Lisa Horkin, a HOT glass artist!

Today we have a treat for our readers.  We are introducing Lisa Horkin, a very talented glass blower!   You can find Lisa's work on Facebook, Horkover Glass; on Etsy, Horkover Glass; and online at Horkover Glass.

A little glass blowing history

Some of the oldest glass on record dates back to the pre-Roman times. Solid beads and amulets have been found which were made in the year 2500 BC. Even though glass has been in existence for thousands of years, it wasn’t always considered an art as it is today. Its uses, for the most part, have been in functional pieces – things that hold things. During the pre-Roman times, glass makers were making vessels, but glass blowing had not yet been invented. The vessel was made by wrapping hot glass around a core made of clay and dung. Sometimes the glass maker would add color after the first clear layer was in place. After the glass cooled the core could be picked out, leaving what glassblowers nowadays call a vessel. Some of the earliest vessels date back to 1500 BC in Mesopotamia and Egypt. During that time glass was not yet a common household object. Few people knew how to make glass, and only the pharaohs, high priests and nobles owned it. Both Middle Easterners and Egyptians were making mosaics out of glass. They would fuse rods of colored glass together to make a pattern. The resulting larger rod would then be heated and pulled out, causing the design to become smaller. Afterwards it was sliced and arranged into a mosaic. Knowledge of glass spread outward from Egypt and Mesopotamia mostly through the means of trade and conquer. Egyptian and Mesopotamian glass that dates back to the pre-Roman times have been found in the Mediterranean, Russia and France.

Lisa's biography:

I am an Ohio artist and have a BFA,in college I majored in

painting and took ceramics as well as some glass.

For years I worked in painted textiles exhibiting, lecturing,

and teaching. Since 2002 I have been using glass as

means of creative expression. I blow glass primarily in a

local public glass studio where I rent space I also have a

small studio in my home.

I am inspired by the color and the properties of glass itself,

and by my past experience of working with oil painting and

textile mixed media. My motivation is an inner drive that

I have always felt. As a 3 yr old it was the smelling and

feeling the squishing paint thru my fingers as I smeared it

around on wet paper. At five it was the feel of pounding

a nail and it sinking into a piece of scrap wood to build

a “ship” and the job of painting my ship to boldly stand out.

Now I experience peace, calm, happiness, and

excitement manipulating molten glass. Blowing glass has

become a huge lesson in how to “go with the flow” Some

days the glass is moving with me and other days I have to

give in and move with the glass. 

 Lisa's "Red and Black Vase"

 Lisa's "Calla lily"

Lisa's "Green Fall"

Lisa's "Curry and Strawberry bowl"

What is a kiln's pyrometer?

by Glass Fusing Made Easy

http://www.glass-fusing-made-easy.com/

A pyrometer is a device that measures the temperature inside your kiln. This unit will assist you in improving your firing results, and in enabling you to monitor your process.

Reliable and continuous measurement is essential for efficient control of the glass fusing or slumping operation. Take notes as you proceed with your firings.

This unit is easy to read and monitor. The gauge is much like a thermometer in reading the temperature and is usually broken up into units of 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Most kilns come with a stock equipped manually controlled infinite switch and a pyrometer with a thermocouple. The thermocouple is attached to one end of the unit with a cable. This is one continuous unit, to monitor your kiln.

While the infinite switch and meter are on the outside of your kiln to control and monitor the speed of your kiln heating up, the thermocouple is inside the kiln measuring the temperature.

These units work together to control the temperature of your kiln. This device will allow you to know the temperature of the air inside the kiln chamber throughout the complete firing progression. This unit is essential when you are firing glass. It will not allow you to know the temperature of your glass during the complete firing process, but the air inside the kiln.

There are two parts to this unit:

Thermocouple – A sensing probe that consists of two different metals that are welded together at the end. The thermocouple creates a small voltage when heated, which the controller translates to a temperature. It takes a hypersensitive instrument to read that small voltage. Because of this small voltage, the smallest amount of variation can make a deviation in the temperature reading. These are high temperature wires that are covered by a ceramic ring and placed inside the kiln.


