Firing for a Matte Finish

Glass can be fired to take on a satin appearance that is both appealing to the eye and pleasing to touch.

The first step toward the matte finish is to sandblast the piece after fusing, then fire to a temperature between 600C and 675C. A short soak - or no soak at all - is all that is needed.

The exact temperature needed depends on a number of factors, including:

• The specific glass being used. A soft glass such as black generally needs to be fired to a lower temperature than glasses that do not absorb the heat so easily. Every colour and type of glass will behave a bit differently, so experimentation and record keeping is critical.

• The grit and type of sandblasting medium. Generally, a grit from 120 to 200 is preferred, with aluminium oxide performing a bit better than silicon carbide – which can often lead toward some devitrification.

• The particular kiln being used. Your kiln is a bit different from any other one. Start with a temperature in the middle of the 600-650C range and adjust depending on the results you achieve.

• The finish you want will vary with only a few degrees difference. This means that you have to observe the firing. Make sure you keep good records of the specific firing schedule used so that you can make adjustments if needed for future firings.



Some variations can provide distinctive elements to the finished piece.

• Masking certain elements before sandblasting can provide contrasts of texture within the piece.

• Firing at a lower temperature for longer can give the results you want, without any additional marking on the bottom of the piece.

• To keep the matte texture, any subsequent slumping of the piece should be done at as low a temperature as possible.

Preventing Chipping When Using a Tile Saw to Cut Glass

One of the most common problems in using a tile saw to cut glass is the tendency for the saw to chip the edge of the glass as it completes the cut. This occurs when the blade of the saw has less glass to cut through. Excessive and uneven pressure and the lack of support cause this break-out.

It's possible to improve the quality of the cut by slowing down and pushing the glass through the blade more gently, but this seldom solves the problem completely. Pushing equally on both sides of the cut is also important to minimise the break-out.

One solution that does work is to provide support for the end of the bar. This adopts a woodworking method for preventing splintering at the ends of cuts.
Use a scrap length of pattern bar or other thick glass. Place it against the glass being cut. As the blade emerges from the glass being cut, hold the two pieces firmly together and continue cutting. The blade should immediately engage the second piece of glass. Once the saw blade entirely clears the first piece, you can turn off the saw and remove a chip-free slice from the pattern bar.

You'll need to trim off the ends of the scrap piece from time to time, but you can use the scrap over and over until it becomes too small to do the job.

This works best with a tile saw where the blade is below the cutting surface. When you use an overhead saw, the breakout is much rarer.

Dams for Pattern Bars

Once you have cut and arranged the glass for your pattern bar, you need to dam the bars in the kiln to prevent the glass spreading.

The materials required for forming the sides of the dam can be made from anything that is rigid and can withstand the heat of the kiln, e.g., cut up kiln shelves, rigidised fibre board, vermiculite board. The material being used to dam must be over 13mm and preferably around 25mm thick. It should be capable of standing vertically on its edge without support. Cut the dam material into strips at least as long as the pattern bars you're damming, and at least as wide as the bars are tall.

You also need fibre paper for lining the edges of the dam and keeping the glass from sticking to the dam. Cut the strips of fibre paper to line the walls of the dam and keep the glass from sticking to the dam material when you fire the kiln. Three millimetre fibre paper works best.

The width of the fibre paper should be 3mm narrower than the pattern bars are high. By cutting the strips shorter than the pattern bars you allow the bars to round perfectly on top and help prevent needling.

The fibre paper should go around all sides without gaps. They should have straight edges so the glass of the pattern bar does not leak between or underneath the fibre paper. The use of iridised glass on bottom and sides will provide a smooth release from the fibre paper and is a second option. It is also possible to line the fibre paper with thinfire paper to provide a smooth release, although it is more time consuming than using the iridised side of glass against the fibre. But do not combine thinfire and iridised glass. There is a reaction that leaves holes and craters in the glass.

Pattern Bar Box

Making a box for a pattern bar design that involves frit or lots of small pieces is necessary and simple.

Let's assume you want to make a pattern bar that's 25mm by 25mm by 200mm long. Start by cutting three strips of glass, each 25mm wide and 200mm long. Also cut two 25mm squares of glass. You can use any colour, but remember that the colour you choose will make up the outside of your pattern bar.

Assemble the three strips and two squares to make a small box, with one piece on the bottom and the others attached to form sides and ends. To do the attaching, use a hot melt glue gun.

The advantage of using hot melt glue to make a pattern bar box is that after the box is assembled, it can be filled with frit and other scrap outside the kiln, then easily carried into the kiln and dammed as usual. The glue will burn off during the firing. You can finish the box with a final strip of glass laid on top, but this isn't essential.

You then dam the box as for any other pattern bar.

Designing a Pattern Bar

Assuming that you are not going to just dump your scrap glass in a random pattern to form a pattern bar, you need to spend some time designing it.

The simplest kind of bar is composed of strips of glass which are stacked or assembled in the kiln, but there are many other more elaborate configurations.

Because of the additional annealing time required for larger and thicker items, most pattern bars range from 1" by 1" to no larger than 2" by 2". The length of the pattern bar can be any length, up to the maximum that will fit in your kiln.

The design process begins by thinking about the cross section of the bar. This is what will appear when cut and assembled. As a simple exercise, assume you are making a diamond pattern in the bar. You can draw this out using 3mm as the thickness (or 1.5mm if you are using thin glass). Rough out the pattern and then begin using 3mm as the grid. Remember that you will need to cut your strips 4mm or wider to obtain a clean break. As you plan it out you will see that you need one length at the base one half of the space remaining after you have laid down the first, central piece for the diamond. The next layer will have two strips for the diamond, giving a requirement for one strip to fill the space between the two for the diamond shape and two strips each one half the remaining space. This process goes on until the area is filled.

Pattern Bars

A pattern bar is a thick bundle of glass that has been fused together. These can be in the shape of a rectangle, or can be a thick pot melt – whether a disc or a rectangle. The length of the individual bars can be as long as your kiln allows, but needs to be practical to handle when cutting.


