WarmGlass.com

MVgirl99 wrote:Hi. I am a newbie... I ordered a kiln off ebay. Nothing fancy Cress 11X11X9 with a kiln sitter- should be here next week. I have been a stained glasser for years and have just recently ventured in glass tile design. I hope to create fused glass tiles to accent and compliment my tile designs

I have been trying to educate myself- coming across this bulletin board has been wonderful! I have read all the "newbie" posts.
I do have a few questions...
I will make a start at replying.
1. Are there any exceptions to the rule about only using COE 90, 96 or float? It will be too bad if I can't use my stained glass scraps...
It's not about Coe, but about compatibility. So use a single range of tested compatible glass, unless you do the the testing across the different manufacturers. Stained glass is not tested, but you can do the testing. You can foes pieces from the same sheet as they are by definition compatible.

2. It seems like it is suggested to stick to one of the COE values and not even to mix them- is that correct? Do fusers end up having a favorite COE?
Which do you think is generally preferable?
Each person has their choice. All are good products. The choice often comes down to ease of availability.

3. Frit... which texture is used most would you say? fine, med or large? I have read that bottles can be broken down into frit pieces- are bottles COE 90 or 96?
Bottle glass is not generally formulated to any fusing standard and certainly is not the same as any of the fusing glasses.

Does the COE values of frit matter or can they be mixed and matched?
Oh yes, the compatibility of Frits does matter.

4. Is the clear glass that is used for the base and cover of a project also COE 90, 96 or float? Does it have to match the glass in the design?
The base must be compatible with the rest of the glass used.

Can the type of glass used in frames(I have so much of that!!!) be used?
Yes. But only with other float glass.

5. When a firing schedule is stated "50 degrees per hour to 250, and hold for 30 before starting my regular schedule", does that mean it will
take 5 hours to get to 250 degrees? if this is the case, then on a very manual kiln I would manually continue to increase the temp over 5
hours in the increments suggested? Which means before starting the "regular schedule" I am already 5 hours into it?

I do not know what you are quoting. But no delay is required in starting the firing. The ramp rate needs to be slow to start with.
But it now occurs to me that you need to read the tutorial provided by this site before proceeding. Go to the main page where you will find it. Brad's book is best to read too.
That's a start- I don't want to come across as too needy or high maintenance Thanks

MVgirl99 wrote:Hi Steve
I just went to your website- nice work.
There is so much good info but my head is swooning ! The annealing info was interesting- can you direct me to more specific blog posts?
Thanks so much.