01.
Build It
Because I didn’t photograph this project during the assembly phase, I’m substituting the construction of a similar project. These strip cut designs, where the pieces are placed on edge next to one another, use three different glass colors and three different heights of glass. The different heights, when the glass flows, create interesting effects on the top of the piece.
02.
Fully Fused
Although the image is blurry, I think you can see in the yellow and gray piece on the right that the yellow and white have really come to the foreground while the gray and white have receded. The lines have become a bit wavy, as planned, since the taller pieces of glass flowed over the shorter, hopefully giving it the semblance of a textile.
03.
Grind It
After fusing, the edges of the piece are rough because they’ve been in contact with fiber paper (which prevented the molten glass from sticking to the dams, which in turn kept the glass from flowing too far). In order to grind that roughness off and also create a rounded edge, I used this lapidary grinder at Bullseye Glass’s Open Studio in Pasadena. It’s my favorite coldworking equipment when it comes to a straight edge. I started with the 60 grit wheel to shape the edge, moving up to three more wheels ending at 600 grit.
04.
Back into the Kiln
In this view of the plate on the slumping mold (Square Slumper A, 8635) the matte finish on the edge of the piece is clearly visible. During the slumping it’ll fire polish to a nice gloss.
05.
Slumped
The plate is slumped and the edges are indeed glossy.
06.
Bonus
This is my product shot setup. The “seamless background” is just a piece of ThinFire shelf paper taped to the wall behind the workbench. On the right is a light table that I use to trace pieces of stained glass. On the left is a piece of ceramic fiber paper to bounce the light from the right. Up above is a magnifier lamp. All of these items are used for other purposes, but when you need a light tent for a product shot and you don’t have one, necessity is the mother.
Results
Final Result
I adore the way the light travels through the amber tinted glass. From the top there’s a real sense of depth. The rounded edges are elegant and for the first successful piece I’ve achieved, I’m pretty darn chuffed.
FULL FUSING SCHEDULE (RUN TIME 9:41)*
| SEGMENT | RATE (deg F / hour) | TEMPERATURE (F) | HOLD (hours:minutes) |
| 1 | 350 | 1225 | :30 |
| 2 | 600 | 1500 | :15 |
| 3 | AFAP | 900 | 2:00 |
| 4 | 100 | 700 | OFF |
SLUMP FUSING SCHEDULE (RUN TIME 10:57)*
| SEGMENT | RATE (deg F / hour) | TEMPERATURE (F) | HOLD (hours:minutes) |
| 1 | 200 | 1250 | :30 |
| 2 | AFAP | 900 | 2:00 |
| 3 | 100 | 700 | OFF |
* The firing schedules may be designed for other projects that were fired with this one. Everything was fired in a Paragon GL-22AD.