01.
Stringers and Spacers
In this photo, I’ve already cut the clear Tekta glass for the plates (3mm thick, 10 x 8 inches). There are also a couple of small coasters I’ll be doing off to their left. The plates and coasters are sitting on a set of four small ceramic dam pieces, elevating them from the gray cutting mat just to make it easier to pick up later. For the green lines I used Spring Green Transparent 2mm stringer (all of the glass in this project is made by Bullseye). For the blue, I used Turquoise Blue Transparent 2mm stringer. For the yellow, Medium Amber Transparent 2mm stringer.
02.
Close-up of Spacers
The small pieces of yellow glass are used as spacers between the stringers. By standing them on edge, two together, the 3mm thickness of the yellow glass translates into a consistent 6mm space between the stringers. Everything is glued down with GlasTac Gel.
03.
Two Sides of the Sandwich
Two, identical layups are ready, one closer to the camera, one further. Both are required for this project, as you’ll see in few seconds.
04.
Into the Kiln
The two halves of the project (along with another that is mostly red) are loaded onto a mullite kiln shelf with ThinFire paper as a separator between shelf and glass. The point of the tack fuse is to bring the glass up to a temperature where the pieces tack together but don’t move, let alone melt or fuse.
05.
Tack Fused
The piece has successfully tack-fused, the stringers still in place. There’s just the slightest bit of movement as the little spacers lean one way or another. The ends of the stringer droop over the side of the clear Tekta base. Neither makes a difference to the project.
06.
Score It
In order to cut off the spacers, I flipped the glass over to expose the smooth side. On my waffle grid cutting system (Cutter’s Mate), I put down a piece of cardboard so the spacers didn’t sink into the waffle grid. I scored it with the diamond wheel just like I would any piece of glass.
07.
Break It
Tack fused glass acts just like a single piece of glass when it comes to cutting. I scored the glass, then used running pliers, and the ends broke off straight and clean. This part always amazes me.
08.
Nice and Neat
The pressure from the running pliers ran a break up the score line resulting in a nice, straight edge.
09.
The Ends
These are the pieces that were cut off, in case you were curious.
10.
Bubble Sandwich
Now we begin to see the form of the end result. I take one of the identical tack fused pieces, flip it over, rotate it 90 degrees, then place it on top of the other tack fused piece. When they are fused, the little empty squares created by the stringer will trap air as the top and bottom come together.
11.
Place the Two Halves into the Kiln
At the back right are the two halves ready to be fully fused.
12.
Fully Fused
From here, that looks like a flat and fully fused piece of glass.
13.
Ready to Slump
Now that the glass is fully fused and flat, we’re ready to give it a final form. From the start this project has been designed for the Square Slumper mold, No. 8635 (8.5 x 8.5 x 1.5 inches).
14.
Third Time in the Kiln
At the back right is the fused glass, centered on the slump mold, balanced at just the four corners.
15.
Slumped
For once I’ve remembered to photograph the slumped pieces in the kiln! That’s the end of this project.
Results
Final Result
I made this plate at the same time I made the red version. Although all of the steps are the same, some of the photos are different, if you want to check it out. That makes this my third bubble plate, and I don’t think I’m done with this fun effect yet.
Close-up One
Couldn’t resist a couple of close-ups.
Close-up Two
Last one, I promise.
TACK FUSING SCHEDULE (RUN TIME 8:54)*
| SEGMENT | RATE (deg F / hour) | TEMPERATURE (F) | HOLD (hours:minutes) |
| 1 | 300 | 1000 | :00 |
| 2 | 225 | 1225 | :30 |
| 3 | AFAP | 1400 | :00 |
| 4 | AFAP | 950 | 1:00 |
| 5 | 100 | 725 | OFF |
FULL FUSING SCHEDULE (RUN TIME 13:34)*
| SEGMENT | RATE (deg F / hour) | TEMPERATURE (F) | HOLD (hours:minutes) |
| 1 | 150 | 1000 | :15 |
| 2 | 225 | 1225 | :30 |
| 3 | AFAP | 1475 | :20 |
| 4 | AFAP | 950 | 1:30 |
| 5 | 100 | 725 | OFF |
SLUMP FUSING SCHEDULE (RUN TIME 12:34, 17.1 kWH)*
| SEGMENT | RATE (deg F / hour) | TEMPERATURE (F) | HOLD (hours:minutes) |
| 1 | 150 | 1000 | :00 |
| 2 | 100 | 1200 | 0 |
| 3 | AFAP | 950 | 1:30 |
| 4 | 100 | 725 | OFF |
* The firing schedules may be designed for other projects that were fired with this one. Everything was fired in a Paragon GL-22AD.
We’re blown away by your talent and attention to detail! I love seeing and reading about your process, step-by-step. What a beautiful effect the bubbles make! We love this piece. Thank you, T!
Oh goodness, Shawn! You’re so welcome! High praise from someone who’s done way more art than me. 🙂 It was great seeing you both!