We made casts on days 2-5 and here are my 4 with the sand brushed off and the glass washed. I haven't done any coldworking on them yet. I couldn't get my head around using Bullseye glass and letting bits cool down so most of my figures either cracked or looked atrocious as you can see from the inclusions in the casts. Now that I'm home in the quiet and calm, I hope to do better. I didn't like the effect that using powders produced so used only a little in one of the casts to create a bit like sky.
(http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/22536955/377221285.jpg)
This was meant to be a little like seaweed and the copper inclusion just to see how it looked.
(http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/22536955/377221303.jpg)
This was a turtle and a fish, both looking a bit melted and swimming down rather than accross the piece.
(http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/22536955/377221321.jpg)
Two trees and a rather odd figure with a little powder used to make sky. We made trees to start using clear bridges accross pieces to hold them still while working on other parts. Needless to say, my bridges kept making my trees fall apart and my joints were cold so kept cracking again. I gave up on using bridges but think I learned enough to be able to use them successfully in the future.
Finally,(http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/22536955/377221333.jpg) was meant to be my signature piece but by that time I'd burnt my finger quite badly so just stuck with my practice pieces for making very secure joins in glass. The pieces were impressed in the sand first of all then carefully taken out and put into the kiln to warm. After the first pour of glass, they were replaced asymetrically with another pour put on top. Simple but I like the effect. Some people did much more intricate pieces but I tend to prefer simple.
Oooh, Pat, you picked them up, didn't you? I'm so excited, they look great. Can't wait for postie now!
They look great Pat. I hope your finger is feeling better now.
I just had a call from liquid glass and I'm going to pick up my casts tomorrow evening. My final cast has a crack on the mermaid :( but I'm still excited about seeing them.
This is my final piece whilst still red hot.
(http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff149/samc_photo/DSCF7504a-1.jpg)
I just had a call, too - my final piece is fine, but my skyscrapers cracked - still, they're sending it on :)
Ohhhh - they do look wonderful all together Pat with the light shining through!
Everyone's final pieces were amazing, and Sam your mermaid and fish looked fantastic HOT so I am eager to see how they look all cleaned up and sparkly.
Please post photos of all of your finished pieces everyone!
I have just had THE PHONE CALL too - how bloomin exciting!!!!
I have left my remaining murrini bundles and hopefully Tom will be pulling them this or next week, and I'll go down to pick everything up when they're done.
Oh dear, I'm in the cracking pile too, round the marble. The wierd thing is, as far as they can tell the piece I did with the wasps on Weds. is fine, its just the final piece with the fish that has cracked - and that's the one we took extra care heating the marble on. :-\
Still looking forward to seeing them though :)
Sam, I am sorry to hear about your mermaid - that was such a lovely cast.
Can't think why the skyscrapers cracked, they didn't have any big bits in them, did they? I hope your final piece was ok, Sabine.
I wonder if all of the cracking that happened with our final pieces had anything to do with the new but wetter sand? What a terrible shame. We all spent soooooo long on the last pieces too. :'( I hope that they are not very noticeable...
Not sure if it was the sand as I dried mine off a bit before making the mould and my test mermaid piece also cracked, unfortunately only after I had cast the final one.
Would be nice to know why especially as several of us had the same problem.
I have absolutely no idea how you made these but they look amazing.
I like your first one best Pat. It reminds me of the gymnastics on tv when they throw those ribbons on a stick about.
The mermaid and little fish is amazing.
All the cracking incidents must be very disappointing.
Sally
x
Wowsers, they are amazing, I can only imagine how much fun you had!
Amazing - can't wait to see the rest ;D
I talked to Charlotte about the cracking - she says mine looks like temperature cracking (I guess the piece overall was huge, but individual skyscrapers were quite thin, so we think they might have cooled quicker than we'd thought...but she said the others look like incompatibility cracks......tbh, I liked my hand best, so I really, really hope it comes out ;D ;D ;D
So do I Sabine...fingers crossed for you. I am gutted for those who had cracks in their work as it was such a pleasure watching everyone make their pieces.
