Kiln Work Part IV: Slumped Glass
From Furnace to Flame: A Journey In Glass
Making these six plates was our way of working out the kinks. The 7th died.
The real goal was to make these rainbow coasters. We use COE 90 glass for all the slumped items we have made so far and we lean towards Bullseye when we can. The coasters are cold worked, then fused and finely slumped. They take two passes through the kiln to make.
We have made several pieces using dichroic glass as well. The rainbow dots were made separately and then fused into a sheet of glass with a mix of clear grit. Then, the shape is cut from that piece and kiln polished. Finally, the piece was slumped. The rainbow dot coaster took 4 passes through the kiln.
Like with casting, the molds are coated with a release. The glass is brought up to a temperature where it will soften and fall into the mold but not melt completely.
The mosaic plate is the most complex piece I have made. First, reticulated cane was made at the lampworking torch with COE 90 Bullseye. Then, it was fused into a sheet with the mosaic chips and clear frit. Finally, it was slumped. The goal is to make our own mosaic chips for this sort of thing but we are not there yet. Most of the slumped items we have made are collaborative pieces with my life partner.
