Stained Glass
first plate of mistakes
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So there it is, my first actual project in my kiln. It sucks, but it makes me happy. There’s a crease in the middle, the edges are very uneaven, and basically every mistake possible was made… which in the end is a good thing I suppose. When apprenticing in glass I learned the rule of the first project… You must keep it, you must display it, and you can’t fix it. It’ll be a nice reminder someday of where it all started. You know, when my masterpieces are on display and being sold for billions.
Sorry for the crappy picture, but it’s a crappy camera.
boom went my weekend
1I spent a good portion of Saturday working in my art/craft room. Last weekend I had finally purchased some hot glass and was ready to start playing around with it in the new kiln. I spent time slapping together my first project, a glass plate. Something simple, something colorful…
10.5 hours plus a few hours to cool down, this popped out of the kiln, which made me happy. Not perfect, but pretty good (I think) and I learned a bunch too which was a bonus.
Sunday, I prepped the mold I was going to use to shape (or ‘slump’) the newly created disc into a plate. I brushed the mold with a kiln wash and placed it in the kiln. The wash I was using needs to be heated to 500°F before using it. When the pink turns gray, it’s ready. About halfway through I heard a small boom in the kiln.
When the kiln cooled down enough to open, this is what I found…
The plate actually exploded and flung apart. 
So much for making for finishing my project! A whole weekend wasted, I was pretty down about it last night since there was just nothing I could do about it until I get a new one…. and study up on what I did wrong. I never used a clay mold before, so it is most likely my own fault. Did I heat it too fast… did I use the wrong kiln wash… who knows!
No plate until next weekend most likely
back to glass
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I finally got a small table in my room after rearranging everything so it would fit.
It’s nice to be starting on a new project.
Someone had ordered a yard gnome piece and I’m making a few extra to sell (as you may be able to tell from the photo).
drew something
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So I finally drew something out last night before leaving work. Found an interesting drawing online that I really liked and converted it to a glass window. I’d post it but I’m going to do it as a gift for one of the friends.
Please send drawings/doodles, I’ll need more projects soon 
Now… to find time to work on it…hmmm.
Onward, ho!
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I spent some time last night cutting out the pieces for the project and laying out my work table. I have my pattern (left), color drawing (center) and my pattern pieces (right).
After printing it out and cutting it, I realized just how small some of the pieces actually were… oy. Some will just have to be skipped. If I actually cut them, they will be completely covered with foil and eventually solder.
I can only hope this doesn’t take away from Mike’s design. I’m pretty sure it won’t, but if it does I’ll just dig a whole outside, bury the whole thing, and pretend I never did it. hehehe. :-O
Next project
2I still have yet to decide on the design of my curio cabinet, so until then I’ve decided to work on some projects that have still been pending. Presenting my next project….
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“Hot Cup ‘o Joe”Â
A design by Mike T. aka perlcub. ©2005
Pattern for sale on myglasspatterns.com
humpty dumpty was put back together again
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And voila! All the broken pieces are replaced. All that’s left is to clean it up in some soapy water, patina the new solder marks to match the rest, and then polish it up.
It’ll be sad to see it go…. strangely enough. Now that I fixed it I want to keep it and put it somewhere around the house. Unfortunately it has to be boxed up and shipped back. *pout*
Putting Humpty Dumpty back together again
0On friday I took a quick fieldtrip to one of the local glass shops to find some matching glass for this lamp. I was not successful finding anything close enough in my own collection so I would have to rely on the store. I picked out several pieces of glass that were close, but not quite perfect. After reviewing my choices with other glass artists they all agreed what I picked out was as close as I was going to get.
Glass, like many other mediums, is run in batches. Each batch is different, which makes repair work more difficult. I could find the exact same type and color of glass, but the colors could be slightly off from the batch that was used in making the lamp. This is similar to yarn/wools and the idea of dye lots.
I loosened the joints on the lamp so that I could take out neighboring pieces. Knowing that all the pieces on the lamp were exactly the same, I could use a neighboring piece, that is still intact, to cut a new piece from.
After fighting with the lamp to get the new pieces in you can see the colors are not quite right between the second tier of pieces. However, when the light is on the colors should be almost an exact match.
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A few more pieces to cut, a little soldering, some polishing and it’ll be ready to send back to the owner! Final picture to come soon.
Humpty Dumpty
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Yes, it happens… cats rub up against things, beautiful things fall, and your left with pieces. This repair job will be my next project. I’ve made lamps like this before, but never repaired them, so this should be somewhat interesting.
There are 3 broken pieces. 1 is the missing piece in the top crown, another is a panel just below and to the right, and last there is a shattered transparent green gluechip piece just below that one.
   
This should be relatiely easy as long as I can match the glass up. Basically the job will entail opening up the solder seams, pulling the cracked pieces out, creating new pieces and shoving the whole thing back together again.
Stayed tuned.
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