Intro to Glass Casting

A quick overview of how to cast glass

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Glass casting begins with an original clay sculpture with as much detail as possible. A damn is made around the sculpture so that liquid latex can be poured into it, over the clay, to create a negative mold.

Plaster is poured into the resulting latex mold, creating a positive mold that can withstand the heat of the kiln.  The plaster cast is carved to smooth out any bubbles or other inperfections and for any embellishments such as added texture.

It’s then filled with sand, which is weighed to determine the exact amount of glass to exactly fill the mold.

The plaster mold is placed in the kiln, and filled with chunks of glass, broken billets.  The “Reclining Buddha” required just under 20 pounds of glass.  The kiln is  heated to around 1500 degrees and annealed (cooled to room temperature) over a period of three days or more.

Once the piece has reached room temperature the plaster is carefully broken off and discarded. The glass is then cleaned with dental tools, toothbrushes, and lots of elbow grease. The final step is polishing. The latex mold can be reused.

Cast glass Buddha

For info on fused glass, see my blog post.

© Copyright Leland Dennick 2015
All rights reserved

New class – image transfer Photo Decals for glass

“Summer Fog”
12″ by 16″

 

In this 3 hour class you’ll explore the use of photo decals in glass fusing, beginning with a small (but high resolution) image of your choosing. It could be a sailboat, a pet, a logo or other symbol, a flower, or (almost) anything you choose. Stacey will work with you to help you find an optimal image for this process given the technological constraints. She’ll then process the photo in Photoshop so it can be sent to the decal makers. They require 10 -14 days, so this step must be completed a couple of weeks before the class begins. But don’t worry, we’ll have some extra decals of our own designs made so those who want to join the class later will have something to play with.

During class, each person will create two small art pieces incorporating their photograph. Sized from 3″ by 4″ up to around 4″ by 6.” We’ll use frit (powdered glass), stringers (long skinny pieces of glass), sheet glass in transparent and opaque, and extra sparkly dichroic glass to embellish our designs.

Projects will be fired after class and available for pick up within a few days. We can also ship.

The cost for this fun day is $125, which includes everything you need (glass, use of tools and kiln firing) except for eye protection. Please bring safety glasses that fit your face. If you wear prescription glasses you won’t need extra eye protection. Class size is limited to three, so each person has plenty of space and attention.

Other classes we offer include: first fusing class, dichroic glass jewelry making  and plant fossils in glass. Call or email for more info.

How to Fuse Glass

Working wtih frit & stringers

Fuseable glass is handmade by a handful of companies to expand and contract at the same rate.  It comes in many forms including powder, sheet and stringers (long and skinny).  This specially formulated glass is hand cut, assembled in layers and then melded together in a kiln at 1480 degrees or so. Paintings made from frit (powdered glass) may have many firings as images are built in layers.

A second firing is done to shape (slump) the piece from flat glass into a bowl or other three dimensional piece.

A third firing is done on pieces that are painted with glass paint.

“I feel like an alchemist when I open the kiln and see my layers of glass transformed into a luminous image.” – Leland Dennick

WHAT IS DICHROIC GLASS?

Dichroic glass Buddha mask

Dichroic glass is beautiful sparkly glass that was originally developed for the aeronautics industry. It must be manufactured in a vacuum chamber where an electron beam deposits many microscopic layers of metallic oxides, such as magnesium and titanium, on glass. This metallic coating absorbs and reflects different colors of light at different angles, making the glass multi-hued.

Because of the complexity involved in making it, dichroic glass is quite costly. It was originally created for satellite mirrors, but it now has many high-tech applications in fiber optics, infrared lasers, motion picture equipment and even sun glasses.

For more information on fusing and slumping, Warm Glass has free tutorials, an active bulletin board and an inspiring gallery.   I also recommend Bullseye Glass Company’s online education program.  Here’s a blog post with a link to a movie my wife and I made about raking glass.

© Copyright Leland Dennick 2014
All rights reserved