Tea Light Holders?????

[Bluebell]

Hi everyone

Can anyone help me please???   I mainly make fused glass jewellery (for women), but I want to make some Christmas gifts for my male friends who would never consider male jewellery!

I was thinking of making something like fused glass tea light holders with a sprinkling of dichro. 

I've seen some images on the net and I imagine that you have to place a square of prepared glass on top of some cylindrical object (tall enough) in the kiln and the glass will slump to make the shape????

I've never slumped glass or done anything other than pendants so I've a bit nervous of wasting my materials by getting it wrong.

Can anyone point me to a link (a tutorial) or know of what to do in easy instructions?

Any advice would be much appreciate!!!


Thanks x

[Zeldazog]

Try Brad Walker's Warm Tips, see if there's a schedule in there.

Otherwise try googling for Bullseye Tip sheets, they tell you all about slumping, and I think you'll find Dennis Brady recently posted a schedule for a hankerchief vase in a thread started by Sarah999, which I think might be the kiln doctor section of the board.

Just make sure if you use Dennis' schedule, you know whether you're on fahrenheit of celsius.....

[Dennis Brady]

Hi everyone

Can anyone help me please???   I mainly make fused glass jewellery (for women), but I want to make some Christmas gifts for my male friends who would never consider male jewellery!

I was thinking of making something like fused glass tea light holders with a sprinkling of dichro. 

I've seen some images on the net and I imagine that you have to place a square of prepared glass on top of some cylindrical object (tall enough) in the kiln and the glass will slump to make the shape?

I've never slumped glass or done anything other than pendants so I've a bit nervous of wasting my materials by getting it wrong.

Can anyone point me to a link (a tutorial) or know of what to do in easy instructions?

Any advice would be much appreciate!!!


Thanks x

Tea light holders and hankerchief vases are a terrific way to learn basic kilnforming.  Start with a few experimental firings using cheap glass.  I suggest you first try single layer (non-fused) art glass.

1.  Cut to the desired size.

2.  Sand or grind the edges.  The edge finish that goes in the kiln will be the same edge finish that comes out.

3.  Use a stainless steel form that has been thoroughly kiln washed with at least 3 coats.  It is possible to use a ceramic mold but needlessly risky.  They frequently get stuck. 

4.  Place the glass centered on top of the mold.  A handy trick is to mark a square with a Sharpie (the ink will burn off) at the center of the glass to help you centre the glass on the mold.  If you can't see the mold through the glass, holding a flashlight beneath the glass helps.

5.  For tea lights, fire to the following schedule (all temps F and for COE 96 glass - for COE 90 add 25F to top temperature & for clear float at 50F)

- 500 dph to 1000F hold 20
- 850 dph to 1250F hold 15
- FAP to 960F hold 30
- 500 dph to 300F OFF

For glass that has been fused before draping, it isn't necessary to preprepare the edges.  Use the same schedule but reduce ramp speed in 1st and 4th segment to 400dph.

You will discover that transparent glass (regardless of what kind) responds to heat quicker then opal - so you may have to use a longer hold for opal glass in the 2nd segment.

There's a number of tutorials and video clips on Glass Campus you'll find helpful.  I especially recommend "Kilnforming Kindergarten".
http://www.glasscampus.com

Have fun.

Dennis

[Bluebell]

Thanks Dennis - just what I needed!

[Bluebell]

Hi

I've never run a firing schedule in my kiln other than "Auto" as I have a Hotstart Pro.  So, I've been trying to read the manual and going by your advice as well. 

I'm still a bit confused as to programming the kiln.

You suggest

- 500 dph to 1000F hold 20
- 850 dph to 1250F hold 15
- FAP to 960F hold 30
- 500 dph to 300F OFF

and as I will be using COE 90 should this now read:-

- 500 dph to 1025F hold 20
- 850 dph to 1275F hold 15
- FAP to 985F hold 30
- 500 dph to 325F OFF

Also I remember you saying that FAP stands for "Fast As Possible" but I'm no idea how to do that.  I don't want to open the kiln as it is a top loader and I have read that it could break the heating element in the lid.

