WarmGlass.com

I am as puzzled as Marty. Either I have pleased the gods and benefitted by their blessing of my glass, or a considerably faster schedule works. As to the controller, can you put a switch in to bypass it. It'd be like going from automatic to manual trans in a car. Might be tedious, but then you could...

I like that idea Lani-How about cutting iced beer steins, now that would be a challenge! As to the state of mind of those doing the cutting, a before and after contents consumption comparison could be easily made. Safety glasses, kevlar body suits and insurance policies mandatory!

NSF wasn't interested but I cooled some glass down anyway. I chilled an 18" by 24" piece of double strength float to about 20F and cut strips, very deep curves, and 4 and 6" circles. I could not discern a difference, other than that my hands were freezing. The glass behaved as if it w...

I've had my eye on one for a while that reads from minus 25 to 1500F. It is hard for me to justify getting one on the basis of need, since I am doing what I want in the kilns without one, but it would sure be a cool learning tool, and might be useful for bigger projects than I am doing now. I guess ...

What I was thinking of was the the flat plane edge, what you get by inverting a bowl on a lap. I actually like the more "organic" edge I get from my WBS.

I've been pondering this, and I could tighten it up quite a bit. I'll use a sheet of float cut in half. Float for it's uniformity of internal stress, the same sheet so I know it is from an identical run. Next would be the cutting itself-The outside sheet would have to be cut outside to maximize the ...

Mary-For perfect straight edges, a lap is it. Belt sanders with a flat platen behind the belt are ok for short straight edges, mine can do about 8" or so, but if you want to do longer, or the edges of bowls they get difficult, if not impossible to use. My water supply is non recirculating.I hav...

You have inspired me to do yet another test Brock. We have single digits in the forecast for the next few mornings, and I am going to put a couple of sheets outside while their identical twins bask in the comfort of my studio, then do identical cuts and see what happens. Stuff I worked with years ag...

I have an SW 24" lap with magnetic pads, going on 14 years of hard use with no major problems. I don't know if Steve is still in business, but he offered great service and used to make smaller machines. I have heard lots of good things about Bob Stephans machines too-hisglassworks.com. I am a d...

I don't think cold has anything to do with it. I used to store my glass in sub zero temps, haul it in, throw it on the bench, and it cut the same as the room temp stuff. I think the work surface theory is the best one. Did something get under the carpet to add a little hump? Or maybe the cold made y...

Of course this would not work for enclosed castings, but anyone use optical pyrometers? They should be able to give a direct surface temperature measure of the glass. Only problems I can see is that you have to pop the lid to shoot a temp, and if the glass is glowing there is the issue of aim, the l...

I've been tack fusing spectrum irid to irid for many years, with no pop offs. I fire to a temp that gives a gently rounded edge to the tacked decorative elements, but still shows the irid well. Too hight and the irid is absorbed, too low and the edges are sharp, and the tack is poor. I have a line b...

Some stringed instrument makers use this technique to figure out where the dead spots of the instrument are. Where the particles collect is where there is no movement. This simple test reveals very complex acoustic patterns, since live or dead areas are the result of wave interaction throughout the ...

Bruce-It can be very difficult to bend glass without any marks, the exception being very shallow contours with large pieces of glass, and ring forms. Windshield makers get around this by using positive and negative forms that give them the ability to bend at a much lower temp by mechanically manipul...

And with the enclosure and bafflling, don't forget to allow easy access to the drain plug at the bottom of the tank. If you don't make it easy to get to it you won't drain it often, and not only will your tank rust faster, but there will be more water vapor in the lines.

Cheryl-Last I heard Boyce was in California making tiles, and Camp Colton, my alma matar of sorts, is now available for weddings and retreats.

Didymiums are useful for reducing the yellow sodium flare that torchworkers see, but it's the infra red that is a problem for the eyes lens. Make sure that the glasses you use are rated specifically for IR protection.

Not sure how big or heavy your pieces are Barbara, but my experience with vermiculite is that it's too delicate for much handling. The one inch board I have is very friable, and would be useless for transport to and from the kiln. Perhaps there are better grades than what I got years ago. My favorit...

For me, I'd call my Taurus a poor mans water jet. I find it most useful for stained glass work, though am incorporting it more into kiln jobs. It is one of those tools that I did Ok without for 20 years, but find it opens up alot, both from an economic as well as design perspective. Brock, interesti...

It was ten below here this morning, but my studio was a toasty 45 degrees when I came in. My two cents on this thread is in agreement with Berts, that the elements see the difference as negligible. Car headlights coming on at ten below and getting hotter than kiln elements don't fail more in the win...