I found this tutorial yesterday on Lampwork.etc and thought my readers would like to try it out!  It was posted by fionac. 

Mini Pot Melt 

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Go to the hardware/gardening store, buy 5 (you only need one but you're gonna get hooked so may as well stock up) 7.5cm (3") tall terracotta pots for a buck each. Grab DH's favorite chisel and a hammer and chip away at the bottom holes so it's a about 5cm (2"). Grab 3 busted ass mandrels and twist them together to line the pot



Grab a handful of shorts in complemenatary colors (try to avoid reds and don't mix sulpher and copper base colors ie Ivory + turq = crap). I use 250g (8.8 oz) for a 12.5cm (5") tile, dump them in the pot



use fiber or KL board to cut a square dam and place onto kiln shelf or another bit of fiber board. Don't use BE paper. Place it in the kiln



Ramp Full to 900C, hold around 30 mins, Ramp Full to 540C, hold 1 hour, Ramp 140C to 400C. Kiln OFF, if you are patient, don't open 'til room temp, if not crank the door 1" at 150C and 2" at 65C to speed it up

Using brass frit when making lampwork beads, tutorial

We found this tutorial for using brass frit when making lampwork beads on the Lampworketc web page, written by Mustang Dawn. 

Brass Frit Tutorial

Supplies needed

• Brass Frit
• Marver with brass spread out on it. I use my razor tool to move the brass around.
• Opaque glass.
• Clear glass.
• Razor tool.

Caution: Be careful when using brass frit. It is sharp and can cause injury.
Use Brass Frit only under a ventilation system.

Note: I used very little brass frit in these beads. Place the brass frit on your marver before starting your bead. Spread it very thin on the marver with your razor tool.

1. Make a tube bead of opaque glass and marver it into the length you want to your final bead to be.

2. Heat the surface of the glass until glowing and roll it in the brass frit. Then, marver the frit into the base glass.

3. Next, keep the bead below the flame and encase it in clear covering all the brass frit. I like a heavy encasement of clear because it adds a lot of depth to the bead.Do not place frit directly into the flame. It will spark and burn off the bead. 

4. Heat the encased bead until glowing. You will see the gold bubbles form. Don’t heat your bead too long because it will bring bubbles to the surface of your bead. Once you start to see the bubbles form, pull the bead out of the flame. If you need more bubbles, reheat.

5. Finish decorating your bead and place it into the kiln.

Have fun and I would love to see what you create!

How to do the thread, Favorite item from the shop above you, for THE Networking Team, Etsy

This screen shot tutorial will hopefully help our team members understand how to correctly post in the team thread, Favorite item from the shop above you.  

First of all click your mouse on that thread!  Once done, go to the last page in the thread, you will find the page numbers at the bottom of the thread's page.  Click your mouse on the highest numbered page, that page has the most recent posts.

Look at the last post in the thread, in the screen shot below I used KatrinSArt.  You will see that she posted an item from my own shop, HarrachGlass.  Now for your turn, you would click your mouse on KatrinSArt shop (NOT HarrachGlass) and you'd pick your favorite from her shop.  

In my screen shot, I picked the Moustasche Posts from Kateryna's shop.  At the top of that screen shop you will see that I highlighted with yellow, the http link for that specific item.  Once you have highlighted the http address for the specific item that you want to post, copy it...  Control C.  

Then by using your web browser, go back to the thread to where you want to post your favorite item, and click your mouse in the box next to your avatar, once done paste the http address by using your Control key and letter V.  

For the last step, don't forget to actually like that item that you just posted.  You will see a rectangle that has a heart in it which says Favorite, click your mouse on it.  Now you're done.  The next shop that comes along will pick their favorite item from your shop and post it the same way, and on and on.

The definition of THREADS, for THE Networking Team on Etsy, tutorial

Below shows a screen shot that I made showing what threads are and where to find ALL of them in the Etsy team called THE Networking Team.  

To begin with, on the team's main page you will see, towards the center of the screen, the word in bold type, Discussions.  I highlighted the word in yellow, below.  Click your mouse on that word (link) and you will then see multiple pages of more subjects which look like what I circled in red, below.  All of those subjects are links, and they are called threads.

You will see that we have many pages of threads in THE Networking Team.  You can find the page numbers by scrolling down to the very bottom of the threads page.  The higher the page number, the older the thread.  

