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Was hoping someone could enlighten me on a new approach I will be taking to contain bubble blocks that I will be working on again soon. Basically I've been making do with whatever was available amongst the clutter in the studio. I've adjusted methods to this madness as new problems reveal themselves, so have a list of things that need attention but have realized that my current mould needs the boot but don't want to revisit older versions that have had success.
Bullseyes box casting tips is staring me in the face now mockingly. Looking at local suppliers here in Oz show different strengths. I like the way their moulds are constructed but am uneasy about this method of simple construction to contain a mass of glass 100mm x 100mm x 100mm. I can handle a few failures in a row but not another one. At the moment I only need two more blocks to finish a project so have been busy doing other stuff until I can get informed ideas.
peace, haydo

Managed to get a slightly cheaper deal on a pre cut order from a supplier in Melbourne on the 1100degC type vermiculite. Apparently some artist was being all arty farty(most likely couldn't pay the power bill at the same time) and never followed through. I'm mid construction of building moulds for bubble blocks and pyramids plus playing with carving to make master moulds for float. I find it fairly fragile.
This question is(now don't rush) whether or not the denser board rated at 1200degC is the better option. One supplier I spoke to reckoned it's as hard as rock. Basically for the carving I'll be trying to create a map of our coastline, inland and islands of course for our tourism info centre and a few others up the coast if they are successful. This means the finished piece needs to say, buy me. Need the contrasts of mountains, rivers, water and islands. True to the wisdom of this board is, experiment. Easy for Gina Rienhart to say. Thanks anyway. peace, haydo

Hi Haydo,
Do you really need vermiculite? Ceramaguard is inexpensive here. I had some 25 mil board waterjet cut with circles because it was inexpensive and mess-free. Email me if you want the contact info in Brisbane, it's not in the phone directory. Jen

find a commercial building with ceiling tiles and ask maintenance dept. if they have any damaged tiles they can give you. Commercial buildings have to use that sort of stuff It will be stamped on the back so that a building inspector can check the place is using the right fire proof ones.
Buttercup now really, waterjet? Think outside the box and you probably have the tool to cut that stuff in your studio already and with minimal dust.

Kevin Midgley wrote:find a commercial building with ceiling tiles and ask maintenance dept. if they have any damaged tiles they can give you. Commercial buildings have to use that sort of stuff It will be stamped on the back so that a building inspector can check the place is using the right fire proof ones.
Buttercup now really, waterjet? Think outside the box and you probably have the tool to cut that stuff in your studio already and with minimal dust.

Kevin, waterjet rocks. It cuts perfectly. Depending on the material, it can be done with little or no kerf. I know a guy who cuts patterns in vinyl sheet flooring. He can cut it in a black sheet and a white sheet, and then interchange the pieces. The kerf is as thin as a human hair. And, it can cut glass or steel up to 5" thick (with a bit wider kerf)

Yep, Kevin....a workshop full of woodworking tools, but, as Bert notes, I now have circle moulds that fit inside each other perfectly. (I also forgot to take them out of the plastic bag when I got home and being wet, they developed their own mould. That was cured by leaving them out to dry.

Buttercup wrote:Yep, Kevin....a workshop full of woodworking tools, but, as Bert notes, I now have circle moulds that fit inside each other perfectly. (I also forgot to take them out of the plastic bag when I got home and being wet, they developed their own mould. That was cured by leaving them out to dry.

Last I checked 1200ºF is a pretty good mold eliminator...

I'm sure 1200F would have done the job! I didn't want them sitting around the workshop damp and throwing off mould spores so went for the free treatment and gave them a strong dose of UV courtesy of Queensland sunshine. Jen

Hi Haydo,
making a coastline map is a really cool idea/project. We are sailors and love the water and love maps and charts. Ive also thought about a similar project but with a different approach. (Your carving skills may be better than mine so vermiculite board may work great for you, not so much for me.) Since I am much handier with scissors, my approach would be kilncarving with fibre paper. I would probably use thicker than thinfire.

Two links to inspire...
A company that makes amazing wooden topographic maps...(We have a few of them)
http://www.belowtheboat.com

And Cynthia Morgan's excellent and informative blog about kilncarving...
http://www.morganica.com/bloggery/2008/ ... -thinfire/

If you're looking to make more than one, take a silicone casting from your finished glass piece and you're ready to make investment molds. (As fun as cutting all those paper pieces might be, I'd only want to do this once.)
Whatever your approach, I would love to see your final piece, so please post a pic when it's finished! I can already imagine how beautiful the glass will look at different depths.
Cheers, jennifer
MarbleOddity Glass

Thanks for all the food for thought. Didn't know I had any responses to this. Had a mould blow out using the vermiculite constructed using s/s screws like on the Bullseye Glass education section, failure fouth in a row. So have gone back to using kiln shelf and s/s cage and tie wire and it's just coming down from it's nine hour anneal.
Jen, cheap sounds good. Wouldn't mind making a few modified mould/cage assemblies as I'm also getting back into layered blocks also. Ceramaguard sounds like the go so will email you soon, got a week off to give these a nudge along. peace, haydo