Meter – This shows the temperature of the air inside the kiln and that is being registered on the thermocouple.


These units are different and can be off in temperature readings. Testing through different firings will enable you to know if the temperature of your particular unit is correct, or needs to be adjusted.

What is a kiln's thermocouple?

by Glass Fusing Made Easy

http://www.glass-fusing-made-easy.com/

A thermocouple is the twisted soldered metal pieces on the end of a pyrometer.

It is a temperature sensor used to measure the heat of the air inside a kiln.

It is placed inside the kiln either through a pre-drilled hole for this purpose or through the peep hole.

This device consists of two different metals.

These are joined together at one end, and that end is placed inside the kiln.

When the connection of the two metals is heated a voltage is produced.

The voltage is measured and converted to a temperature reading.

This reading is then displayed on the readable face of the pyrometer. 

For the best results on your reading, always leave about one inch of room around this twisted soldered metal.

Placing it closer to your shelf or glass can cause the temperature to read inaccurately.

Do not allow the wires touch any live heating element wire.

These devices can be used over a wide range of temperatures.

From the vast changes in temperature, this piece can be come brittle.

Try to avoid hitting it when inserting objects inside the kiln.

Although small, they are very inexpensive, hardy and consistent devices.

Time and high temperatures will cause these to wear over time.

If it appears corroded or crusty, it may be time to replace the piece.

They are also interchangeable and have standard connectors, which makes them simple and inexpensive to replace.
Changing this device when it has failed or become corroded can make a large difference in the accuracy of your firings.

Kiln slumping wine bottles and other glass bottles for glass art

I found a lot of info online about kiln slumping bottles, so to try something different today, I posted two excellent articles that I found.  Have you ever wondered about labels? Do you want to learn how to remove labels from your bottles or do you want to know how to keep labels on bottles when firing?  Well, I have also found some info on those subjects and posted it below.

Tutorial 1.

Warmglass.com http://www.warmglass.com/Bottles.htm  says:

Slumping bottles in a kiln is not difficult.  It does, however, require a knowledge of basic kiln-forming principles and an understanding of both thermal shock, annealing, and devitrification.  If you are not familiar with these terms, then spending a few moments with the Warm Glass tutorial will help familiarize you with the process of heating glass in a kiln.

The basic process for slumping a bottle in a kiln is as follows:1.  Clean the bottle thoroughly and allow it to dry.  Some people also apply a devit spray to the bottle to help prevent devitrification.  This is recommended for most blue and amber bottles and is also helpful for other colors as well.
2.  Cover your kiln shelf with either fiber paper or kiln wash.
3.  Lay the bottle in the kiln on it side.  It's not essential, but some people place a piece of wire in the neck to form a wire loop which can be used to hang the bottle after slumping. (20 gauge twisted copper works well.)
4.   Fire the kiln to 1100F and soak for 10 minutes.  The rate of temperature increase should be from around 500 degrees per hour.  Some people fire as fast as 800 degrees per hour, but be aware that the faster you fire the more likely the bottle is to crack from thermal shock.  The purpose of the 10 minute soak is to allow the temperature of the glass to equalize and to all reach 1100F.
5.  Fire the kiln at 250 degrees per hour to 1300F, then fire as fast as your kiln will go to 1475F.  Hold the temperature constant at 1475F until the bottle has slumped to the degree you want.  Usually this takes around 10 minutes.
6.  Cool the kiln to 1100F as fast as possible.  You may need to flash vent the kiln to speed cooling and to help prevent devitrification, but some people slump bottles with flash venting.
7.  Anneal.  Some people accomplish this by simply letting the closed kiln cool naturally.  This approach will work if your kiln cools slowly enough through the annealing range (for bottles, roughly 1050F to 850F).  You would want to cool at a rate of 150 degrees per hour or slower.  If your kiln has a controller, a proper anneal soak is highly recommended:  soak at 1030F for 20-30 min then 100 dph to around 850.
8.  Cool to room temperature.  Most kilns will cool at a slow enough rate to avoid thermal shocking the bottles by cooling too fast.