When you click your mouse on an individual thread; the higher the page number, the more recent the post.  

Lampwork disk bead tutorial video

Click here to see a Corning Museum of Glass disk bead tutorial on YouTube by Kristina Logan.  If you make lampwork beads or wondered how they are made, this is an excellent video to watch.  Kristina spends quite a bit of time showing how she creates her very complex disk beads.  

Kiln fired frit painting, tutorial

We actually found this tutorial on the HGTV web page.  It just shows how popular glass fusing really is!  The completed piece is really pretty and looks fairly detailed.  They didn't give much of a fusing schedule but use a slumping schedule for the type of glass that you are using and it should work!  This also goes for window and bottle glass.  Remember that if you want to form a piece like this into something like a bowl or plate, do the frit fusing work first, then shape the glass.  It is easier to fuse frit when it is laying flat in a kiln.

Materials:

large sheets of glass
Magic Marker
powdered glass (frit)
sifter
gold leafing
glue
wooden backing
hooks for hanging

Steps:

1. Cut glass from larger piece to desired size.

2. Draw design on with marker. Reverse glass and trace over design. Turn glass over and wipe off first design.

3. With a tiny sifter and other tools, sprinkle the powdered glass (frit) into design areas like doing a paint-by-numbers painting.

4. Make a frame by cutting out red strips of glass from large sheet. Frame the edges of the large piece with the red strips.

5. Fuse in kiln at 1500 F degrees. This larger piece requires 24 hours for firing and cooling.

6. Glue gold leafing to back of glass and glue wooden backing. Place hooks on for hanging.

Video showing how to make a hollow bead using a Hot Head Torch

We ran across this YouTube video showing how to make a clear, soft glass hollow bead using a Hot Head torch, uploaded by Candyann22.  She makes it look extremely easy, but keep in mind, it's probably only after she's had a LOT of practice!  Click here to see the video.

Creating fused glass art design elements with a craft punch, tutorial

This tutorial should give our glass fusing readers a bunch of other creative ideas so that's why we are sharing it with our readers today!  It can be found on the Bullseye web page along with a lot of other excellent information.  Follow the product links below to purchase the glass and supplies used in the project from Bullseye Glass.

Holiday Punch

Holiday punch plate, 8" x 13", slumped on Rectangular Slumper, Mold 8929. The holidays are coming — break out the punch! (The paper punch, that is.) Combine punched silver foil design elements with Tomato Red Opalescent for something truly festive. Layup Arrange silver foil (007217-FOIL) punches on Tomato Red (000024-0030-F). You can use GlasTac (008232-GLUE) to keep them in place. Cap with 3 mm Clear (001101-0030-F ) and invert the whole layup so that the clear sheet is against the shelf and the Tomato Red is the top layer – or arrange the foil on the Clear and cap with Tomato Red. In addition to Tomato Red (left), try Red Opalescent (000124-0030-F) and Deep Red (000224-0030-F). The pieces shown here were fired "design down," so the side facing the shelf in the fuse becomes the front of the piece. To achieve an effortless semi-matte finish, slump with the shelf-side up. Hint: Sandwich silver foil between sheets of paper before punching out shapes (or cutting them with scissors). This creates a toothy structure that cuts cleanly and keeps the foil from tearing. Be sure to remove all traces of paper before firing. Firing We've had success firing this layup with an initial heat range of 200-400°F in the first segment of a full fuse. Remember Reactivity A dark reaction will develop around foil elements as a result of a silver-sulfur reaction with Red Opalescent. Reactions near the edge of the piece may "feather" because there's more airflow there. Some yellowing between Clear and silver may develop (this is called silver stain). Expect variation. It's part of the beauty of this combination. Firing with silver foil between layers of glass usually contains the silver. To protect your kiln shelf from silver contamination, place the foil elements at least 3/4" from the outer edge of the project. If firing with silver on the perimeter, keep it within the footprint of the base without any overhang.

How to make a fused glass wine bottle house sign, tutorial

This excellent tutorial came from the Glass with a Past web page, by Jodi McRaney Rusho.  She has such a wonderful web page full of great fused glass tutorials and information plus she has an online store.  

Here’s a fused bottle glass project that you may not have considered.  These house numbers are made with fused recycled bottles and Armstrong’s Float Fire frit.  This is a relatively easy project, grab a cup of coffee and follow along.

