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I might try casting a small slab of glass with stainless steel fishhooks in it, to use as a piece for a piece of sculpture. Might by 6" x 6" x 2"or 3" thick. I did a quick run with a
fishhook between a couple of layers of glass at a pretty high rate of speed, maybe 300 degrees to 1150, hold 30.......150 degrees to 1250, hold 40....300 to 1429, hold 50. The
glass didn't crack but of course I had a big air bubble in the curved part of the hook.
I would take it up much much slower in a slab, plus do a much much slower cool down and anneal. If the air bubbles are unavoidable because of the thickness of the hook itself, would they be a problem as far as possibly making the slab crack at some point? I may not mind the bubbles. Anyone ever cast hooks before? If they don't work I may go with razor blades....Thanks! Kate

I've got a method where I lightly embed twisty shapes of foil or thin glass in a glass slab in one fusing to smooth things out and eliminate a potential air trap, then cast the whole thing in a subsequent step. No idea if it would work here but you might experiment and see.

Basically, set the fishhooks on a thinner slab and cap with a piece of thin clear (or alternately, sift clear fine over the top to cover) and then fire just until you've cleared out the bubbles in the hooks and let the glass settle down. Then do any coldworking necessary, cap and fire again.

Like I said, no idea if that would work with something as thick as a fish hook. I was trying to duplicate the torch worker's technique of encasing delicate tendrils with a clear coat before engulfing the whole thing in clear.

Cynthia,
Makes all the sense in the world! Thanks!