to be removed from the mould without sticking.  But draping over means the glass traps itself against the ceramic as a result of its greater contraction.

These things are true.  But….

The most important thing in considering a mould is the draft.  This not about cold air, but the angles of the mould. A mould with vertical sides will not release the casting or kiln formed object even if the expansion characteristics of the two materials are identical. To release, the mould must have a slight angle from the vertical away from the glass.  This applies whether a slump or a drape.  This is called a positive draft, as illustrated.

www afsinc org

 And here

If the draft is sufficient, it does not matter whether you are slumping or draping into steel.  In using a stainless steel mixing bowl for draping, you can only use the lower portion where the angle is shallow.  If you rest the glass on the rim, the draft will be too steep to allow the glass to slide upwards as the steel contracts on cooling.

www evetsourcesolutions com

Even when draping over steel, you need to have a draft to aid the easy removal of the glass, as in this example:

creativeglassguild co uk

When draping over ceramic, you need to be careful that you have sufficient draft over the whole of the mould. In the case of this ceramic draping mould you need to make sure the glass is not fully formed as the steep portion at the top will be where the glass grabs the mould.

glassartbymargo com

And if you were to use this casting mould as a slumping mould, the steep straight sides would make it difficult to get the glass out of the mould. 

sundanceglass.com

Although the facts behind the statement “slump into ceramic, drape over steel” are established, you need to understand that the draft of the mould is as important as the way in which you use the material.

All myths have an element of truth in them otherwise they would not persist.

They also persist because people listen to the “rules” rather than thinking about the principles and applying them.  It is when you understand the principles that you can successfully break the “rules”.