The basic steps involved in making a pattern bar include deciding on a design –whether controlled or random, cutting glass for the bar, assembling the cut glass into the desired bar shape, then firing to a full fuse. Once fired, pattern bars can be cut into slices with a saw - tile, glass, lapidary, or stone – which uses water for cooling and lubrication. The individual slices are then assembled and re-fused to make bowls, platters, and similar shapes. They can also be used as accents in any number of applications.

There is a caution about using pattern bar pieces. As the glass in the bars has been fired to a relatively high temperature, some of the characteristics may have changed. So you need to do a compatibility test before doing the main piece.

Designing Pattern Bars
Boxes for Pattern Bars
Dams for Pattern Bars

Float Glass in the Kiln

An important characteristic of float glass is that a very small amount of the tin is embedded into the glass on the side it touched. The tin side is easier to make into a mirror and is softer and easier to scratch than the air side. The characteristic of float glass having a molecular level of tin left on the “tin side” but not the “air side” is important to distinguish. There are short wave UV light sources to help determine this. The tin side gives a whiter glow than the air side. If any forming of the glass is planed after fusing, the tin side needs to be on the side being stretched, as when in compression the tin side will show a “tin bloom” similar to devitrification.

If the tin side is down on both sheets, and it is slumped into a mould there will be no tin bloom because the tin layer is stretched. If the tin side is up on both sheets and it is slumped into a mould there will be tin bloom because the tin layer is compressed. If you have placed the tin sides together, or on both the top and bottom, one of the tin surfaces will be in compression and so will show tin bloom. This is often mistaken for devitrification, and no amount of any devitrification solution will help.

A borax solution can help with the devitrification on float glass in some circumstances. It is not a perfect solution. This is because tin bloom and devitrification are often not distinguished correctly. But a high level of cleanliness and polishing the glass until squeaky clean is the best start.

The heat characteristics of Float glass depend in large part on which company manufactures the glass being used, so the temperature characteristics are given in ranges.

The softening point is around 760C

The annealing point is around 560—540C

The strain point is around 515-495C. The strain point being the temperature below which no further annealing occurs, although the glass can still be thermally shocked below this range.

Due to the robustness of float glass, it can be fired with a quicker initial temperature rise than glasses formulated for kiln forming. The down side is that it devitrifies very easily and very badly. Rarely can you perform more than two firings before the devitrification begins to become troublesome.

All window glass now seems to be referred to as float glass. However, the float glass process was invented in the 1950’s. Prior to that time, window glass was drawn. Float glass can use more iron in its composition, because it does not have to be drawn up out of a molten vat of glass as the drawn glass did and still does. Float glass is formulated to be stiffer at forming temperatures, whereas the drawn glass has to be flexible due to the mechanical stresses it is put under during the drawing. Except for low iron glass, the float glass has a distinct blue green colour when viewed through the edge. Drawn glass has a variation in thickness and is much paler when viewed through the edge. These visual differences can help distinguish the two kinds of glass, but are not foolproof.

More information on the general characteristics of float glass can be found here.

Stainless Steel Moulds

Stainless steel is sometimes called the almost the perfect mould material. It is lightweight, difficult to deform, and durable for a very many firings. Simple bowl forms are relatively inexpensive to buy — you can even use cheap stainless steel bowls. All you need to do is drill three or four small 1.5mm holes in the bottom for air to escape.
It often is a good idea to fire the mould to working temperature (say 650C) before attempting to kiln wash the form. This burns off the protective oils from the steel. Alternatively, sandblast the mould to clean it and give a small tooth for the kiln wash.

Stainless steel moulds do need to be covered with kiln wash. This is difficult to do when the mould is at room temperature, but it can easily be accomplished by heating the mould to around 150C, then brushing or spraying on the kiln wash while the mould is hot. The water in the wash will evaporate rapidly, leaving the protective elements behind. If you heat the mould too high the water will boil off, leaving gaps.

Also, it’s important to realize that steel contracts more than the glass. This is the opposite of ceramic, which contracts less than the glass. As a result, slumping on the outside of a steep stainless steel form generally works better than slumping on the inside.

Still, you can get away with slumping inside gentle bowl forms; just make certain it’s well covered in kiln wash. A sprinkle of a little kiln wash powder inside can also be considered. Be aware that slumping inside deeper forms may not work.

Draping over steel

Steel absorbs heat much faster than glass, so the glass suspended on the steel is cooler than the suspended perimeter during the heating and cooling cycles of the firing. This does not apply to slumping when the glass is supported on the edges, as so little of the glass is touching the mould at the start.

The fact that the steel “bleeds” the supported glass of heat while the unsupported parts heat up, requires slow heating with or without periodic soaks on the way up to ensure the glass and steel are the same temperature up to about 540C or the upper strain point of the glass.

I tend to be very cautious, and for 6mm pieces heat up approximately like the following:

100C/hr to 100C, soak 20

150C/hr to 200C, soak 20

200/hr to process temperature



When cooling, the steel is in closer contact with the glass, no special considerations are needed, so the normal annealing soak and cool are used.

Removing Glass from Kiln Shelf

Care is needed when removing glass that is stuck to the shelf. You need to protect your hands with thick gloves, as any slip will cut your hands deeply.

For mullite and other ceramic shelves you can use a variety of tools:

If there is a small amount of glass in one or more spots, you can use a scraper or lead knife. The wider the blade is, the less chance there is of creating a big divot beside the stuck glass.

If the stuck glass is large or thick, you can use a hammer and chisel. Care is needed to avoid creating a bigger hole in the shelf. Use very shallow angle, almost parallel to the surface of the shelf to chip out the glass.

Diamond hand pads are useful to get the last bits smoothed out. You need to be careful of creating a low spot by working only in a concentrated area. One way of avoiding that is to use a slurry of grit and grind with large sheet of float glass. The area being covered is large and so reduces the danger of creating low spots. Remember you can get away with smoothing the shelf, not all the glass has to come out of the shelf. If the bits of glass are only small, it will not reduce the life of the shelf much, although glass tends to be corrosive to kiln brick and ceramic that it is in contact with.

