Help! I'm stuck

[Robert Cohen]

I tried to drape a piece of fused BE glass over a crest mold coated with glass serarator. The glass has stuck to the mold. Does anybody have ANY ideas on how I can get the glass off the mold?. Thanks for your help.

Bob

[Kim Bellis]

Bob:
I have had this happen to me twice. 1st time had to just toss the whole thing. 2nd time - I put the whole thing in the freezer - took it out and broke the glas with a hammer to save the mold.

Hope this helps
Kim

[Judy Schnabel]

Bob,

I drape over Crest Molds quite frequently.

Does your mold have plenty of tiny holes in it?

Do you elevate your mold off the kiln shelf?

Did your glass flow over the edge of the mold causing this problem?

Judy

[Cher]

I've had some luck soaking mold and glass in water for some time, like a day, then carefully pried apart. This has worked with glass that had "overflowed" the mold, kinda like huggung it. ( A BIG wine bottle on a medium mold and it flowed over three sides, if that makes a diff.)
YO

[Robert Cohen]

Kim, Judy & YoDuh. Thanks for your input. I finally called Crest Molds who suggested that I soak the mold for awhile and then tap gently with a rubber mallet. I did just that and guess what? I broke the glass However I did save the mold which I guess is a plus. From now on, despite what Crest Mold advertises, I'm going to use thinfire paper with their molds and follow Judys advice. Thanks again for your help.

Bob

[Gale aka artistefem]

There are a couple other solutions....... to save the mold - reheat the mold and glass till the glass has reached a softened state. Reach in the kiln and pull the glass off the mold.

The way to prevent sticking and save the glass is more preventative. On the cool down when your kiln temp is in the 1100-1125 degree range, shut off the kiln (for just a few seconds), lift the lid.

I reach into my kiln with a three foot piece of metal flat strap that has a hook bent in the end of it. I gently hook the edge of the glass, lifting it up off the mold. I maneuver the glass just enough that it doesn't settle back down into it's original contact points with the mold.

You have to be quick about this so you don't lose too much kiln heat. If your temp drops below 1075, take the temp back up to 1100 degrees and finish out your cool down annealing cycle.

I've done this for years with my problematic (usually large and high)drape molds with no visible (checked with polarizing film) glass stress.

Any of you wise old glass-ies care to comment on whether this is a good practice?

[Brock]

You don't need no stinkin' approbation from wise old glass-ies, you've been doing it for years and it works for you. But yeah, there's nothing wrong with doing that. You are a LONG way from thermal shock at those temperatures, so, no problemo. Brock