Proof that I'm not doing nothing.

[Russianwolf]

Here are some of the first fused glass pieces that I've made. granted they are very simple, but I'm not planning anything fancy until I get some technique down.

So far its been fun though.

First Pic: Shows most of my first lot that I fused. I broke a couple while learning how to drill them and one I included in the second lot pic. The one that looks all black is actually three shades of purple.

Second Lot: shows the second firing, with the one extra being the orange with silver embedded.

Third is Blue Tiles with a Bronze Celtic Knot Bail. This is one of my favorites.
Fourth is the back of Blue Tiles showing the Celtic Knot.
Fifth is Blue Tiles up to the light showing the real colors.

Sixth is my second favorite I call Orange Amorphic.
Seventh is Orange Amorphic's rear showing the Bronze Celtic Knot again.

Eighth is Green Tiles with Embedded Silver .999 for the Bail. I'm going to be working on this technique more. Similar to Blue Tiles there are 6 shades of green that make it up.

Ninth is Lemon Two-tone. with a drilled hole for a bail. I lost the first two tries at drilling a whole and burned the diamonds off one bit before I got it down. Simple but stylish.

Tenth is a view of the Purples up to the light, it looks great with light behind it, but too dark without it.

Last is one of the second lot showing that I have some dichroic that I'm playing with and was able to get it on two levels in hises cases. So far, I'm not happy with them though.

Comments always welcome.

 

[glycerine]

Nice, Mike. So are you firing these in a kiln? Are you tumbling them afterwards or are they polished by the heat? This looks like something I'd like to try someday!

 

[Russianwolf]

yep, I have a small kiln. The front is polished by the heat, literally melting the surface (and in the case of these, melting the glass together, Blue Tiles for example started as 18 1/2in glass squares).

The back has a slight texture from the kiln paper that I'm using (highly recommended instead of kiln wash) which is good for gluing the bails on that I'm using on some. Some papers supposedly give and even finer texture, but I would bet that some sanding with MM would give a glossy back if wanted.

 

[Russianwolf]

just one comment???? :tongue:

 

[Seer]

Cool Idea I wonder if you could fuse these to a pen tube? Probaly too hot for the brass as it may melt but they look great Mike

 

[LEAP]

Ok here's no. 2 I like the blue and black one, kind of Mondrian style. What do you use as an adhesive to glue on the bails? my daughter makes sea glass pendents and usually wire wraps them. The bails you are using look like it would be a much more simple and elegent attachment.

 

[BigguyZ]

When do you get good enough to make a glass nib? :biggrin:

But seriously, that is very neat. How much does is cost to get into that hobby? I may have to add that to my future endeavors list.

 

[Russianwolf]

Brass will survive the firing (although it will darken due to the fire scale). Glass fusing takes place at 1300-1550 F and I've fired a tube with Artclay Silver up to 1600. I'll be playing with both glass and silver on tubes as I get more techniques down. The problem with glass on a tube is forming it to the tube and not having it sag. I've got a couple ideas that I will be exploring on this though.


There is a highly recommended adhesive called E6000 I think it is. Its strong but slightly flexible, so holds well. There are many styles of glue-on bails and other glue-on findings. I have some also that are Sterling, but want to save them for when I get better since they are more expensive than the bronze.

 

[Russianwolf]

you can get a microwave kiln for $100, plus some glass (I've got $50 worth and it will last me a good while). I went ahead and got a small computerized kiln to have more control and it ran me $550. But it allows me to do a lot of things that the microwave kiln just won't.

You can technically do some of this with a torch also, just need one with oxy to get to the right temp range. You could also use a torch for what's called lamp working glass. If you've seen spiders (art, not real) in a glass ball for example, that's lamp work.

 

[Padre]

Mike, they look good. What coe are you using?

You know, you can make a small drawing pick out of stainless steel rod (I used to get mine from McMaster Carr) and hot draw the glass, causing a great look. Just make sure you have a good face mask and gloves to do that!!

 

[Russianwolf]

I'm using Uroboros System 96. Mostly transparents at the moment.

I've heard of the raking technique, but will likely wait on that until I get more experience.

 

[Padre]

They look great. The raking isn't as hard as it sounds. :tongue: I mean, if I could do it....................:biggrin:

 

[nava1uni]

Ii really like your pieces. Learning a new art takes time, but it looks like you are a quick learner. I particularly like the blue tone glass pieces.

 

[jaeger]

Nice work! I like the yellow and clear.

 

[Mather323]

They look great!

 

[Whaler]

Looks good Mike.