If removing the glass has taken a significant amount of the shelf surface off, you can repair it. A temporary repair is to fill the divot with dry kiln wash and smooth it with a plasterer’s float or a piece of float glass. A more permanent repair is to mix a small amount of cement fondue with or without a little vermiculite. Smooth this level with the rest of the shelf while wet, as it is very hard after curing, which occurs at about 600C. If the mix is of cement fondue only, it will tend to reject the kiln wash, as it is more dense than the shelf.


Removing glass from fibre shelves in some ways is much easier, as the shelf material comes away with the glass. This does mean that repairs are always necessary. This can be done with a temporary fill of dry kiln wash or more permanently with a mix of 1 part cement fondue to about 6-7 parts vermiculite. This makes a less dense filler than cement fondue on its own, which would be too hard for fitting with the fibre shelf.

Silver Foil Inclusions

Silver foil is better for inclusions than silver leaf as there is more substance and so less likelihood that it will burn away.

Sterling silver – not that common in foils – will darken easily on exposure to temperature and air.

Silver foil will also react with some glass colours. A good guide to this can be obtained from Bullseye’s chart on glass interactions. This shows which glasses react with silver. To minimize the reactions, minimize the amount of time spent above 600C.

Only a short bubble squeeze is required with foil as it is not so stiff that it will resist the weight of the glass on top, so creating bubbles. A short squeeze to allow the air out is still a good idea.

Venting moulds

Raising the mould from the shelf to provide ways for the air to get out of the mould is as important as providing holes in the mould itself. Often people recommend placing the mould on kiln furniture, but it is very easy to have a number of pieces fibre paper to stack in three places under the edge of the mould to provide space for the air to be expelled from the kiln by the dropping glass. Only a little space is required for the air to escape.

Vertical Kiln Formed Holes

For vertical holes in frit-cast reliefs you can fill a drinking straw with plaster, cut while still wet and build the frit or cullet around it.

Already fused pieces can have the holes made much neater and smoother by using the above method in pre drilled holes. Another method is to wrap a thin strip of fibre paper around a pencil or end of a paint brush. Then push this circle of fibre paper into the hole. If this is the same height or a little less than the glass, it provides a clean fire polished hole, if the glass is taken to the high end of fire polishing temperatures.

Found Moulds

Found moulds are often ceramic bisque or greenware, sometimes glazed and fired for house or other final use. Many other materials, usually metals can also act as moulds. This article will address ceramic materials.

Shape

Pick out a mold that is not too complicated, detailed or deep. A shallow bowl or plate with a rim is ideal. When choosing bisque ware to use as a slumping mold, avoid complicated and deep shapes. Do not choose molds with intricate carvings or patterns for slumping. Those shapes would be better for frit casting. Instead, choose shapes with a rim or with gentle curves rather than steep slopes.

Slumping or Draping

Glass has a higher expansion and contraction rate than ceramics. This means that any draping has to be done over gently curved ceramic materials. So the general advice is to avoid draping over ceramics. If you do drape anyway, it is advisable to cover the ceramic with fibre paper in addition to the kiln wash.

Vent holes

You need to drill holes in the proposed mould to allow the air to escape as the glass slumps. You might want to see what holes are drilled on similar plates online. The holes should be small – about 1.5mm. Much smaller and they will get clogged up with kiln wash; much larger and they will mark the glass. The drilling should be from the inside to avoid any break out into the moulding surface.

Greenware is easy to drill, so don’t press hard; let the drill bit do the work.

Ceramic forms that have been glazed require more care to start the hole. The surface is so smooth the drill bit will tend to skitter around. You can place a bit of tape where you want to drill to reduce the movement of the drill. You can also start the hole by using a masonry drill bit and rotate it by hand at the point you want to drill. This will create a “divot” in the glaze to hold your drill. It is also easier to drill, if you sandblast the glazed surface first. This will give a bit of “tooth” for the bit to grip.

You should drill the hole(s) at the last place the glass will fall. In a completely round bottom you drill at the centre. If there is a right angle or steep part near the bottom of the form, that is the last place the glass will touch and so is where the holes should be drilled. Three, spaced equally apart, should be enough.

Preparation for use

Take the greenware and clean it with a mild abrasive pad or nylons to eliminate the mold marks and scratches on the piece.  Have any greenware fired to at least bisque temperatures at a ceramics studio. Explain what you are doing and the working temperature. The ceramic does need to be fired high enough to be robust.  The ceramics people can give you information on the performance of the ceramic when fired to various temperatures.  The bisque mold must be kiln washed before use.

If you are using an already glazed form, you need to remove or roughen up the glaze enough to take the kiln wash. A sandblaster does a good and quick job, but it can be done by hand with wet and dry sandpapers. The process should be done wet to keep any dust from the glaze (a vitreous power) getting into your lungs

Test
 
Finally, you should test your mould with glass that has little value, before committing you best efforts to the mould.

Thick Glass Firing

by Tony Roberts

My schedule for 50mm (2 inch) Pilkington’s Opticlear in a top-heated flatbed kiln is:

0 to 600C - 6C per hour rise - takes 6 days (if you start with a solid slab) (I start with smaller pieces, so can raise the temp much faster)

600C/hr to your soak temp - as fast as you like (I go to 840C and hold 4hours)

Soak temp to 565C - drop as fast as you can, then hold for 14hours

Anneal: drop at 0.75C per hour to 365C - this takes 11 days

Then drop at 1.5C per hour to 300C - another 2 days

Then drop to 60C at 4C per hour - 2 days and a half



A total of 16 and a half days

Glass Selection

I have produced some notes on some of the elements in the selection of glass.

Here are the links:

Glass Density
Clarity
Advancing and Receeding Colours
Light and Dark
Colour Combinations

Choosing Glass for a Harmonious Appearance, 3

Different colours, of course, have different appearances. The most commonly known one is the hot/cool colour combinations. This still applies when dealing with opalescent glasses, where reflection is the dominant experience of the colour.

