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I am interested in experimenting with slumping glass over an actual animal skull and hoping to fuse them together (sort of to encase the skull in glass). I understand that cremation of bones occurs at temps of 1,600 to 1,800 Fahrenheit, so it seems slumping will work, but I wonder if anyone has done this? Will the skull burn?

Thanks,
Ginni

Wow... that just sounds like a mess.

If the glass successfully slumped over the skull, I would be concerned the glass and skull would not be compatible and crack. You can try...

Just because cremation temps are that high (and, actually, I saw a firing schedule for cremation once that was almost identical to a fast ramp for fusing a thin piece of glass, so I'm not sure that's true), doesn't mean that the skull will be perfectly fine until 1600F, then--poof. It could begin to degrade before that--depending on the animal it might be a bit crumbly at 1300F. Dunno, never tried it.

To Judd's point, skulls have openings and undercuts. If the glass slumped into them it would lock into the skull, and any difference in contraction rates during the anneal could cause problems. I *think* the bony material would be softer and crumblier (is that a word), so the skull would collapse slightly to accommodate the glass, and you should haven't any problems with incompatibility. OTOH, that also means you'd probably not get the results you want.

If I were you, I'd get myself a standing rib roast or baby back ribs or something, have a really nice dinner and save the bones. Dry them out in the oven so, then experiment a bit.

Boy, Cynthia are you onto something or what?
Jim

darn. now i am hungry.

Use the skull to make a plaster mold. Then, cast the glass into the mold. That would be COOL!!!

Judd wrote:Use the skull to make a plaster mold. Then, cast the glass into the mold. That would be COOL!!!

That's the way I'd do it, too, Judd. But anything that lets me experiment AND have a nice dinner is where I'll go first.

I'm not a pro on here and I hardly ever post, but...

Another thing to think about is the difference between "raw" bones and "cooked" bones. As an example you can give a dog/cat raw chicken bones because they don't splinter as they are chewed. But, you should never give a dog/cat cooked chicken bones because they splinter horribly and can cause punctures through the digestive tract. My point here is that "raw" or "living" bone is more malleable. Bone that has been sitting out in the mountains or on the prairie for a few years (I live in Wyoming) becomes very dry and brittle, like cooked bone. I'm guessing that the drier the bone - the faster it will burn out in the kiln, or a lower temp will be required to cause the bone degrade. I mention all this to bring up the point that cremation usually happens with softer "living" bone. Which, I would think, would require a hotter temperature.

Now that I think about it maybe all the fine cracks and fissures in a dried skull may help with expansion and contraction!

Also, I think it might be important to note that some animal skulls will respond differently than others. Bird skulls are very thin. Raccoons eat a lot foods with high amounts of calcium. Male deer have strong skull and neck structure to support antlers and head-bang fighting. Different canine species (Rotties vs chiwawa vs coyote). Also, some of the bones in the skull are very thin. Look up the nose hole. You won't see any boogers but you can see how thin those sphenoid bones are, if they're still there.

All that being said I am VERY interested to hear how it goes! I can envision some beautiful skulls decorated with glass! You really might be on to something here.

Did I mention I'm a Wildlife Rehabber with degrees in Biology, Zoology, Parasitology, and Wildlife Management - or could you already tell?

Jeanice

Thanks for all the feedback! I love the rib dinner idea. I also like the idea of casting a skull, especially since I could kilnwash it and use it for repeated slumps. Ah, so many fun things to try. I will indeed post when I've actually done something along these lines. My garage (aka workshop) is about to be torn down and rebuilt, so I'll be out of commission for a bit in the creativity realm. Boo, back to work now.
Ginni

I have had some experience of fusing glass over bones.
Bones are mostly calcium. Some of that calcium is lost during firing, but not much. very thin bones, like a sheep's shoulder blade fade away at the thin edges.
Glass will crack over strong under cuts.
If you do not use weathered bones, stay out of your studio for a number of days. The lingering smell is appalling.
It is easier to trap the bones in glass than to completely cover the bones.