Using cracked pieces
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2003 1:14 pm
Hey all, newbie here. I am getting into fusing glass primarily for use in my stained glass work, using abstract formed items the way you would use any piece of stained glass-foiled and soldered into a panel.
I am going the BE route, but many of my first experiments are using scrap glass...I have hundreds of pounds of it--from all manufacturers
. Of course, many of these tryouts have stress cracks right off in some obvious areas where there are incompatible glass. But my question is this: how likely are future stress cracks in areas that look good right now? For me to get away with this do I really need to get the stress viewing tools?
What I am doing is breaking off bad sections, then grinding the edges and foiling them (so you dont see the edges anyway). My first attempts look good, but I don't want to create any panels that have fused pieces that will be full of cracks...I've read you may get them months down the road.
I am doing high fire and slow annealing times, on two or three layers of glass, in a Paragon Fusion7. Any tips geared for a stained glasser are much appreciated!
I am going the BE route, but many of my first experiments are using scrap glass...I have hundreds of pounds of it--from all manufacturers
. Of course, many of these tryouts have stress cracks right off in some obvious areas where there are incompatible glass. But my question is this: how likely are future stress cracks in areas that look good right now? For me to get away with this do I really need to get the stress viewing tools? What I am doing is breaking off bad sections, then grinding the edges and foiling them (so you dont see the edges anyway). My first attempts look good, but I don't want to create any panels that have fused pieces that will be full of cracks...I've read you may get them months down the road.
I am doing high fire and slow annealing times, on two or three layers of glass, in a Paragon Fusion7. Any tips geared for a stained glasser are much appreciated!