But in glass where there is quite a bit of light transmission, the receding and advancing colours are not exactly the same as in painting and opalescent glass. The greatest separation comes with intense red (close) and intense blue (distant). In some circumstances these can be experienced as apparently being in different planes.

There are a few distinct advancing and receding colours, but most are much more subtle and are not all as expected from the experience of reflected colour. Clear, for example appears nearer than a strong blue. It is up to each person as to how far they wish to take these combinations.

Those who do want to investigate, should go to a place where they can view windows with small pieces and a variety of colour in strong light. They can then record which colours appear to “float” above others, or recede.

Choosing Glass for a Harmonious Appearance, 2

Clarity of colour

When considering the representation of distance or depth you need to look for glass that is less pure. The colours that are muted or have a touch of white, blue or grey will provide a good representation of distance. The pure colours will appear more brilliant among the more muted colours.

This is where glass samples can be most useful. By holding them up to the light, you can see the effects one glass has on another and how one colour will appear among the others.

Choosing Glass for a Harmonious Appearance - 1

There are at least two major elements in choosing glass: density and clarity. A third is the “hot/cool” effect of colours. The appropriate combination of these elements leads to a panel with bright or hot spots where you want them. You can create a dramatic image or a more restrained one with more gradual gradations of light without obvious bright or dark areas.

Density

Density relates to the amount of light the glass allows through. Clearly black is the most dense glass – allowing no light through. In general, glass can be divided into opalescent and transparent.

Opalescent glasses range from the very dense opaque to less dense translucent glass.

Transparent glasses have a variety of densities too, although almost always less dense than opalescent glass. The density of transparent glasses relates to the intensity of the colour and the texture of the glass.


Colour intensity

The intensity of the colour is related to the amount of light allowed through. The intensity is directly related to the saturation of the colour. A further effect on colour intensity is the thickness of the glass. If you look at a handmade sheet of glass with different thickness on one end to another end, you can see the gradation of the colour and the amount of light that comes through.

Glass Textures

The texture of the glass affects the density of the glass. A smooth glass will have less density as the light passes through without dispersion. As the glass becomes more textured, the light is more dispersed and so appears more dense.

Glass Breaking While Soldering

Some report breaking pieces of glass while soldering. This may happen more on pieces that have big differences in width or taper to thin points. What is happening is that the glass is being heated too much locally in relation to the rest of the piece.

The solution is to solder at a steady pace. This allows the solder to cool without transferring so much heat to the glass as to break it. Some recommend that you do not rest your soldering iron on the foil while soldering. However it is the solder which is the heat sink, so the effort of holding the iron above the foil is not really necessary if you move at a reasonable pace.

This means that you do not stop with the iron on the seam. It is best to solder in one continuous movement along the seam, leaving an even bead behind. Sometimes the bead is not even. This may be because of wider parts to the seam, or inadequate flux, or many other reasons. Do not try to repair this before going on to the rest of the seam as this builds up heat in the adjoining glass. Since glass cannot dissipate heat well, the glass breaks when the temperature differential between the hot and cold parts of the glass is too great. Instead, complete the soldering of the seam before coming back to it. This gives you time to decide why the bead is not as good as you want it to be. It also gives time for the heat to reduce and even out through the piece of glass.

As you become experienced you will find a pace that suits the kind of bead on the joint that you want to achieve. If the seam is too flat, slow your pace or increase the rate at which add the solder to the iron. If the seam has too big a bead, increase your pace or reduce the rate at which you feed the solder. It is also possible to consider other methods of soldering.

You also need consider the usual problems relating to cleanliness and insufficient flux. Sometimes the soldering iron is not hot enough, but you should notice this early as the solder will not be melting at its usual rate and will be grainy in appearance.

Temperature Rise Rates

I am always concerned when people recommend soaks on the way up in order to equalise temperatures. If the soak is required because the ramp rate is too fast, there are breakages going to happen sometime - maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but certainly sometime. If you need that extra time, add it into the schedule. E.g., a ramp rate of 200C from 20C to 520C with a 20 min soak could also be written as 176C/hr from 20C to 520C - both take 2.833 hours to achieve the same temperature. A controlled heating rate is preferable to one or more rapid rates with soaks.

I am also concerned about very rapid temperature rises after the bubble squeeze. The controllers often cannot adequately control such rapid rises. The rapid rise also often requires a higher target temperature to achieve the desired effect. This can mean that it is easier for bubbles - large and small - to form and rise to the surface during the overshoot of the target temperature. Temperature increases are about heat work - the combination of temperature and time. This means that you can achieve the desired result in two ways:

1- fast rise to high temperature or

2- Slow rise to lower temperature.

The second strategy may also require a longer soak at the target temperature than the one with a fast rise to a high temperature.

The aim in kiln work should be to achieve the effect you want at the lowest practical temperature. This is because glasses tend to change their characteristics more at higher temperatures than at lower temperatures.

Dams - Links to Tips

There are a number of tips on damming kiln formed glass scattered around the blog.  This is an attempt to provide links to them.

Damming Options for Ovals
Description of Needling
Prevention of Needling
Damming Options for Irregular Shapes
How High Should the Dams Be?
Separators for Dams

Releases between the Glass and the Dam

An alternative to fibre papers or kiln wash separators between the dam and the glass is to use iridised glass. This of course, only works on pieces with straight lines on the sides. If you place the iridised side toward the fibre paper, you will get a clean release with a minimum of texture. If you do decide to use iridised glass as the release, you must not use Thinfire. It will cause awful pitting in the iridised glass.

Lining Dams

Dams should normally be lined with Thinfire and fibre paper to get the best release. If you are using fibre board that has not been hardened, you do not have to line, but you will get smoother edges if you do.

As described by Helios

The lining papers should be about 3mm shorter than the expected final thickness of the finished panel. I find that 3mm paper against the dam provides the required standoff between the dam material and the glass. The lining of the fibre paper with Thinfire provides a smoother surface than just the fibre paper. Both of these liners should be the same height – 3mm less than the final height of the finished piece.

