So, BFF sent me another link to a fused glass class, this one in Austin. I, being the rain on her parade, said, 'then we'd have to get a hotel room'. The class is cheaper than my local studio, but by the time we travel and pay those expenses, I think it's too much money to spend.
A couple days later, she says, 'let's do this class' and sends me a link to Hot Glass Houston's Hip2BSquare class. I agree and plan accordingly. At the last minute, my SIL calls and says she'd like to come spend the weekend hanging out. I asked if she was interested in the class and added her to the roster.
So, on Saturday morning, the three amigos headed off to the studio. We met Cynthia, the instructor who was very patient and kind to all of us. First we layered cut glass on a dammed shelf so it could be fused into one sheet.
If you look closely at the first picture, you can see the pieces of stock used to create the dams. Underneath was a single pane of clear cut glass. We stacked up four layers of glass on top of it.
The next week, two of the three amigos arrived to do 'cold work'. It sounds very simple, but it's NOT! The glass was out of the kilns after the first firing and needed to be sanded around the edges and smoothed off before the glass was slumped into shape. There was also some sand blasting to make the surface matte finish instead of shiny.
There were power tools involved. First we ran the edges of the plate around a wet belt sander. And although it sounds like you'd just be mashing it against a spinning belt, you really had to muscle it to keep even pressure on the piece. These pieces were just big enough to be pretty challenging to handle (especially when wet). You are very sure that if you slip and drop it on the concrete floor, all your hours of hard work will be swept up into a scrap bucket.
Since BFF couldn't drive down two weekends in a row, I offered to do her cold work for her. After experiencing the hours of sanding, blasting and hand smoothing, I will NOT be making this offer again. Ever. That said, her piece had a bubble trapped in the glass at the edge that made belt sanding a little dangerous. I chip popped up and I panicked. The instructor finished the edge sanding on that piece. It took a professional to make it look okay.
Once all the tedious hand smoothing was done, we put the pieces on a mold to be slumped into shape. This second firing would make them more functionally shaped.
The sand blasted, matte finish would not be altered by this second firing, only the shape of the glass would be affected. We set up the kilns and left.
Yesterday, I went to pick up the finished pieces and they looked GREAT!
A couple days later, she says, 'let's do this class' and sends me a link to Hot Glass Houston's Hip2BSquare class. I agree and plan accordingly. At the last minute, my SIL calls and says she'd like to come spend the weekend hanging out. I asked if she was interested in the class and added her to the roster.
So, on Saturday morning, the three amigos headed off to the studio. We met Cynthia, the instructor who was very patient and kind to all of us. First we layered cut glass on a dammed shelf so it could be fused into one sheet.
If you look closely at the first picture, you can see the pieces of stock used to create the dams. Underneath was a single pane of clear cut glass. We stacked up four layers of glass on top of it.
Theoretically, the glass would melt into a single pane of glass, and if we did the damming correctly, it would not stick to the sides and break when unmolding. We left very hopeful.
There were power tools involved. First we ran the edges of the plate around a wet belt sander. And although it sounds like you'd just be mashing it against a spinning belt, you really had to muscle it to keep even pressure on the piece. These pieces were just big enough to be pretty challenging to handle (especially when wet). You are very sure that if you slip and drop it on the concrete floor, all your hours of hard work will be swept up into a scrap bucket.
Once all the tedious hand smoothing was done, we put the pieces on a mold to be slumped into shape. This second firing would make them more functionally shaped.
The sand blasted, matte finish would not be altered by this second firing, only the shape of the glass would be affected. We set up the kilns and left.
It takes hours to create one of these. Hours of selecting, cutting and placing the glass. Then hours of firing to melt it all into a plate. Then hours of cold work to perfect the edges and surface. Then more hours in the kiln to shape the final work. It's really a fascinating process.
-- Sandee Wagner
