Project 47: In the kiln

When we last left our dish it was designed and ready for its long nap in the kiln. It takes half a day to fuse glass in the kiln, and then longer to shape  and finish the piece. For the purposes of this blog entry we will be demonstrating using pieces that had already been finished.

Here is the piece in the kiln. It is sitting on special kiln paper to protect the kiln floor. The kiln needs to heat the glass to 1500 degrees F for a full fuse, which is what we’re looking for. At that temperature the glass fully liquifies and becomes one piece.

For technical details about fusing glass visit WarmGlass.com.

After the piece has fully fused and cooled enough to handle, it can then be shaped in a process called slumping. For this step you need a ceramic mold to give the glass its final shape. The kiln is heated again but not as hot — just until the glass becomes soft enough to take the shape of the mold.

We chose to make a soap dish, so here it is in the soap dish mold:

Check back tomorrow for a photo of our finished piece and my lessons learned.