To calculate the expected final height you need to do a few calculations in the metric system.  Weigh the glass in grams.  Divide by specific gravity (2.5) to get the number of cubic centimeters.  Divide the cc by the area enclosed by the dams in square centimeters. This will give the fraction or multiple of centimeters thick the glass is predicted to be.  

Example:
The weight of glass = 500 gms
The specific gravity = 2.5
The area is 10cm by 10 cm = 100 square cm.

Divide 500gms (the weight) by 2.5 (the specific gravity) = 200 cubic centimeters.  Divide 200 (the volume in cc) by 100 (the area) = 2 cm thick final piece for the amount of glass put into the pot.

This indicates the fibre paper should be 1.7cm high to allow enough space for the bullnose edge to form.

Height of Dams

Dams can be of any height available, but if it is easy to adjust the height, you should consider the ease of working with the glass inside the dams and the possibility of anything falling off the dams onto the glass.

The dam should be higher than the glass in its un-fired state. It should be high enough to contain the moving glass should anything go wrong, so it cannot be the same height as the fibre paper liners – those being 3mm shorter than the glass is high. As a rule of thumb, when I have the choice, I would make the dams at least 6mm higher than the unfired glass. This allows you to handle the sheets of glass and any components without having to reach over high walls. It also ensures containment should anything go wrong.

Damming Irregular Shapes

The assumption is that these pieces will be open-face thick fusings/castings rather than enclosed castings.

There are two basic types of dams: a shape cut from a single surrounding piece, or multiple pieces held in place.

Single piece dams

A large, thick fibre board with shape cut out will confine the glass. If very thick, you may need to weight the fibre board, as it is lighter than the glass.

Another variation is to use thick fibre paper cut out to shape and layered up to the desired height with stainless steel pins to hold the whole in place. This also may need to be weighted down. A variation on this is to place the whole on a fibre board and pin the layers of fibre paper into the fibre board to maintain the position of the fibre dams. This will not normally need weighting.



Multiple piece dams

If the shapes are not extreme, you can use pieces of fibre board or fibre paper backed up with kiln furniture, bits of broken kiln shelf or any other heavy material that will withstand the heat of fusing.

You can use thick fibre paper held in place with kiln furniture, if the piece is not thick. You do have to be careful that the glass does not float the fibre paper and run underneath, so about 10 mm is the maximum for this kind of damming. It also helps if this kind of dam is made larger than the glass – or alternatively the glass smaller than the dam. This allows the glass to flow out toward the dam, giving nice curved edges.

Moulds, stainless steel and other refractory materials can be specially made for shapes that will be repeated.

Note that all these variations will benefit from being lined with Thinfire backed up with fibre paper.  This gives a smoother edge and also gives some cusioning between the dam and the glass.

Coating Metal Moulds

Most metal moulds are stainless steel as it spalls less while at forming temperatures. The techniques here can be applied to any metal, although spalling will be a common occurrence on any metal other than high grade stainless steel.

On many single curve moulds, such as a partial cylinder, you can just lay fibre paper over the form and place the glass on top of that.

Metal moulds that have more complex shapes require a separator that will conform to those shapes. Applying liquid kiln wash requires you to heat the steel to somewhere between 150 and 200C before applying the kiln wash. Any hotter and the kiln wash will boil off on contact, leaving an uneven coating.

The kiln wash can be applied with a brush or by spraying. Spraying gives a smoother less streaky application. After giving the mould the first coat, return the mould to the kiln and re-heat the mould. Repeat this until you have covered the whole mould with a thin layer of separator. Be careful and avoid applying too much kiln wash at once, as that will cause the separator to run and reveal bare spots on the mould, causing you to need to clean and begin again.

Cleaning Glass

Glass with dust, oil or other residues promotes devitrification. So first try to remove any excess of these.

Cutting without oil can avoid introducing more oils. Specially formulated cuttings fluids are available that are not oil.

Wash with only a few drops of washing up liquid of the kind without additives to keep you hands soft, or smell good. If there are soap bubbles on top of the water, you are using too much soap.

Window cleaning products are not usually appropriate, especially if they contain ammonia. A few products do not have additives that promote devitrification. One that works well for me is the Bohle aerosol cleaner (but not the concentrate).

Be careful about your rinsing water. If it has mineral salts in it, it can form nucleation points for devit.

Polish dry using plain paper towels or microfiber cloths. Change frequently and wash without softeners.

If you are grinding the edges, clean immediately before any part dries to avoid the powdered glass filling the scratches caused by grinding. Some put the ground pieces into a bowl of water immediately to keep the edges wet until cleaning can be done.

Moving Pieces

To keep pieces from moving about as you solder them, use pins or nails to keep them in place. The best is to assemble the whole panel and then keep them in place with a frame or lots of nails/pins around the outside. This keeps pieces from moving and also keeps the panel to the original size.

The type of nail or pin will depend on the work board you are using. Softer boards allow push pins of various sorts to be used. Harder boards will need nails.

If you don’t like assembling the whole before soldering, you can confine the pieces you are currently soldering with nails/pins in the same fashion as for the whole panel.



It also helps to do a little tack soldering before the process of running a bead begins. A small amount of solder on the copper foil where pieces join will keep the pieces in exact alignment while you are running a bead.

Devitrification of Edges

Devitrification often occurs on the edges of glass, and can be seen as a thin line of devitrification -often looking like smudges that won't wipe off - where the edge has flattened during the fusing. There are some ways to avoid this.

Avoid grinding if at all possible.

If you must grind, use fine heads/grits. Then clean immediately before any part of the glass dries. You may need to clean part of the glass piece before the grinding is complete to avoid any drying of the powder on the edge of the glass.

Clean well with a minimum of soap and rinse with water that does not have a lot of minerals in it. Polish well with plain paper towels or frequently changed microfiber cloths.