WOW, they look fantastic (& huge!), looks like you guys had a lot of fun - apart from the burns of course :)
Very, very impressed :D
Yes, they are look fantastic - what a wonderful course and great achievements! You must have a show and tell of all the finished work on here!
I'll try and get hold of a camera later - mine just turned up. They are heavy!
It is odd, I put a marble in each but the first marble (which we took less care with, thermal crack-wise) seems to have stayed fine. The second, which we pre-heated much more carefully, has cracked all over the place. I think it was in one piece when it left Liquid Glass, but is now in two plus assorted shards. >:( That one does look like incompatibility, the cracks are going off all over the place.... I am a bit upset, I really liked the way the fishes had turned out. Ah, well!
I am so sorry Emma.
Is there any way of cold working it into a two sectioned piece? Or refusing it together? I had what I thought was an incompatiblity in one of my mosaic canes, but I have fused sections back together, and so far, so good. I know that it is on a far different scale though.
Was it all bullseye glass you guys were using on this course? I've done sand casting before but with philips soda as the furnace batch.
Yes, it was Bullseye in the furnace, and using Bullseye rods and powders.
Oh Emma, what a bummer!!! You worked so hard on these! :'( So did the pear one survive, then? I guess that's at least something :-\
I guess that means mine will be at the sorting office - fingers crossed I can pick it up tomorrow morning (and then not look at it until tomorrow after work - eek!
Yes, the pear survived - so far and fingers crossed!
I was upset because the fish had turned out exactly as I'd hoped, but there's no chance of saving it - the cracks go at all angles and into the unbroken bits :-\
Charlotte, I read your 'refusing' wrong and wondered if I could send it back and ask for a proper one!! ;D ;D
QuoteCharlotte, I read your 'refusing' wrong and wondered if I could send it back and ask for a proper one!!
;D
"Yeah, that one, yes, that's the one, the one that looks like it was done by Julie Anne Denton, yup, that's mine, oh yes it is" ;D ;D "I'll have that one - errr....*my* one!"
;D ;D "wot do you mean, that she-devil doesn't look like a fish...." ;D ;D
Here are my two survivors :)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2531/4078813456_584a00733c.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3480/4078824590_292a9d6c4e.jpg)
Your flaming lady looks FANTASTIC!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
And so does your hand - you must be so chuffed!
The powders worked really well, and I like the impromptu squiggle by her feet - she looks like a genie!
Oh, I'm so glad the flaming lady survived! She looks just as beautiful cooled as she did while being cast. Congrats!! ;D ;D ;D
That cast looks great and I can see the impression of the leaf on the hand.
I was disappointed with my casts especially the final one :( but it was a great week and I learnt loads. Will show photos when I get home.
Aw, I love Sand-casting, I must go and have another go (off to e-mail now).
WOW, WOW, WOW - again!
Just looking at all these wonderful objects makes me realise just how much I LOVE glass! ;D
Sabine, I've just had another look at the hand, you must be really chuffed. :)
I'd love to see pics of the mermaid, even in pieces - and Charlotte's trees.
Sand casting was fun, would love to have another go.
I would love to see everyone's pieces too...all of them - it would be great to have a record of them all together.
I haven't got my pieces back yet. Tom is going to pull my murrini bundles, so I'll go and pick them all up together. I WILL post photos when I get my trees and tin cans back!
Well, here are mine:
(http://www.theflyingbead.co.uk/handmade/castfish.jpg)
(http://www.theflyingbead.co.uk/handmade/castpear.jpg)
I'm glad I chose the eye shape, because in two halves, this cast looks like waves :D
Wow.....and WOW!
I am so impressed with you, ladies! Great, great, pieces and so beyond a bead maker's experience! Wonderful!
You know what, Emma - I know it was meant to be an eye, but the waves work, too......Sydney Opera House silhouette, methinks ;D I really like them both!
