How to slump in this mould???

Started by Flowers, June 07, 2019, 07:36:41 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Flowers

Hi All
I am having mould disasters and not on my ceiling but in my kiln and I am truly flummoxed!
A neighbour of mine commissioned me to make a door post to go on the side of her front door it is called a mezuzah.  I looked them up and managed to find a mould which I ordered from the USA.
But the mould has a channel around it and I have tried different ways to slump into it without success.
Is anyone familiar with this type of mould please and how to work with it? Do the channels around it need to be filled with anything? I tried frit and then lying glass over but nothing works.
Thank you all so much for any advice.
https://www.dlartglass.com/product/detail/imd-design-mezuzah-mold-fusing

Zeldazog

The product shows filling the channels with frit and then glass on top, but I have no idea what it is supposed to make, or what the finished article should look like?

When you say "nothing works" what do you mean?  Can you provide your firing schedule, what glass, what lay-up and what actually is happening?  Might be easier to help then, although if it requires frit and sheet glass, then this is really more like a casting mould, not a slumping mould.

Flowers

Hi Zeldazog
Thank you for your message.  So I have tried theee times unsuccessfully with this mould.  It is supposed to make something called a mezzuzah (I hope I spelt it right!) our neighbours have them on their door frames I believe it is a custom in Judaism.  I dont know why or the symbolism for it but she tells me that all households have them  :)
So she asked me if I could make one out of fused glass and liking a challenge I agreed.
The mould came from the USA I tried following the instructions by putting frit in the channels and lying clear glass over the top, the first time the glass on top curled up at the sides and did not mould to the fri.  The second time I used powder fine frit and the same thing happened and I could pick the powdered frit off the glass! The third time I tried no frit in the channels just a piece of clear glass and this although taking the shape also curled at the corners.  I can attach photos but I don't know how to do it on the site.
I use a Hobbyfuser kiln and this is the schedule I use for the slump.

Seg 1   ramp 100   temp 538   hold 0.25
Seg 2   ramp 160   temp 680   hold 0.30
Seg 3   full             temp 482   hold 1.00
Seg 4   ramp 66     temp 371    hold 0.00
Seg 5    ramp 100   temp 40     hold 0.00

I am quite new to slumping what is a casting mould?

Thanks again for any advice.

Moira HFG

Ah yes, I see your problem. This schedule isn't hot enough to melt the glass together into one piece.
Slumping is where you take a piece of glass that is already fused into a solid piece, and heat it just enough to bend into the shape of the mould.
As Zeldazog says, you need a fusing/casting schedule for this, which is hotter.

Have a read of the excellent info from Bullseye on the Warm Glass site, where you will find a suitable schedule.

I would use Primo mould release for this mould to make sure the glass doesn't stick.

Moira

chas

Not having come across this before I cheated and Googled 'glass mezuzah'... think colouful plaques with recessess - slumping in 2 layers trapping colour design between should do it.
Since the origin would appear from some of the examples I saw to be a sort of scroll-holder (bless this house?) you are committed to some sort of recess for authenticity...

And Moira's right - that mould looks like it needs serious priming.

Chas

Flowers

Hi Moira and Chas
I totally forgot that I asked this question because I put it aside and gave up and said I could not do it.
But I just came back to the forum and saw your wonderful and helpful responses.
I love the idea of creating a channel that's excellent.
I may have another go on two pieces of clear tents and see what happens.
I will also try to work out how to increase the temperature and try again with the mould.  I am not sure how to do this yet though!
Thank you both soooo much.

Moira HFG

I'm glad to see you've come back to this project.
This site will show you what temperatures to use for a full fuse: https://www.warm-glass.co.uk/knowledge-base-cms-182.html
If you have trouble setting the temperatures into your kiln, there should be info online from the manufacturer if you don't have a manual.