SC2 schedule for fused frit pendants

[theseahorse]

Having just run my new kiln for the first couple of times, I'd really love to have a try at fusing glass in it. I'd like to fully fuse some coarse Bullseye frit COE 90 in a pendant mould as in this tutorial:

http://www.frit-happens.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7488.0

However, the schedule recommended is:
Slowly ramp to 1450. Hold for 12 to 15 mins, then anneal at 1050-1100 degrees for 30 to 40 mins. I think this is degrees C (although I can't find the units in the article), but my SC2 only goes to a max temp of 1093 degrees C, I think.

Has anyone done this in an SC2 and would you be happy to share a schedule with me to try as a starting point? I assume I would need to cool it down slowly too, but the tutorial doesn't mention this.

Many thanks for your help

All the best

Sam

[dinah46]

What you are looking at are Fahrenheit not celsius
This is a really good site for converting your temperature
http://www.warmglass.com/phpBB/index.php  as it gives the rate conversion as well as the temp conversion

Also if you look at this link
http://www.warmglass.com/basic.htm

you can find a really good free tutorial for fusing which is definitely worth a read through and will give you a lot of very useful information

[Soozintheshed]

I did the frit in a mold thing, but it came out - crunchy, if you see what I mean?

[dinah46]

Yeah - me too Sooz   I think in order to avoid lots of bubbles in frit mold cabs you need really fine frit, which I didn't have so was using medium stuff.

Also I've read that they often need firing twice after filling up with more frit as the frit settles as it's melting. I think I read that on the site where I bought the moulds. I rejected it all as too much faff and put it down to experience , it's more fun making beads anyway

[sea-thistle]

Yes you do need fine frit, I have been there, done that got the tee-shirt! lol 

[theseahorse]

Thanks Diane, Sooz and sea-thistle for your input,

It sounds like course frit is probably a no go then. If I have a go, I'll make sure I expect a disaster, so I won't be disappointed.

Thanks Diane for the fusing links and for the temp conversion. They will be really helpful.

To be honest, I am desparate to make beads, but I need to finish setting up my workspace with correct ventilation etc, so though it would be good to learn fusing in the meantime. It sounds like fusing can be quite tricky - I'm sure it would be good to go on a course. I was lampworking outside, but its a bit cold.

All the best

Sam

[sea-thistle]

hi Sam! my name is Karin ! I don't post vey often on here. I am in the process of setting up my own beadmaking studio as well and still got the venitlation to do! It will be March before I get started!! I've been fusing glass, around 5 years, my kiln is an SC2 mine only has the usual door, no bead door or window! so it will be a new experience for me annealing in it!!

[Zeldazog]

It sounds like course frit is probably a no go then. If I have a go, I'll make sure I expect a disaster, so I won't be disappointed.
Sam

You can use coarse frit (or you can use a medium frit too and tack fuse it rather than fully melt it) to get a very textured effect - which can be lovely.

Or why not try a little bit of flat fusing - just some sheet glass, you don't even need a mould for that (although a cutter is useful in that case!)

[theseahorse]

Thanks everyone for all your kind help. Well I braved it yesterday and had my first go. In the end, I adapted a schedule I found in my friend's book (Introduction to glass fusing by Petra Kaiser). I set it to fuse at 805 degrees C for 13 mins. I think this temp is a little higher than the temp recommended in the tutorial on here, but in view of the feedback suggesting that coarse frit might end up textured or with bubbles in it, I thought I'd go for this to try and melt the glass a bit more. The book said that you should observe at this point, I think to determine when it has fully fused. However, I left my OH babysitting the kiln, so I just went for a nominal 13mins as this was somewhere between the 10 and 15mins recommended. What happens if you overfuse glass? Does it go black?

Anyway, considering I was pretty clueless, I'm quite pleased with this piece (although I realise it does not look v good to you experts ) I'm not sure its wearable though.


