Bit of advice please

[Fired Silver]

Hey guys

I want to make a couple of fused pieces for lucy for christmas - bit of art for the wall, or name plaque for door, something like that.

I've only made cab size pieces up to now, so before I cut up all my glass, is there anything extra I should know about fusing a bigger piece?

I use the sc2 fusing schedule from here, slightly adjusted for my kiln.

B
xx

[Zeldazog]

Depending on size, thickness, etc, you might want to ramp a bit slower than for jewellery size pieces (depends what it was at in the first place and what size you're going to)

You might need a slightly longer soak at process (top temperature) depending on what effect you are after, and if I am doing larger pieces, I do a longer hold at the anneal soak stage as well, all of these help to even out the temperatures on the piece (but again, depends on your normal schedule and what size you're going to)

Design wise, you have more chance of bubbles if you have a larger piece (the edges will soften and close together before the middle, so gasses cannot always escape) than with a smaller piece, again, depends on your design - I also stick in a long bubble soak (after the first ramp, when you speed up the second ramp to process temperature) at this stage with larger sheets.

I *DO* tend to fire conservatively myself, simply cos I cannot be bothered keep changing the firing schedule all the time.


Same rules apply for larger pieces, as smaller - glass likes to be approx 6mm thick, so if you stack more thickness towards the edges of a larger piece, you might get some deforming of the edges, if that makes sense!

Other than that, Becci, it's all the same - things show up more on larger pieces, so make sure you keep everything nice and clean, a smidge of a finger print is less noticeable on a small pendant than a larger plate....

[Fired Silver]

Thanks Dawn.

My kiln isn't massive, so I'm limited!!  I aspire for a big kiln!!

My shelf is about 18cm square.  I'd like to make one piece that is say 18 x 9

I get what you're saying about the 6mm depth.  I can't remember my exact program off the top of my head, but how long would you do the bubble soak for?  I think my hold time at the anneal soak stage is 30 mins - again how long would you hold for?

B
xx

[Zeldazog]

30 minutes anneal soak should be plenty I would think at that size Becci - that's what I would usually do. 

As for bubble soak, I usually do mine for about 30 minutes on a 20 cm square plate - sometimes 45 minutes if I am doing a piece that I think might be prone to bubbles.

[Hotglass28]

I like to use thicker glass.  3 mm base usually. Just echoing on the "glass like to be 6mm" tip

I also like to spend a bit more and get the best clear to avoid bubbles as much a poss, if I'm capping of course.

HTH

Denise

[Dennis Brady]

Hey guys

I want to make a couple of fused pieces for lucy for christmas - bit of art for the wall, or name plaque for door, something like that.

I've only made cab size pieces up to now, so before I cut up all my glass, is there anything extra I should know about fusing a bigger piece?

I use the sc2 fusing schedule from here, slightly adjusted for my kiln.

B
xx

There are numerous tutorials here that will explain everything:
http://www.glasscampus.com

I especially recommend "Kilnforming Kindergarten".

[Fired Silver]

Thanks Dawn and Denise

B
xx

[Warm Glass UK]

This might help as well as a starting point for bigger pieces - hope so!

http://www.warm-glass.co.uk/documents/Firing%20Schedules.pdf

Pippa