Window cleaning products are not usually appropriate, especially if they contain ammonia.

Avoid introducing oils from the cutter by scoring with a dry cutter or use a specially devised cutting fluid. Cleaning solutions that have additives to be kind to hands or scents should be avoided.

The edges of some glasses devitrify more easily than others. If this continues to be the case after all cleaning efforts have failed, then use a devitrification spray, but continued cleaning is still necessary. There are no short cuts in cleaning.

Effect of Variations in Size on Bead Annealing

When annealing beads with varying thicknesses, I apply a rule of thumb to be safe.

I take the difference between the thickest and the thinnest part and add that to the thickest part to get the diameter at which I should anneal.

So a bead with a thickest part being 8mm and the thinnest 2mm, gives a difference of 6mm which I add to the 8mm (thickest) part giving 14mm as the diameter to which I anneal.

Annealing Beads of different sizes and shapes

It is possible to anneal beads of different sizes and shapes at the same time, if you anneal for the beads which require the most care. It will not matter for the smaller beads or easier shapes if they are annealed longer than the minimum requirement.

Effect of Shape on Bead Annealing

The shape of the bead has significant effects on the annealing time required. This is because the shape has an effect on the speed at which the centre can cool. Spheres have the most even transmission of heat, because the heat can radiate equally in all directions. Cylinders are more restricted in heat radiation because they can radiate heat from the circumference but not so effectively along the length. Flat shapes can radiate heat in only two directions, making them the most difficult to anneal.

As indicated, spheres can be annealed most quickly. The annealing schedules given in this blog apply to spheres as this is the most common form for beads.

Cylinders which by definition are longer than the diameter need to be annealed at two thirds the rate of spheres. So, from the tables you choose the annealing rate for a piece 1.5 times larger than the diameter of your cylinder.

Flat shapes require the most care in annealing so you should choose the rate that is three times the thickness of the piece you are annealing.

These cautions will help to adequately anneal your beads, what ever their shape.

Bead Annealing Schedules for Spectrum Beads

Bead Annealing Schedules for Spectrum Beads
This table is based on James Kirwin’s work on bead making with variations. This is for cold beads being heated for a secure anneal.

Up to 10mm dia.: afap to 520C, 30 mins; anneal at 300C/hr to 370C; afap to 40C
12mm dia.: 1000C/hr to 520C,30mins; anneal at 210C/hr; 600C/hr to 40C
14mm dia.: 1000C/hr to 520C, 30mins; anneal at 155C/hr; 460C/hr to 40C
16mm dia.: 950C/hr to 520C, 30mins; anneal at 120C/hr; 350C/hr to 40C
18mm dia.: 740C/hr to 520C, 30mins; anneal at 94C/hr; 280C/hr to 40C
20mm dia.: 600C/hr to 520C, 30mins; anneal at 75C/hr; 230C/hr to 40C
22mm dia.: 500C/hr to 520C, 30mins; anneal at 62C/hr; 185C/hr to 40C
24mm dia.: 420C/hr to 520C, 30mins; anneal at 53C/hr; 155C/hr to 40C
30mm dia.: 270C/hr to 520C, 36mins; anneal at 33C/hr; 100C/hr to 40C
38mm dia.: 165C/hr to 520C, 39mins; anneal at 21C/hr; 60C/hr to 40C
50mm dia.: 95C/hr to 520C, 46mins; anneal at 12C/hr; 36C/hr to 40C

Remember this table is for spheres. For cylinders choose the diameter that is 1.5 times the diameter of your cylinder, and for flat shapes choose the diameter that is 3 times the thickness of your piece.

For other information on annealing of beads go here

Bead Annealing Schedule for Effetre Beads

This table is based on James Kirwin’s work on bead making with variations. This is for cold beads being heated for a secure anneal.

Up to 10mm dia.: afap to 530C, 30 mins; cool at 280C/hr to 360C; 840C to 40C.
12mm dia.: Go at 1000C/hr to 530C, 30mins.; cool at 194C/hr to 360C; at 580C/hr to 40C
14mm dia.: Go at 1000C/hr to 530C, 30mins.; cool at 142C/hr to 360C; at 425C/hr to 40C
16mm dia.: Go at 870C/hr to 530C, 30mins.; cool at 109C/hr to 360C; at 330C/hr to 40C
18mm dia.: Go at 690C/hr to 530C, 30mins.; cool at 86C/hr to 360C; at 260C/hr to 40C
20mm dia.: Go at 560C/hr to 530C, 30mins.; cool at 70C/hr to 360C; at 210C/hr to 40C
22mm dia.: Go at 460C/hr to 530C, 30mins.; cool at 57C/hr to 360C; at 175C/hr to 40C
24mm dia.: Go at 390C/hr to 530C, 30mins.; cool at 48C/hr to 360C; at 145C/hr to 40C
30mm dia.: Go at 245C/hr to 530C, 36mins.; cool at 31C/hr to 360C; at 95C/hr to 40C
38mm dia.: Go at 155C/hr to 530C, 39mins.; cool at 19C/hr to 360C; at 60C/hr to 40C
50mm dia.: Go at 90C/hr to 530C, 46mins.; cool at 12C/hr to 360C; at 36C/hr to 40C


Remember this table is for spheres. For cylinders choose the diameter that is 1.5 times the diameter of your cylinder, and for flat shapes choose the diameter that is 3 times the thickness of your piece.

For other information on annealing of beads go here

Bead Annealing Schedule for Bullseye Beads

This table is based on James Kirwin’s work on bead making with variations. This is for cold beads being heated for a secure anneal.