Wow! These are all amazing, I love the ice look of the blocks, fantastic work - do you put pieces in the sand impression and heat up? I've done metal casting in sand but not glass, this is so beautiful :)
I'd love to do more sand-casting! :) You make a sand impression (making the edges nice and smooth) then add powders, flamework, copper etc... either on the sand, or after some glass has been poured in (you need to have annealed pieces ready-heated in a kiln to place between layers of molten glass) or both. It usually takes a couple of pours of glass to fill the mould (at least!!) It is definitely a very cool thing to do.
It's a real shame the eye shape cracked (I love the blue & white "stringer things" - just how do you do that?!) but I think the shapes have HUGE design potential - I'm imagining all sorts of paperweights, trophies and garden ornaments (I really must start taking my medication again!) ;D ;D ;D
How big is the other shape, could we be talking stepping stone size?
I really do think they look fantastic - brilliant!
Wow, looking at the flickr pictures was amazing so it's so cool to see the end results!
I have picked up my sandcasts, and when the sun EVENTUALLY came out Ben took some pictures:
(http://www.theflyingbedstead.com/Auction/BigBangBeads/071209/_MG_6214.jpg)
(http://www.theflyingbedstead.com/Auction/BigBangBeads/071209/_MG_6220.jpg)
(http://www.theflyingbedstead.com/Auction/BigBangBeads/071209/_MG_6240.jpg)
(http://www.theflyingbedstead.com/Auction/BigBangBeads/071209/_MG_6244.jpg)
(http://www.theflyingbedstead.com/Auction/BigBangBeads/071209/_MG_6252.jpg)
I am really pleased with the main cast of the tree - I love the way the leaves interact with each other when the piece is moved (difficult to explain!).
One of my test pieces has cracked. It seems to be around the ivory figure. The other tin-can shaped piece poured in the same sand box (but without the figure) is fine.
oooooh, Charlotte....those are stunning, amazing and just plain gorgeous!!
coincidentally, I've been having an email discussion with Julie today about the cracking and she asked if anyone elses apart from mine and Sam's did - I knew Sabine's skyscrapers had, but you should mention the figure to her.
I think she was worried because she too had a couple of cracks and was trying to work out why, given that she'd used the glass before and it shouldn't have caused problems. Last I heard she had figured out a hypothesis, so it would be interesting to know if your figure fitted in with it.
Thanks Emma! :-*
I've already sent Julie an email with pictures, so it will be interesting to see what she thinks of the cracking issue. I didn't know that she had experienced them too. I am not unhappy with my test piece cracking, as it was a test, but I feel for you and Sam - your main pieces had so much work and love put into them.
I am contemplating making a mould for my test piece and bringing it back up to slumping temperature to try to mend those cracks...and then see what happens.
Ooooh, they're fab, Charlotte, no wonder you're chuffed ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
I love your final piece Charlotte and think it must look even better close up as I know how detailed the leaves were. In fact I like all of them, the mesh has worked so well. Do let us know if you have any luck healing the cracks, if you can I guess it would rule out incompatibility.
I have not taken a photo of mine yet but also got an email from Julie so I better get it done tomorrow. It would be good to know why this happened as I would love to have another go at casting (will chant less is more until it sinks in next time). I would probably learn more in the long run from having the cracking problem than if all had gone to plan. And I must say the week was so great that the lack of a kick ass final piece does not bother me at all ;D
QuoteAnd I must say the week was so great that the lack of a kick ass final piece does not bother me at al
Couldn't agree more! :D I learnt such a lot, it really wasn't a big issue :)
I've already voiced my thoughts about the cracks to Charlotte in an email as I didn't want to cause controversy on the board. In a nutshell, the cracks seem to develop where there is a larger concentration of the Bullseye glass in the caste. Glassworks Services Ltd in their Batch Specification Comparison Chart for Philips casting pellets gives the following
Philips Gaffer 3300 (if that is what was used) 89.7 calculated COE
96.0 measured COE
None of the other casting pellets in the chart have a COE nearer to Bullseye at 90 COE
So pleased that your final piece came out so well Charlotte. The cracks in two of my pieces are about 2 inches long and are at places where there is a thicker concentration of Bullseye glass. They have not spread outwards towards the edges of the pieces.
