Glue and glass

[garishglobes]

I have a god-daughter who would, I just know (she might not know it, but I do ) love a mug with an eyeball at the bottom. It is something I've been meaning to do for ages but since I can't make the mugs and couldn't find the right kind of boro mug to work, it got sidelined.
Thinking about it again under the pressure of finding a Christmas present, I'm wondering if it would be possible to just glue the eyeball onto the bottom of the mug rather than melt it. The glue would need to be strong and withstand heat, I suppose. Does such a glue exist??

[Trudi]

Top of my head I would suggest 2 part epoxy - but I've never tried it, and I guess I'd also be concerned that it's being used in something that is in contact with "food"

found this data sheet online, not sure if it helps??

[★★Terri★★]

Just a thought - might not work - but couldn't you fuse it in the kiln?

I know that people often melt/fuse frit onto ceramics - bowls/pendants etc.  But would it tack fuse to the glaze inside the mug?

[julieHB]

I mostly use Araldite Super strong Ceramic & Glass for glass cabs etc. It withstands heat well. However, it says in the small print on the back to not use it to repair or make items that will contain food or drink..... sorry! I expect this would be the same for other epoxy glues as well, then.

@Terri - the firing temperature for tack fusing is higher than that for slumping, so you'd most likely end up with a very interesting looking mug... 

[garishglobes]

hmmm, yes, the food/drink thing is going to cause extra problems. Back to the drawing board, then!
The melting temp for boro is also much higher than soft glass, so fusing could be interesting from that angle too. And I'm not absolutely sure that putting a glob of soft glass in between two layers of boro to stick them together because it'll melt first is a sensible thing to do 

[Ian Pearson]

Interesting idea and if I get time will have a go but may put eye on outside of base then concave centre of base so that it sits OK. Think I have a boro mug or can make one easy.

Ian

[garishglobes]

Ah, now there's a thought... true lateral thinking there, to curve the base in. I wonder if it'd work with one of those glass teamug thingies, except that they probably have writing.

One thing I do know is that I can't make a boro mug easy! 

[Hamilton Taylor]

food-grade silicone sealant?

[julieHB]

That's not a bad idea, Sean! You get a lot of interesting hits if you google food safe glue 

[dangerousbead]

Nothing clever to add other than when I worked at the eye hospital, I found a glass eye at the back of a cupboard, nicked it and put it in my brother's pint. The result was extremely satisfying. :-)

[garishglobes]

  That's exactly why I want to do this 

[Steampunkglass]

Nothing clever to add other than when I worked at the eye hospital, I found a glass eye at the back of a cupboard, nicked it and put it in my brother's pint. The result was extremely satisfying. :-)

I think fusing with boro is out - I was reading an article about it and although it can be done it's still quite experimental and there's problems with the surface turning to powder!  What about E6000 glue, that seems to like heat to help it to set, plus it's silicone based so might be a bit safer than epoxy?

Following on with a very mad thought inspired by the eyeball-in-the-beer...... is the eye hollow and would float? Put a loop on the back and then fix a small bit of chain/thread to the bottom of the cup which you might even be able to bolt to it by drilling out a ceramic mug with a tile drill bit?

[garishglobes]

...remembering of course to plug the hole again...

now that is a really neat idea and actually, a hollow eye is a possibility 

[sarah t]

i have a mug with a frog in the bottom ...but its all pottery i think its the mixed media thats a problem ......

does it have to be three d ? those companies that print onto mugs etc possibly put a picture inside ?

could you make it and keep in on the mandrel (after cleaning !) and wedge the eyeball in the bottom so it swings ?...  or drill holes as mentioned before and  then you could then seal it on the outside

[sparrow]

hmmm.....original gorilla glue, by the looks of it?

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