The main problem with the other pieces was that they came out a bit dark. I used violet striker and cranberry pink transparent, but they seem to be a bit dense. I guess I may need to add some transparent next time I use these colours. As you can see, there are a few sharp edges so I might try and firepolish them. Probably a stupid question, but could they be flame polished with a torch or are they too big to heat and would crack? I have contemplated trying to make a coaster by sticking them on a flat piece of glass and hoping that this would add a flower design as the dark ones are pretty dull as they stand.


Dawn, thanks for your suggestion about flat fusing. This is definitely next on my list to try on the fusing front. I just need to buy a decent cutter and do most people wear cutting gloves?

Thanks again for all the help and advice.

All the best

Sam

[Zeldazog]

Sam,

Personally I don't very often use gloves, although sometimes I might have a glove on my right hand whilst I cut with the left to avoid finger prints (any traces of fingerprints you leave on your glass will show up a flat fuse).  I find them a bit of a hinderance to be honest, but I think I have become immune to glass splinters!

I can't tell how thick your pieces are, but I am guessing they are a few milimetres thick - if you fuse them to a flat piece of glass, one of two things will possibly happen.

Tack fusing, or low full fusing, and they will be raised from the surface.

This is likely to happen anyway, but if you take them to a high full fuse (Bullseye say 815 for full fuse I think, I do mine at 804 - even that seems to overfire slightly sometimes, depending on the glass colours) - the glass will try and be 6mm thick - so if you fuse to a square, that square is likely to distort at the edges as the glass attempts to spread.

Not sure if that makes sense - if not, I think there's a Bullseye technotes sheet that kinda explains it.

A sickle stone might get rid of the needling (that's what the sharp edges look like to me) - or even a bit of wet and dry is enough sometimes.  I can't answer as to whether you could flame polish or not, but you could fire polish back in your kiln.

The blue one is pretty - the others that you say are too dark, what do they look like on the reverse side (violet striker does go rather dark, I have been caught out with that one in a student pack before, ooops) - you could always flip them over and re-fire to a lower temperature?  Do you have any opaque frits?  You could always add a lighter opaque frit on top if you feel they're too dense?

Many Bullseye colours will refire several times (some colours are prone to devitrification though - so make sure they're very clean).

And you could always sandblast or etch......

[Soozintheshed]

They are really cute.

I don't use a glove either, I chop and go 

[theseahorse]

Dawn,
Thank you so much for your suggestions and advice. I hadn't thought of turning them over and refusing them on the other side. Two of the dark ones are opaque pink on the back - that's the only opaque frit I have (in the same COE). I also hadn't thought of adding some opaque frit to the top of them and refusing. I might experiment later in the week. I'll try and remember to post any developments.

Interesting to know, Dawn and Sooz, that you don't wear cutting gloves. I'm a bit accident-prone  so don't know whether I should get some to be on the safe side.

Thanks again

Sam

[sea-thistle]

Sam I wear latex or those thin plastic equivalent gloves, but it's only because I get psoriasis, and it is triggered by the cutting fluid in the cutter. I didn't use gloves before that. Also you can wear these gloves when you are putting pieces of glass together to fuse, so you do not get marks onto your glass! I think what you have made is very good! it's a question of experimenting and sometimes you can get amazing results by accident!!lol

[Soozintheshed]

I have to say (touching wood) I have not cut myself yet, I have had the odd glass splinter that stings a bit, but thats about it.

[Pat from Canvey]

I don't use either cutting fluid or gloves. If you cut at 90 degrees to the glass surface, the fracture will be clean with no shards. That way, the glass is easy to handle. I've only ever had one bad cut in about 20 years of cutting glass. That was because I used my hands instead of running pliers to break apart a larger sheet. One inch scar on top of thumb to prove it. If you use cutting fluid, you only have to clean the glass afterwards which takes up more time. Fingerprints can be removed by a quick swipe of a kitchen paper towel and meths.
Here's a fused piece I did some years ago,