I prefer the second picture of your final piece because the bird shows up more but must admit a preference for the murrini one as I feel that the symbolism of the final piece will be lost on some people. How did the piece with the silver torchon leaves come out. I did a bit of lace making years ago and still have my stuff around in the bedroom. Glass took over and I didn't pursue the lace making but a friend still does.
My main cast has the silver lace in, and the non-figurative tin-can piece has a single plique-a-jour (in green) silver lace leaf. In the main cast, the silver melted into little silver balls where the wire crossed, so you can just make out the leaf shapes and lace pattern (underneath the central tree). In the sunlight the silver glints away, but you or the piece need to move to be able to see it!
I am not sure about the cracking issue...the Bullseye murrini chunks in my square cast have more mass than my ivory figure, and yet that piece is ok so far. The cracks in the ivory figure piece started out quite small, but they have grown enormously since I got it home, and have spread to the edges. I know that there was a powercut during the annealing cycle for these pieces. I suppose that it could be an incompatability with only some of the Bullseye colours and the Phillips casting pellets? That's why I want to remelt my test, to see what happens!
At long last I got around to taking some photos of my pieces.
This is the only one that did not crack although it has fairly large figures in it.
(http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff149/samc_photo/DSCF77131-1-1.jpg)
This one didn't work in many ways and although it has some cracks I think it was my errors that caused them. The cracks do not stem from the larger inserts but the flower bits on the base of the cast.
(http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff149/samc_photo/DSCF77171-1.jpg)
farting mermaids
(http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff149/samc_photo/DSCF77151-1.jpg)
and my final piece that has cracked badly
(http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff149/samc_photo/DSCF77201-1.jpg)
I am so glad I came back to these pages... there is so much that I haven't seen... amazing work ladies.. really wonderous..
Farting Mermaids.......... oh yesssssssssssss ;D ;D ;D
So good to see all of the photos, some stunning work there ladies & Sam I love the farting mermaids ;D
Oh Sam - they are stunning and beautiful...all of them! Whilst I was just making my test pieces, yours were properly composed, finished works of art!
I'll have a play and see how I go with remelting my torso piece. It is interesting that your pieces with the ivory figures have cracked too...but out of all of your figures that I would have worried about, the aventurine one is fine! My bundles of mosaic cane which have aventurine glass in have de-laminated. I spent the weekend coaxing them back together with 700 degrees C!
I love the way the seaweed is flowing in your final piece Sam and the fish are ace. Hopefully the cracks will not develop any further.
They are all absolutely beautiful, I really like the top one with the figures - but that final piece was really extra-special.
It is a real shame that it cracked, particularly when so much thought had gone into it. Again though, there seems to be a crack right up the side where no thick inserts were...
Quote from: garishglobes on December 09, 2009, 10:11:53 AMthere seems to be a crack right up the side where no thick inserts were...
The very long crack on the left side goes through all the bubbles. The bubbles were inserts as I made clear hollow balls so I could place the bubbles where I wanted them. Even the pebbles have cracks around them and they were not very big. Everything I inserted except the fish and seaweed has cracked on that cast.
Ohhhh, yes.... I'd completely forgotten you did the bubbles that way!
This cracking thing is a bit wierd, the marble I put in the second cast I did with the pear was just as big as the one for the final piece, and yet that hasn't cracked at all.... and as you say, those pebbles don't look that big, relatively.
I wonder if it has something to do with the thickness of the cast.
What lovely slabs of glass, I enjoyed looking at all your work girlies!
I haven't read all the posts but I see that your worried about the cracking. If its not the coe miss match then it could be that the annealing was not done properly. Thick pieces take hours and hours to anneal and cool. Could they not of done the firing properly?
Anyway. Lovely stuff all.
Denise
Really, really beautiful (I especially love the tree one - love the roses). I hope you can figure out the cracking issues, this looks like a technique you can have an awful lot of fun with :) Truly beautiful!
I love the farting mermaids - brilliant ;D The compositon of the final piece is really lovely too.