My friend Mary Young and her husband Todd belong to a wine club and asked me it I could make some very visible house numbers for them out of recycled wine bottles.  The final project turned out so well, I thought I’d share.

Step 1 – Select the bottles

I only need 4 flat bottles for the final project, but I chose a varied selection of sizes and colors so I would have lots to choose from.

Step 2 – Fuse the bottles flat

Using my standard recycled glass fusing schedule, I flattened six different bottles.

Step 3 – Choose the best bottles

After the bottles are fused, I selected my favorite 4, making sure I varied the color, as well as the neck and shoulder shape.

Step 4 – Make your number stencils

Since it seemed unlikely that I would be able to find stencils in the exact size I needed I decided to make my own.  This was a one of a kind project, so I’m not really concerned with the durability of the stencils.  I found a nice rounded font and enlarged it until each number was about 6″ tall, one number per page.

Cut the number out carefully with a razor knife.

Step 5 – Applying the embossing ink

This step is done using a scrapbook product called embossing ink.  It’s a sticky pink goo that is designed to grab embossing powder until you can heat set it.  I’m using it to adhere frit, it works great and it an excellent trick to keep on hand.  Since I’m covering a large area, I load up the stamp pad with ink and use the pad itself as the stamp.

For numbers with floating centers (6 and 0 for example), use a tiny piece of rolled painters tape to hold the center in place while you apply the ink.

Step 6 – Add the Float Fire

Float Fire is a variable COE product that can be used with window glass and bottle glass.  It is a little expensive, but it goes a long way, and if you are using it on glass that you’ve collected for free, it can be a great investment.

Step 7 – Repeat for all the other numbers.

After all of your numbers are finished, re-fire the bottles using a slumping schedule.  Using a lower temperature will help keep the surface of the bottles glossy and the numbers slightly raised for great visibility.

Step 8 – Mount the bottles on the backing

For this project I used a piece of 1″ x 4″ pine painted black.  I used outdoor clear silicone to glue the bottles to the board.  The owner lives in a very windy area, so we made sure that enough of the board showed between the bottles that it could be securely anchored to the wall (visible in the first picture).  For less windy areas, I would attach two D ring hangers at the top of the board behind the first and last bottle.

Step 9 – Stick it on a house – preferably one that has the same house number

Pretty groovy!  This project could also be done with beer bottles for a smaller finished sign.

How to make a lampwork kid bead pendant, photo tutorial

This really fun tutorial was made by loribeads and posted on lampworketc.com.  Click here to check out her Etsy store.

Kidlet Tutorial

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Tips for head: 
in Step 2 - Try cased or striped stringer for hair - it looks great!

Step 4 - Poke tilting upward in the corner of each mouth to create a cute, cheeky grin.

Step 6 - Poke downward with a tungsten pick and it will give the kidlet a nose, almost.

Step 7 - After adding black dots for eyes, slightly flatten with a tool

Tips for body:
Step 2 - alternately, you can squish it into a lentil shape or even a cube for more variety.

Step 4 - add one large dot for each hand and two smaller stacked dots for each foot

Step 5 - make sure everything is melted in sufficiently because there is nothing sadder than a kidlet with one foot missing. Trust me on this one. )

Congrats! You're done! You now have your very own kidlet! Wire them up on a headpin and you've got yourself a nifty little pendant!

Finished Kidlet:
 

Also Loribeads says: If you make them to sell, please be kind and let them know where you learned it! And don't forget to tip your waitress!

Bending the neck of a glass bottle tutorial

By Joshua Smyth, eHow Contributor

Glass bottles, once they've been emptied, don't need to become garbage. Instead, they can be turned into art -- plates, ornaments, and decorations -- through the process of "slumping," in which the glass is placed in a kiln and heated until it becomes soft.

With the right tools, you can even stretch the glass before it cools down. Heating the glass carefully will ensure that it keeps its color and texture while allowing you to reshape the bottle.

Examples of stretched bottles.

Sample picture of bent Corona Extra beer bottle.

Instructions

1 Clean your bottle thoroughly with soap and water, then let it dry before putting it in the kiln. Water will disrupt the process. While it is wet, scrub off any paper or plastic labels.

2 Buy devitrification fluid from a craft store and spray it on your bottle if the bottle is made of colored glass. This will keep the color consistent while you melt, reshape, and cool the glass.