So, is there a recommended rate I could program in.

Anyone else done handkerchief tealights in a Hotstart?

BTW, I've ordered circular shelf props to do the job (as recommended by the supplier).

Also, should I fuse my glass first to get it to the desired thickness before I slump it?

[Zeldazog]

Also I remember you saying that FAP stands for "Fast As Possible" but I'm no idea how to do that.  I don't want to open the kiln as it is a top loader and I have read that it could break the heating element in the lid.


Also, should I fuse my glass first to get it to the desired thickness before I slump it?

Yes, if you want it to be 6mm thick and haven't got thickness to hand.  For fusing your glass first, as a full fuse is around 800C (1475deg F, ish)  so a lot hotter than your slump temperature.  If you do a full fuse of two layers first, your edges will be nicely rounded, although I agree with Dennis to try a piece of cheap glass first if you've never programmed your kiln before.

I don't know what size of glass and thickness you're planning on using, and how the recommended program compares in Centigrade, but its recommended to slow firing down for any subsequent firings after the first so you might want to bear this in mind.  Again, I know Dennis has posted information about this, and how much you should slow down, etc (also the Bullseye tip sheets tell you about the slowing down second and third firings)

AFAP - to do fast as possible, when you're programming in the rate, just keep the up button pressed - as fast as possible on a Hotstart is rate 9999 - although I rarely program that actual rate in as I doubt very much that the kiln can heat up that fast!

[Bluebell]

Thanks

I've still got so many questions.  It seems that any new piece of advice is making me think a bit more and it's so frustrating being a beginner!

I don't know what size of glass and thickness you're planning on using, and how the recommended program compares in Centigrade, but its recommended to slow firing down for any subsequent firings after the first so you might want to bear this in mind.

I'll probably fuse 2 x 3mm sheets about 6" square first - with pieces of dichro in the corners.  I do hope the first fusing holds it shape!

When you say "slow firing down" could you tell me by how much? when? which part of the program?

It's just that I really don't know how to program and I need a lot of guidance at this stage.  Like everything else I've learned in glass art........once I'm shown what to do - I'm off and I've had a lot of success - thanks to this forum of course!!

Dennis suggested a few months ago to get to know my kiln and I guess this is me taking the plunge!

[Zeldazog]

Thanks

I've still got so many questions.  It seems that any new piece of advice is making me think a bit more and it's so frustrating being a beginner!

I don't know what size of glass and thickness you're planning on using, and how the recommended program compares in Centigrade, but its recommended to slow firing down for any subsequent firings after the first so you might want to bear this in mind.

I'll probably fuse 2 x 3mm sheets about 6" square first - with pieces of dichro in the corners.  I do hope the first fusing holds it shape!

When you say "slow firing down" could you tell me by how much? when? which part of the program?

Don't know to be honest - I tend to fire conservatively, rate wise, in the first place, as I run my firing overnight, so production time isn't an issue, and going slower on first ramp doesn't do any harm.  So rather than keep reprogramming every time I flip from pendants to plates, to second or third firings, I just go slow enough to cover the "worst case scenario"

So, I tend to fire at 266 DPH (Centigrade) although if its a third firing on a full size plate, then I will probably slow to 167 ish to be on the safe side.

Like I said, Dennis has posted about this recently, with the recommendations, and read all the Bullseye Tip sheets, they're really helpful:

http://www.bullseyeglass.com/education/#techbook

The part of the program that needs to be slowed down is the ramp up to the first hold.  This is when your glass is at risk of thermal shock.  But the program you have might be slow enough anyway, I just don't use fahrenheit so no idea what that rate is.  I put my kiln into Centigrade and full manual programming mode the day it arrived.  But I had done glass fusing at college for a year at evening class, so I already knew about schedules before I bought my kiln, which helped me.

Have you actually tried programming the kiln yet - you can always reset it back to glassfire mode if you get lost, but I don't know how!  But it does tell you in your instructions, which I found very easy to follow, I only looked at them once or twice.