firing with fiberglass

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 6:02 pm

Can anybody give me some advice on using fiberglass to fire on. I fired 1/4 inch glass on 1/16 inch cloth fiberglass. I had assumed after the fire the fiberglass would peel off. However I was mistaken. It stuck and stuck hard........ to the glass. Also the fiberglass turned very hard and brittle.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!
Denny Q.

Tony Smith · Post by **Tony Smith** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 8:13 pm

Unfortunately, regular fiberglass softens around 1200Â° and melts somewhere around fusing temperatures. You can fuse it into your work, but it will stay.

I have been doing some work with silica cloth and it doesn't stick to the glass at fusing temperatures as its melting point is around 3000Â°. You can fire on it and it gives a heavy fabric-like texture to the glass.

Tony

http://www.amsmith.com/experiments/texturedback.jpg

Luiza · Post by **Luiza** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 8:59 pm

Tony Smith wrote: I have been doing some work with silica cloth and it doesn't stick to the glass at fusing temperatures as its melting point is around 3000Â°. You can fire on it and it gives a heavy fabric-like texture to the glass.

Tony

http://www.amsmith.com/experiments/texturedback.jpg

Tony, I loved the texture. Can you expain me what is silica cloth?

Thanks
Luiza

Lisa Allen · Post by **Lisa Allen** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 9:19 pm

Luiza wrote:
Tony Smith wrote: I have been doing some work with silica cloth and it doesn't stick to the glass at fusing temperatures as its melting point is around 3000Â°. You can fire on it and it gives a heavy fabric-like texture to the glass.

Tony

http://www.amsmith.com/experiments/texturedback.jpg
Tony, I loved the texture. Can you expain me what is silica cloth?
Thanks
Luiza

Luiza, try searching for "refractory cloth" on google or some other search engine.

Lisa

Tony Smith · Post by **Tony Smith** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 9:24 pm

Luiza wrote: Tony, I loved the texture. Can you expain me what is silica cloth?
Thanks
Luiza

Silica cloth is very similar to fiberglass except that it is made from pure silica fiber rather than regular glass. It is used as a fire curtain material for welding applications and you may be able to find it as a welding blanket. You may have a hard time finding it in Brazil. I was hoping to talk Brad into distributing the fabric, but it has some strange properties and takes a while to learn how to use it.

Tony

http://www.amsmith.com/experiments/fabric.jpg

Luiza · Post by **Luiza** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 10:10 pm

Thanks Lisa and Tony.
Luiza

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 12:01 am

Thank you, Thank you
Do yo think most welding supply stores will carry this product.
Or
Can I buy it online somewhere
Thanks again
Denny Q.

Susan Taylor Glasgow · Tue Aug 05, 2003 1:45 am

I'm so excited! I actually know something that might help! I've been waiting for this moment....Okay, here goes. I use fiber glass to fire on all the time instead of fiber paper, and to get a cool fabric-like texture. However, to keep the glass from sticking, it has to be coated with a minimum of 2 coats of thin kiln wash, letting each coat dry well before firing your glass on it. It will still get brittle, but if you keep re-coating it you'll be able to use it several firings. It ends up to be alot cheaper than thin-fire paper and also alot safer. I hope this helps! I'm so happy I could submit! Susan

Tony Smith · Post by **Tony Smith** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 7:11 am

The silica cloth that I have used is called AMI-SIL and is made by Auburn Manufacturing in Auburn, Maine.
http://www.auburnmfg.com/amisil.html
They have three different weights of the fabric and each gives a slightly different texture. The lightweight fabric is a good place to start. It sells for about $20/sq yd which is a little over $2/sq ft. After 6 or seven firings at full fuse, the fabric is not brittle, very flexible and ready to go another round.

You have to put dams around the perimeter of your glass to weight the fabric down... if you don't, it'll cause the glass to take on a potato-chip shape... it's really weird since this happens at full fuse temps. The dams minimize this bizarre effect. The glass also embeds itself in the fabric. After cooling, you gently peel the fabric off the glass taking care not to fray the fabric.

Their number is 1-800-AMI-6689. Ask for Matt and tell him that Tony Smith told you about the AMI-SIL fabric. They have a lot of fabrics and that should let him know what you want. They sell small quantities, so don't be shy.

Tony
http://www.amsmith.com/experiments/hydrangeatexture.jpg

Bert Weiss · Post by **Bert Weiss** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 8:32 am

Tony Smith wrote:
Luiza wrote: Tony, I loved the texture. Can you expain me what is silica cloth?
Thanks
Luiza
Silica cloth is very similar to fiberglass except that it is made from pure silica fiber rather than regular glass. It is used as a fire curtain material for welding applications and you may be able to find it as a welding blanket. You may have a hard time finding it in Brazil. I was hoping to talk Brad into distributing the fabric, but it has some strange properties and takes a while to learn how to use it.

Tony

http://www.amsmith.com/experiments/fabric.jpg

Tony

I worked with the silica cloth several years ago and got disastrous results. I handled the cloth in the process of setting it down. The glass fired up with a womderful texture but there were these "finger print" streaks where I ran my hands over it. They looked like they should clean up, but were permanent and killer. I had to redo the job with a different texture. It was a shame because I had a free stash of the cloth from a friend who was selling a point of sale display for the company that made it.

Tony Smith · Post by **Tony Smith** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 9:32 am

I haven't seen that Bert. When you say "fingerprint" do you literally mean fingerprint? Like from your finger? I can't imagine you would see that through the texture. I've been handling the cloth to smooth it out too. I do know that if the cloth is folded, it affects the lay of the fabric and fold mark will show in the texture on the glass.

Tony

Joanne Owsley · Post by **Joanne Owsley** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 1:45 pm

Are there rigidizers that you can use with the fiberglass? I have access to a supply of fiberglass roving. I have some in my garage and am trying to figure out the best way to use it.

Cheryl · Post by **Cheryl** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 10:43 am

NOT that Tony would deliberately lead us astray, BUT! I just talked with Matt (who claims he does not sound Canadian) who said that the factory really needs to deal in larger quantities - say, 5 yards minimum per type of cloth. So, in the future folks might want to get together and do a group order (with only 1 buyer) - it's easy to cut with regular scissors.

Cheers! Cheryl

Tony Smith · Post by **Tony Smith** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 12:59 pm

Cheryl wrote:NOT that Tony would deliberately lead us astray, BUT! I just talked with Matt (who claims he does not sound Canadian) who said that the factory really needs to deal in larger quantities - say, 5 yards minimum per type of cloth. So, in the future folks might want to get together and do a group order (with only 1 buyer) - it's easy to cut with regular scissors.

Cheers! Cheryl

Sorry about that. Matt didn't mention that when we had originally talked although he did say that they preferred to deal in full rolls.

Try Hanes supply. I've bought small quantities from them.
http://www.hanessupply.com/catalog/031/031-0001.pdf

Tony

WarmGlass.com

firing with fiberglass

firing with fiberglass

Change in policies at Auburn Manufacturing

Re: Change in policies at Auburn Manufacturing