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I just finished slumping my second bowl and plate. And I really like the way they look. Except, there are still some grinding marks left from cleaning a few spots before firing.

Can I fire polish the pieces to remove the marks?

Would it be better to hand-polish with dremel?

If I do fire-polish, should I leave the pieces in the molds, or just on the washed shelf.

Thanks,
Cheryl

do you mean marks on the edge or the surface?

you have to heat in decreasing temps. fuse, firepolish, slump. if you do a firepolish, which in my kiln is 1325-1350, on a shelf, you'll lose the slump because it'll be flattened. if you do it in the mold, you chance having the glass flow to the bottom of the mold.

the bottom line is that you most likely have to hand work it now.

Charlies right! I had a bowl that was great except I thought it should be a bit more shiney (is that a word?), any way, my bowl is now a needlely mess that distorted the pattern on the way down. I'll be making it's replacement this weekend.
It was a good learning experience!

Thanks. That is what I thought.

c

I have never tried to polish glass before.

I'm using a dremel with a buffing wheel and polishing compound. Is there a better option?

Thanks.
c

Buy a selection of diamond hand pads. Dremel would take forever.

Thanks for the fast answer. But I am a real newbie at this. Can you be a little more specific for me? Are we talking about a rubber holder that fits a special type of sand paper? Or is this glass-specific.

If I go to my Spectrum dealer will he know what it is? Or can I go to Home Depot for it.

Thanks again.
c

I've had luck heating the piece up to just-below-slump -- then rushing to fire polish temps and not staying there long.

The idea is that if you are above the annealing range you are safe having unequal temps in the glass. If you kiln heats fast enough you can get the surface of the glass to fire polish temps before a critical amount of the glass gets to slump. You'll probably want to crash cool from fire polish temp down.

Its tricky and I wouldn't do it on a piece you're not willing to lose. My experience is that the thicker the piece the more likely success.

- Paul

cherylka wrote:I just finished slumping my second bowl and plate. And I really like the way they look. Except, there are still some grinding marks left from cleaning a few spots before firing.

Can I fire polish the pieces to remove the marks?

Would it be better to hand-polish with dremel?

If I do fire-polish, should I leave the pieces in the molds, or just on the washed shelf.

Thanks,
Cheryl

Thanks Brock.

Do you have a recommendation for mesh versus resin, or any of the grits that are better for glass? Do they last a long time, or should I be ordering by the dozen?

c

cherylka wrote:Thanks Brock.

Do you have a recommendation for mesh versus resin, or any of the grits that are better for glass? Do they last a long time, or should I be ordering by the dozen?

c

Sorry, you're on your own, I don't use them. Tried them, too much work.
Others can tell you more, but you'll need a series of pads, from coarse to fine. Try something like, 80, 220, 400, 800, 3500. Brock

Paul Tarlow wrote:I've had luck heating the piece up to just-below-slump -- then rushing to fire polish temps and not staying there long.

The idea is that if you are above the annealing range you are safe having unequal temps in the glass. If you kiln heats fast enough you can get the surface of the glass to fire polish temps before a critical amount of the glass gets to slump. You'll probably want to crash cool from fire polish temp down.

Its tricky and I wouldn't do it on a piece you're not willing to lose. My experience is that the thicker the piece the more likely success.

- Paul

I agree, Paul. Isn't that Brian's ZapnBlastem technology? It also helps if you have a very shallow mold. I usually use the diamond pads first to about a 400 grit.