Up to 10mm dia.: afap to 540C, soak for 30min., cool at 300C/hr to 370C; afap to 40C.
12mm dia.: 1000C/hr to 540C, soak for 30min., cool at 220C/hr to 370C; 600C/hr to 40C
14mm dia.: 1000C/hr to 540C, soak for 30min., cool at 165C/hr to 370C; 480C/hr to 40C
16mm dia.: 1000C/hr to 540C, soak for 30min., cool at 125C/hr to 370C; 375C/hr to 40C
18mm dia.: 900C/hr to 540C, soak for 30min., cool at 100C/hr to 370C; 300C/hr to 40C
20mm dia.: 600C/hr to 540C, soak for 30min., cool at 80C/hr to 370C; 240C/hr to 40C
22mm dia.: 535C/hr to 540C, soak for 30min., cool at 67C/hr to 370C; 200C/hr to 40C
24mm dia.: 450C/hr to 540C, soak for 30min., cool at 55C/hr to 370C; 165C/hr to 40C
30mm dia.: 280C/hr to 540C, soak for 36min., cool at 36C/hr to 370C; 110C/hr to 40C
38mm dia.: 180C/hr to 540C, soak for 36min., cool at 22C/hr to 370C; 66C/hr to 40C
50mm dia.: 100C/hr to 540C, soak for 46min., cool at 13C/hr to 370C; 36C/hr to 40C

Remember this table is for spheres. For cylinders choose the diameter that is 1.5 times the diameter of your cylinder, and for flat shapes choose the diameter that is 3 times the thickness of your piece.

For other information on annealing of beads go here

Bead Annealing Schedule for Borosilicate Beads

This table is based on James Kirwin’s work on bead making with variations. This is for cold beads being heated for a secure anneal.
Up to 10mm dia: afap to 570C, soak 30 mins; anneal at 900C/hr to 500C; afap to 40C
12mm dia: 1000C/hr to 570C, soak 30mins; anneal at 630C/hr to 500C; afap to 40C
14mm dia: 1000C/hr to 570C, soak 30mins; anneal at 468C/hr to 500C; 1000C to 40C
16mm dia: 1000C/hr to 570C, soak 30mins; anneal at 355C/hr to 500C; 1000C to 40C
18mm dia: 1000C/hr to 570C, soak 30mins; anneal at 280C/hr to 500C; 840C to 40C
20mm dia: 1000C/hr to 570C, soak 30mins; anneal at226C/hr to 500C; 675C to 40C
22mm dia: 1000C/hr to 570C, soak 30mins; anneal at 187C/hr to 500C; 560C to 40C
24mm dia: 1000C/hr to 570C, soak 30mins; anneal at 157C/hr to 500C; 470C to 40C
30mm dia: 800C/hr to 570C, soak 36mins; anneal at 100C/hr to 500C; 300C to 40C
38mm dia: 500C/hr to 570C, soak 39mins; anneal at 60C/hr to 500C; 180C to 40C
50mm dia: 285C/hr to 570C, soak 46mins; anneal at 36C/hr to 500C; 100C to 40C


Remember this table is for spheres. For cylinders choose the diameter that is 1.5 times the diameter of your cylinder, and for flat shapes choose the diameter that is 3 times the thickness of your piece.

For other information on annealing of beads go here

Bead Annealing

There are two approaches to annealing beads.

One is to keep them warm as you make them and when the session is finished, anneal all the beads sitting in the kiln. Assuming you are using soda lime glasses rather than borosilicate, you need to have the kiln idling at around 500C. When you have evened the heat throughout the bead, you place it in the kiln. Gloves and other heat protection attire will be needed when you open the door/lid to put the bead on the mandrel into it.

When you have finished the bead making session, you then take the temperature up to about 520C – 540C and soak there for about half an hour – both depend on the type of glass and the thickness and shape. The object is to take the glass up to a temperature where the annealing process can work, but without being so high in temperature that the bead takes up marks from the kiln shelf. More information on the soak and annealing of various shapes, sizes and types are given in later tips.

The second method applies if you have cooled the beads in vermiculite, blanket or other means to cool them slowly and you now have a group of cold beads that you wish to ensure are correctly annealed. You need to start the kiln from cold. Place the beads in the kiln and begin the firing. You need to take the beads up slowly – not more than 300C/hr - to between 520C and 540C, and soak there for about an hour. More information is given in further tips.

In both the cases described you now have the beads with the temperature equalised throughout the bead, and the annealing can begin. The annealing is the controlled cooling below the annealing soak. It is generally safe to take the temperature down at about 80C/hr to 360C. After this point you can speed up the cool down to something like 200C/hr, or if you kiln cools slowly enough, just turn it off and wait for the temperature to come down toward room temperature. This again depends on the type of glass, its size and shape.

Variations according to glass type used, sizes and shapes follow in further tips.
Annealing of Borosilicate Beads
Annealing of Bullseye Beads
Annealing Effetre Beads
Annealing Spectrum 96 Beads
Effect of Shape
Effect of Size
Effect of Variations in Sizes

Removing Beads Stuck to the Mandrel

You may need to hold the mandrel in pliers or in vice grips while holding the bead with a scrubbing pad or jar opening rubber pad.

If this does not work, try soaking the bead and mandrel in water for a few hours. This often is enough to release the bead.

A little more drastic method is to then place the bead and mandrel in the freezer. After being frozen, the bead will most often come off as the water in the bead release thaws.

A final attempt can be made with a pop rivet gun. Insert the mandrel and operate the levers, and it will push the bead off the mandrel.

If all other things fail and you really want your mandrel back, you can warm the bead in the flame and dump it in water. It will break apart with the shock from the water. You can then clean up the mandrel for future use.

Bubble Squeeze

One of the most effective ways of reducing bubbles is to adjust the schedule to allow the top glass to slump down onto the bottom sheet before the glass is soft enough to stick at the edges and trap air. This is commonly referred to as a “bubble squeeze”.

A common method is to insert a soak at the slumping temperature of the glass. You will have found that the glass will take up the form of a simple slump at a lower temperature than more angular forms. Use this lower temperature for 30mins to an hour. You may want to extend that soak time depending on the thickness and complexity of the layup.

Another method is to start the squeeze about 55C above the annealing soak temperature and increase the temperature slowly (27-55C per hour) until you are at the slump temperature.

You can also combine the two above methods by soaking at the slump temperature for 30 minutes to an hour – or longer for thick and complex pieces – after the slow rise.