Tutorial 2.
http://www.bigceramicstore.com/information/Tip92.htm says:


Bottle slumping is becoming quite popular, probably because you don't have to buy special glass, you just re-use wine and beer bottles.  (Make sure you recruit your friends to help you drink all that alcohol!  We know how it feels to look at a really cool Grey Goose vodka bottle and think "How long will it take me to empty that?"  Given how addicting this is, we wouldn't want to be responsible for any irresponsible drinking!)

Basic requirements:
You will need a kiln that is able to fire to approximately 1500 degrees For higher.  Any ceramic kiln or glass kiln can be used for this, as long as the bottles fit.  Unfortunately the long shape of bottles make them hard to fit in many kilns.  So we designed the Trio Kiln specifically to fit all our bottle slumping molds.

You need some type of separator between glass and what it sits on.  (The shelf or mold,)  Options are glass separator, Mold-EZ or Primo Primer, which are brushed on, or thin-fire or fiber paper.

You will need glass bottles, such as wine bottles, beer bottles, soda bottles, etc.  Wine bottles make nice trays and dishes, beer and soda bottles make great spoon rests.

Molds are an option that can be used to shape slumped bottles into dishes and spoon rests, or you can simply slump bottles flat, directly on the shelf to make trays.


With all slumping, there are general principles that need to be followed:

Bottles must be clean and dry.  All label residue must be removed.  Some people will use isopropyl alcohol to clean any fingerprints from the glass as well.  The best label removal process I have used to date is filling the bottles with very hot water, and placing them in a bucket filled with very hot water and powdered oxy-clean.  Let that soak a couple hours to over-night. Most labels drop off or can be scraped off with a plastic scraper.  I often use those handy fake credit-cards that come in the mail.  Ah, yet more recycling!


Bottles need to be placed on a surface that has been kiln washed or shelf paper such as thin-fire paper can be used.  This is to prevent the glass from fusing to the shelf.  When using kiln wash, be sure the surface is very smooth.  Any brush strokes, bumps, etc. will show up in the glass.  Even seams between sheets of thin-fire paper will show.
If slumping bottles with "painted" labels such as Corona bottles or Belvedere bottles, those labels remain on the bottle even after slumping.  The trick is to have the bottle remain in place during the firing.  Otherwise, the label looks off-center.  I have used small pieces of thin-fire paper to prop a bottle that wants to roll.  Granted these can be seen on the back of the glass, but in my mind that is better than tossing a bottle because the label looks funny.
If using a mold, it should be covered with a thick coat of kiln wash or glass separator.  We offer a variety of mold shapes for slumping bottles. You can also make your own shapes using your own bisque.   I often use smaller triangle shelf posts wrapped in thin-fire paper to create an elevated neck on beer bottles for spoon rests.  They are small enough to allow the top of the bottle to touch the shelf after slumping. Sometimes glass will get de-vitrify, or get cloudy.  This seems very dependent on the glass the specific bottle was made from.  But we have found that cleaning the bottle really well helps avoid it.  We also have Super Spray, a de-vitrification spray which can be used.

One other thing to consider before firing is whether you plan to hang the tray or spoon rest.  I have found high temp. wire works well and does not break down.  Copper and brass wires will break down a bit, sometimes leaving unattractive flecks in the neck of the bottle.  Simply cut a piece of wire, shape, and place in the opening of the bottle. As the neck slumps, it will permanently fuse the wire into place.  If I want the wire to be gold, I just paint it later.