3 Set a kiln shelf on the bottom of the kiln and cover it with kiln paper. You could also spray it with kiln spray. Either will prevent the glass from sticking to it as the bottle stretches down.

4 Hang the bottle by its neck from the top of the kiln. The easiest way to do this is to use a pair of pliers to cut pieces of coat hanger wire and loop them around the neck of the bottle, just below the wider part at the top of the neck. Do this several times, until you have 5 or 6 pieces of coat hanger wire wrapped around the bottle neck. Bend the wires downward so that their free ends extend several inches past the end of the bottle. You can then stand the whole thing inside the kiln. The bottle will hang from the wire loops and stretch downwards under its own weight as it heats up.

5 Set the kiln to warm at 500 degrees per hour. This is the safest speed to heat glass without risking thermal shock. (Reference 1) When the kiln gets up to 1100 degrees, stop the temperature increase for 10 minutes, then continue heating the bottle at a slower rate of 250 degrees per hour. (Reference 1) The glass will start to stretch downwards as the kiln heats.

6 Increase the heat as fast as you want once the kiln gets to 1300 degrees. Stop heating when the bottle has stretched to your satisfaction or it reaches 1425 degrees. (Reference 1)

7 Crack the lid of the kiln very briefly, until the kiln cools to 1100 degrees. This will keep the bottle from turning cloudy. Once this is done, just turn off the kiln and let it cool naturally back to room temperature. This is called "annealing" the glass, and is the final step. Once it has cooled, just open the kiln, pull out your stretched bottle, and use your pliers to remove the wire frame that was holding it up.

Patty Gray dam mold set-up information

We were excited to open our newly shipped order from our wholesaler D & L Art Glass Supply the other day because among other things,  we also bought two Patty Gray 8" x 10" x 1/2" fusing dams!  We've been interested in Patty Gray's fused glass techniques and work for some time now especially after viewing pictures from some of her classes!  Maybe someday we will be lucky enough to attend one of her fusing classes!  Until that time, we will be on our own.

To use as our own studio's future reference and for anyone else who reads our blog and is also unsure how to set up their mold, we thought it would be helpful to share this mold's set-up information especially since it has specific sizes and layout that should be followed!

This mold is designed to produce a glass slab 8" x 10" and up to 1/2" thick with rounded edges and will require no coldworking.  The glass can be used as a finished piece or slumped to shape or even be sliced into design elements for later work.  Use cut sheets, strips, scrap, frit, rods or any form of glass that inspires you.

New mold preparation:
Use MR-97 (Boron Nitride Mold Release for Glass Casting and Slumping)
Spray mold holding can and mold upright; only spray for 3 seconds.  Wait 5 minutes and spray again for 3 seconds.  Cut ThinFire, Papyros, or comparable kiln shelf paper to 7-7/8" x 9-7/8" and put on the bottom of mold before fusing.

Filling the mold:
Cut base glass to 8" x 10" and notch the corner (about 1/8") so the glass will fit into the tray.  Design your piece to have at least two layers of glass- up to 4 layers or 1/2" thick.

Placement in kiln:
For best results, elevate your mold from the kiln floor with kiln posts, placing the posts under only the edges of the mold.

8" x 10" Patty Gray Mold Firing Schedule

Degrees                Target                  Hold time
per hour                Temperature    

150°                      1000°                  15 minutes

300°                      1225°                  15 minutes

AFAP                   1470°                  30 minutes
As fast as possible                          

AFAP                    950°                    1 1/2 hours

100°                      700°                     10 minutes

Off

Open when room temperature

After the mold has been used:
Spray mold with MR-97 only lightly (about 2 seconds and only around the inside of mold edge).  Cut shelf paper to 7-7/8" x  9-7/8" and put on the bottom of the mold before fusing.  Cut base glass to 8" x 10" and notch the corner (like stated above) so that the glass will fit into the tray.  The design the piece as usual!

Update:  12/13/12

We think that it would be best to slow down the final ramp up temperature on thicker pieces.  We noticed that on one of our thicker finished plates that the center had indented and thinned out, it was possibly going to form a bubble in that area.

Perhaps it would help to ramp up 200°  per hour, to get to 1225°  .   Then instead of ramping up AFAP, (as fast as possible), to 1470°  we suggest the kiln be ramped up at approximately 400°  per hour instead.