If your kiln is a side fired one, you need to be especially careful, as the edges of the glass become hotter than the centre.  Two options are available - fire more slowly, or place baffles around the outside of the piece to prevent direct radiation of the heat onto the edge of the glass.

Uneven Heating Effects

If the glass is heated unevenly, it can lead to bubbles between the shelf and the glass, causing large bubbles with thin structures, if not actually burst. This can happen especially with side or side and top firing kilns. The solution to this is to [baffle] the edges of the glass from the direct heat of the elements.

Rapid Firing Effects

Bubbles between the glass and the shelf can be caused by firing too quickly. Fast firings can cause the glass at the edge to soften early and trap air underneath the glass. At fusing temperatures the air blows a bubble through the glass. Solutions for this are described in
[bubbles between the glass and the shelf]

Effect of Combustion Gasses

Some materials will partially or completely combust at fusing temperatures. This gives off gasses which expand and blow big bubbles from under the glass.

Some kiln washes, especially for ceramics, give this problem. If you believe this is the cause, try a different brand of kiln wash or pre-fire the kiln shelf.

Sometimes organic materials have been introduced accidentally or purposely onto the shelf. Either clean the shelf of the old kiln wash, or support the glass on beads, or frit to allow the gasses to burn out before the glass slumps to trap the gasses.

Damaged Shelves

Shelves that have gouges or pits can give rise to bubbles from trapped air. Since air expands much more than glass, it will force its way out through the most plastic material. At fusing temperatures, this is the glass.

To determine if this is the problem, note where the bubbles form in relation to the shelf. If it is always in the same area, there is reason to believe it is related to the shelf. By noting the location you now have an area to inspect for damage.

If you can see no damage, it may be that the shelf is warped, or has a low spot. These can trap air, just as the pits and gouges can. But these are difficult to determine by direct visual inspection. You can place a straight edge on the shelf and look for any gap as you move the edge along the shelf.

Possible solutions are:
- Avoid fusing over the shelf "pits".
- Fill shelf scratches and nicks with kiln-wash.
- Mend the shelf with cement fondue or other refractory materials.
- Fire on fibre paper - this will provide an escape path for the air.
- Flip warped shelves, as the opposite side is likely to be equivalently bowed, but in the opposite direction. The degree of bowing is imperceptible, so will not affect the appearance of the fused result.
-Grind the shelves flat. This can be done commercially with a milling machine, or you can do it manually. Place two shelves with their concave faces together with some sandblast grit between. Rub the shelves together and this will reduce the convex areas on each to flat.

Bubbles Between the Glass and Shelf

Eliminating the bubbles that can occur between your kiln shelf and the glass is important because these are the bubbles that can rise up through your work, blowing a large hole through the entire piece – Australians call these space helmets.

Common causes relate to damaged shelves, firing too rapidly, uneven heating, and combustion gasses.

Bubbles Between Layers – “Flip and Fire”

Another approach to avoiding bubbles is to plan on two firings. This works well for pieces that have multiple layers, with glass or other inclusion in the middle.

For the first firing, put the middle pieces flat on the kiln shelf with one layer of glass on top. Take this to at least a tack fuse, although full fuse temperature is better as there should be no remaining gaps for air to be trapped within. Now turn this over and clean it well. Place this part in the kiln with the middle layer up. Place the top layer over this piece – now right side up – and take to the full fuse. Remember that now you are firing a thicker piece than in the first firing so take the temperature up more slowly.

This is most often applied to three layer pieces, but in principle can be applied to any number of layers.

Using baffles
Supporting the edges
Design elements
Arrangement of glass sheets

Bubbles Between Layers – Baffles

Bubbles are often caused by the edges of the layers sealing before the air can escape from between. This frequently happens in side fired kilns, and top and side fired kilns.

Set up heat baffles around the edges of the sheets being fused to decrease the chance of the edges getting more heat than the centre and trapping air between layers. The baffles can be made from kiln furniture, strips of fibre board, cut pieces of old kiln shelves, etc. - anything that will witstand the top temperature.

Arrangement of glass sheets
Designing for fewer bubbles
Edge supports to reduce bubbles

Bubbles Between Layers - Supports

A common way to reduce bubbles that appear between layers of glass is to support the edges of the glass allowing the middle of the top sheet to sag before the edges so pushing the air in front of the collapsing glass.

You can do this with small beads - especially useful for large glass sheets. These beads are prepared in advance by firing small pieces of glass during a previous fuse firing. The glass draws up into a bead-like structure. You place these beads around the edge of the glass sheets. Use glass that is the same colour as the base glass to avoid strong colour spots in the finished work.

Make sure you advance the temperature slowly enough to allow the glass to slump from the middle outwards, allowing the air to escape. Note that even clear beads will leave a trace, so design your work to take advantage of these faint marks.


Another method is to put small pieces of frit every few centimetres around the edge of the bottom piece of glass. Place the top piece of glass on top of these spacers. When fired, the middle of the top sheet will sag first and the area of contact between the two sheets will spread from the middle pushing the air out as it goes, just as with the beads. But the evidence is not so marked as with the use of beads. However the frit is not so useful on large pieces.

Design factors
Arrangement of layers
Using baffles

Fibre Papers

As there always is concern about the health effects of ceramic fibre paper, the report I prepared for a supplier may be of interest.  It can be found here.

Bubbles Between Layers - Design

Design your work to minimise the possibilities of trapped air.

One way to do this is to use strips. Lay thin strips of glass on edge and fuse these together, instead of layers stacked on each other.

Another is to design work with many smaller pieces, rather than large ones. These create more pathways for air to escape.

Some advocate cutting the bottom layer in several strips to allow the air exit spaces from between the glass layers.

Note that all these methods leave marks of where the edges of the cut glass was, so they need to be planned to fit with the design.

In general terms, you need to think about how the air will move out of the piece. Are there places where there is no escape for the air? Allow a channel for the air to move from the centre to the outside.

Glass arrangement considerations
Supports
Using baffles