Decorating your slumped bottles can be a lot of fun too.  You are the artist!  Anything is possible.  You can paint on them with Hues2Fuse non-toxic glass paints prior to firing.  You can fire the bottles on texture molds.  Some people incorporate other pieces of glass, such as marbles, although this can be tricky.  And many people use wire (such as copper) to decorate them after firing.
FIRING PROFILES
As you research slumping bottles, you will learn there are many different firing profiles out there.  Some profiles are provided specifically from the kiln manufacturers, others are a blend of several firing profiles from other artists.  My own profile is a combination of both.  I use a 7cu. electronic controlled kiln and primarily flatten bottles for cheese trays and spoon rests.  The slumping profile that came from the manufacturer did not seem to adequately slump all of the bottles.  Whether the uneven slumping was due the location in the kiln, the type of glass, the size of bottle, the variety of bottles in a single load, or the number of shelves I loaded, I cannot be certain.  Aside from still trying to eradicate a few small bubbles trapped in the body of the bottle, I have had pretty good success.  Generally the firing takes approximately 9 hrs.

Segment	Rate	degrees F	Hold
1	500	500	12 min
2	500	750	12 min
3	600	1100	10 min
4	200	1300	20 min
5	250	1475	10 min	takes roughly 4.5 hrs to this point
6	9999	1100	1 hr
7	500	970	30 min	annealing occurs between 800-1000 deg.
8	120	750	20
Let kiln cool naturally.

To give you an idea about different firing profiles, we have also been using this profile for wine bottles, with success, in the Trio Kiln.

Segment	Rate	degrees F	Hold
1	500	1100	10 min
2	250	1300	0 min
3	300	1425	10 min	at first we had this at 1475 but the edges of the bottle were sharp
Let kiln cool naturally.

This profile does not even have an annealing phase, but we have found it seems to work fine.  If you choose to use this profile, you may consider adding an annealing phase at the end.

Keep in mind these are guidelines, as every kiln will fire a little differently.  It will take a few firings in your own kiln to obtain the results you desire.  Be sure to keep a log so that once you have a successful load, you can duplicate it.  And most importantly have fun with it.

Wishing you the best of luck! - Kris
copyright 2010 BigCeramicStore.com

Check out BigCeramicStore.com to purchase a variety of bottle molds and supplies!


Tutorial 3.

SAVE THAT LABEL!

by http://www.beekmanwine.com/prevtopr.htm

We all know how frustrating it can be trying to remove some labels from wine bottles. Removing labels used to be quite simple, but new glues have been developed to prevent labels from coming off in restaurant wine buckets. These glues make it difficult to remove the labels at all, but one of the following methods will almost always work.


Several different glues are used today and you can’t tell which one was used by looking at the label. No single technique works every time on every label, but there are some relatively safe bets. First try to peel the label off starting in a corner. If you are lucky and the winery used the new “peel and stick” type of label, the label will come right off (However, it will immediately stick to anything it comes in contact with!). Most times you will not be so lucky.


The Blow-drier Method - Some of the new glues are unaffected by water, but will melt enough to slide the label off the bottle after “toasting” the label with a blow-drier for about 5 minutes. A heat gun will work faster.


The Tape Method - This method separates the layer of the label with the image on it from the layer with the glue. 

We sell a product called Labeloff Label Saver ($8.95) which works 98% of the time. It's a package of clear plastic sheets with an aggresive glue on one side. You must follow the instructions carefully.
Or you can contact the manufacturer directly:
Pentad Group, Inc.
106 Pentad Plaza
1446 N.W. 2nd Ave.
Boca Raton, FL  33432
(561) 362-8678
e-mail: labelsaver@aol.com

You can also do it yourself. Go to any office supply store and buy a roll of clear 3” wide strapping (packing) tape.
1. Cut off two strips of tape that are about 4” wider than the label.
2. Fill the bottle with VERY hot water (trying not to get the label wet). Wipe the bottle dry.
3. Put a strip of paper about 1/2” wide across the sticky side of both ends of the tape so the ends won’t stick to the bottle.
4. Working from one side of the bottle to the other, attach the tape to the bottle so that it just extends (about 1/4”) above the label. Bring the tape across the label, using some type of straight edge to smooth it out as you go.
5. Once you have the first strip in place, if it doesn’t fully cover the label, attach the second strip right under the first.
6. Use the back of a spoon to rub hard all over the label.
7. Starting at one edge, slowly start to peel off the tape.
8. Once the label is removed, trim the edges with a scissors.

