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Hi -- I'm Willow, a relatively new fuser and a lampworker. Most of my fusing has been small pieces for mobiles or jewelry, but I've done a few simple slumps as well.

Slumping question: is there a best rule-of-thumb for the size of your (fused) blank v. the size of the mold? I'm talking about simple shallow plates and dishes here. Should the ready-to-slump piece be exactly the same as the outer dimension of the mode? A bit bigger to account for the depth?

TIA for your help. If I ever do something worth showing, I'll post a photo!

WillowAnn wrote:...Slumping question: is there a best rule-of-thumb for the size of your (fused) blank v. the size of the mold? I'm talking about simple shallow plates and dishes here. Should the ready-to-slump piece be exactly the same as the outer dimension of the mode? A bit bigger to account for the depth?...

Simple answer is that you need to make the blank the same size as the mold, particularly since you are doing shallow bends.

Once you start bending into deeper molds, you can make your blanks larger, within limits of course, and dependent upon the shape and slope of the mold.

don't make your glass any larger than the mold, as it can drape down over the outside edge, thereby trapping your mold. Then you have to break either the glass or the mold to free it. Not pretty.