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kids broke a very expensive kosta boda baloon-shaped piece.....now I have a box of gorgeous pieces of rainbow colored crystal..........can i fuse it ? If so, on shelf ? do i need to contain it in some way?

rj wrote:kids broke a very expensive kosta boda baloon-shaped piece.....now I have a box of gorgeous pieces of rainbow colored crystal..........can i fuse it ? If so, on shelf ? do i need to contain it in some way?

uhm, at the risk of sounding ignorant - what is a kosta boda piece?
D

crystal from sweden

rj wrote:crystal from sweden

ahhhh ok - thanks for the clarification
D

I would call Kosta Boda and see. From what I've heard glass blowers can get away with more incompatability than we can, but be advised I am not a glass blower and my knowledge here is minimal at best. You could ask over at craftweb. Sorry I don't have a link for you, maybe Brian can post one.

Amy

http://www.craftweb.com

was the piece decorated? or all one color?
You could probally fuse it... and yes, you would need a shelf... and a dam or form if you are going past tack.. but the question is what is their melting temp.,,.. go to Kosta's web site and send a e-mail off to their customer service. They have answered questions of mine in the past.

Are you trying to use the pieces to make something else or to glue them back together? to glue them you might want to try a clear UV glue.. or else I can recommend a person that does glass repairs.

Good luck what ever you decide.

Try UV glue, Loctite 358 is the glue I use for crystal. does not yellow either.

John

rj- I'm a blower/fuser and I'm afraid it's toast. If its a vessel of some sort there is no way of repairing it without it either totally colapsing in your kiln or seeing the broken parts. Johns idea will work but I gather you will not like the outcome because you will see the part lines.

another idea is to donate it to your artwork ,:D I mean how often do we get to play with cristal. Cast it into something.

sorry- but if it makes you feel any better,I know how it feels, I have had a number of my pieces land on the floor from the kids.

dave

It's probably toast - but I would just look in another directioin and make into some kind of mosaic piece - fust the individual pieces to flatten a little and have it made into a very textured stained glass piece - when I totally goof up a piece I usually just take it in another direction - no use trying to go "back home" - the results will only remind you of what it was and not what it could be. Best wishes - Terry O.

I know it can never be wha it was. What I had in mind was to just lay all the pieces on the bottom of the shelf and fuse it toone flat piece and then go from there. Question? can I fuse crystal.....not with anything strange with it.....will it ;blow up and ruin my kiln? just fuse the pieces like you would tempered glass pieces...........

Kosta Boda makes a lot of production glass
as well as unique art pieces.

Are you sure it is (was) leaded crystal?
If so, the temps are a bit lower than with soda-lime.

They make wonderfully clear soda-lime, too.
Do not know the COE.

Kosta Boda is one of my favourites.

-lauri

I enjoy looking at Kosta Boda too. A couple of weeks ago, Ross Melrose, at Helena Bischof Gallery in Sidney told me a little about the company. He said that Kosta Boda is the name of the remote town where several hot/warm glass shops and families work. He said that for many of their production items, the owners of KB go around and solicit production by asking different shops how many of these, and those, can you make, and for how much. That's why some of the same production items come out a little differently. I've looked at their bald head paperweight series in several shops and haven't noticed a big difference in these pieces, however.
Nikki

Kosta and Boda were originally two separatecompanies.
I'm not sure but I think they now belong to a larger conglomerate.

The factories are located in south Sweden in an area
called "glasriket", glass country with several factories
and numerous small studios within 60 miles radius.

Scandinavian glass factories have always worked with
independent artists and designers.

-lauri

Lauri: It would be really interesting to tour the area and visit some of the shops and studios. Have you made such a trip?
Nikki

Nikki O'Neill wrote:Lauri: It would be really interesting to tour the area and visit some of the shops and studios. Have you made such a trip?
Nikki

http://www.kostaboda.se/. see the kontakt link at the bottom to mail them, but you'll have to know some swedish to understand the site very much.

i spent multiple weeks touring the glass factories in the south of sweden in the early 80's. at that time, there were 30-some factories. most gave tours, and all had factory shops with correspondingly very low prices. kosta-boda and orrefors are the largest of them.

you could fuse the glass flat and then slump it. no telling whether you'd get devit or what temps to use though. i would doubt that the factory would tell you either, since a lot of the production techniques that they are using are probably a well kept secret.