The Soaking Method - this is becoming less effective as fewer water-soluble glues are being used.
Equipment: 1 tall Igloo water jug (the picnic kind), tall enough to hold a bottle, Ivory Detergent, paper towels, wax paper, a single edged razor blade, a heavy book, a cork, and a glass of wine.
1. Fill the jug with warm water and 2-3 drops of Ivory Detergent.
2. Fill the wine bottle itself with VERY hot water and immerse it in the jug.
3. After about 30 minutes, the label should either be floating in the jug or loosely clinging to the bottle. If not, continue the soak for 2 hours or overnight.
4. If the label still isn’t off, take the bottle out of the jug and fill it again with very warm water. Cram an old cork into the top and dry the bottle well. Get the label as dry as possible.
5. Lay the bottle on a towel to steady it. Use the single edged razor blade to scrape the label off. Start working from the left side of the label, following the curve of the bottle, to about the middle of the label. Then start from the right side of the label and cut back to the center. Work back and forth until the label is off.
6. Put the label between towels to blot of as much moisture as possible. Be careful! Some of the new glues are of the “peel and stick” variety and will stick to anything. If you find one of these, press the label down on some plain white paper and trim around the label.
7. Place the label on a piece of waxed paper with paper towels on top of it and weight it down with a heavy book until the label dries.
8. The glass of wine? You know what that’s for!


Joel’s Method - Forget the darned label and buy another bottle! 

Tutorial 4.

You can fire some labels, by Harrach glass

If you have a bottle that has a baked on enamel paint for the label the enamel will stay on the bottle as seen in the photo. Some enamels will change color or fade. If the bottle has etching the etching will soften. Some bottles get a soft haze that can not be helped.

Adventures in COE's???

I took this picture to show  how I keep my glass rod organized.  The glass rod is what I use to make my lampwork beads.  The round white things you see in this picture are pieces of PVC pipe.  It works great for holding glass rods!  I used a hacksaw and cut the pipes into lengths long enough to hold the rods.  I also pull the glass out of the pipe a little bit so that I can see the color of the rod easily.

I try to keep my glass organized.  It doesn't always work.  I use a few different types of glass, including glass that has different COE's.   COE is very a very important part of working with hot glass.  It means,  Coefficient of Expansion.  The lower the COE, the harder the glass and the higher the temperature is needed for it to begin melting.  

When melting glasses together, either when fusing or lampworking, it is very important to make sure that the glasses used are compatible.  That means that the glasses should have the same COE.  The term COE basically means, how fast or how slow the glass heats up and cools down. That means, if you accidentally used glasses with different COE's it is very possible that when the piece cools down in a kiln, it will develop stress cracks which will inevitably break the finished piece.  That happens because the pieces are not cooling down at the same rate!  And unfortunately, that will produce cracks.  

When buying sheet glass,  many companies will put labels on their glass stating the COE.  When buying sheet glass that is not marked, a sample fuse is very important to test compatibility before creating a project.  Usually sheets of glass made by the same manufacturer are not even compatible!   Many manufacturers make sheet glass specifically for fusing, and it is these sheets of glass that are marked with COE's.  COE's are shown as numbers, just keep the numbers together and you'll be ok!

There are also a few different types of glass rod for lampworking.  It is important to use compatible glass rod too!   There are also two distinct types of glass rod, soft glass and (borosilicate) boro glass. Never mix soft glass and boro glass.  Soft glass rod comes in a few different COE's and they should not be mixed either!  Although,  it is possible to mix small amounts of soft glass that doesn't have the same COE's but it should not be too much, or there is the usual possibility of the piece breaking!

Below is a sample of a Bullseye COE label that you'd find on a sheet of their fusing glass.