Slumpfest 2011

This year's Slumpfest (the 2nd Annual) at Slumpy's in Belmont, NC was an absolute blast! The 2 day workshop focused on Pattern Bar Techniques, Layered Dichroic Tiles for Jewelry Making, and Frit Painting with NO Days Liquid Fusing Adhesive.

Nicole picked me up at the airport; it took a few texts and phone calls to find out that we were actually standing right next to each other at the baggage claim! After we searched for the car in the parking garage - "Which aisle did I park in?" muttered Nicole - we headed to Slumpy's to unpack and set up for some fun!

Making a Fused Glass Cocktail Ring...

...over at ChristyNelson.net!

I've been teaching some dichroic jewelry making classes lately, and one of my crafty and technologically savvy students just posted a tutorial on how she finished up her ring using No Days BailBond and her dichroic cabochons from class.

Go check it out, now!


Also, there are a few classes coming up where you can learn how to make your very own dichroic glass cabochons...
The LUX Center for the Arts is offering a 6 week fused glass jewelry class where we'll be making not only this dichro tile for cabochons, but fused glass slide beads, earrings, a bracelet and necklace, as well as learning basic wire wrapping skills.
Mon., Sept. 12-Oct. 17, 6:30-8pm
More information and registration over here.

And every Third Thursday over at Architectural GlassArt, one block south of 48th & Prescott Streets in College View, come make a dichroic glass tile. Call Rod Scott at 402.420.2544 for info.

Attaching Bails with No Days BailBond

Curing BailBond in an Oven

After I finish with a dichroic glass tile project, I end up with a bunch of cabochons that are awaiting bails. However, I HATE using two-part epoxy and adhesives, in general. That is...until I discovered No Days BailBond. It's a heat set adhesive. There's no mixing noxious chemicals and it's easy to clean up. PLUS, if I decide that I need to change out a bail or use the cabochon as a purse hanger instead of a pendant, I can switch the findings just by reheating! (This versatility really appeals to me, as apparently I have a hard time with commitment...it took me 2 years to get married after getting engaged, and another two years to decide that I could change my name!!)
Anyway...when I have a bunch of pieces that need findings, here's what I do:

1) Secure bail to pendant.

Cut a piece of BailBond to fit the size of your bail. For this pendant, I used a piece of BailBond approximately 3/8” long. Sandwich the BailBond between the pendant and the bail, and then
secure in place with painter’s tape. The tape prevents the bail from moving in the oven once the BailBond has melted.

2) Place the pendants in the oven.

I used my toaster oven for this demo, but a regular oven may be used, as well. For ease of transport, you can place several bails on a cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet and pendants in a room temperature oven and set it for your curing temperature. I had to set my toaster oven much higher (300 degrees F) than the melting temperature of the BailBond (160 degrees F). In a traditional oven the temperature may only have to be set at 200 degrees F. It's recommended to do a test run to figure out what temperature to set your oven to.

3) Let the BailBond fully adhere to the bail and glass.


Once the oven reaches 200 degrees F, leave the pendants for 10 minutes to let the BailBond melt to the bail and the pendant. It’s important that both the bail AND the glass are hot enough for
the BailBond to fully adhere. You can peek in the oven and actually see the BailBond melting
between the bail and pendant.

4) Let the pendant cool and clean up.

After the pendant has cooled, carefully remove the tape. If there is any
residue from tape, it can be scratched off with your fingernail, or rubbed off
with your fingers (a little olive oil helps). If the BailBond has melted out
from under the bail, an exacto blade will help to remove it. (I was able to
scratch off the excess with my fingernail while the piece was still warm.)


Now, your pendants are ready to wear! The only thing that you want to be aware of when using the No Days BailBond is that because it is a heat set adhesive, you don't want to leave it in your car on a hot, sunny day.

How to Make Layered Dichroic Jewelry - Part 2

This post is a continuation of a tutorial on layering dichroic glass to make gorgeous fused glass jewelry. For the first part of the tutorial, check out this post...

So, the layered dichroic tile came out of the kiln and looks wonderful. I usually let it sit for a few weeks so I can enjoy the full effect of all that sparkle :)


After I've got an eyeful, it's time to think about cutting this baby down to size. I want a bunch of pendants, but the cabs you'll create by cutting the tile down work great for rings, purse hangers, mosaics,...you name it!

I've begun to cut my dichro tile down a bit... I just use a regular glass cutter (my preferred cutter is my Toyo pistol grip, no oil necessary). For the first few cuts, you need to remember that:
A) This tile is thick! All the layers fused together have made this tile about 1/4" thick. Thicker glass is tougher to break.
B) When scoring glass, stress can build and fracture the glass at unforeseen points if you're trying to break off too little.
The beginning tile was about 4" x 4." When I attempt to score and break my glass, I don't try to take off less than an inch, initially. Once your pieces start to get smaller, it's easier to cut them down into smaller and smaller pieces, to a point.
When breaking the glass initially, a regular pair of running pliers doesn't really work. IF you can squeeze really hard, the tile MIGHT break. The tools I use to break the tile are:

1) A hammer - you can tap lightly on the underside (opposite side of your score) of the tile all the way along your score. Eventually, the piece should knock off where you asked it to. Sometimes, you will be surprised. This gets harder to do as the pieces get smaller. But, by that point, you can switch to your running pliers.
2) The Morton Glass Works Safety Break M-80 Tool - I was able to use this for the very first time on the thick tiles last Saturday. You have to squeeze fairly hard, but it breaks really well! The Morton website has some really great videos that make cutting glass look like a breeze.
3) Diamond Blade Saw - If you've got access to a wet tile saw with a diamond blade for cutting glass, you can make very accurate and exact cuts. If it's a ring saw, you can even cut custom shapes. This is a costly tool, but you can sometimes have the local stained glass / fusing shop cut the tile for you, or even show you how to cut it for yourself.

If you're not crazy about the raw dichroic on the edges of the tile, you can nip them off with mosaic nippers. These pieces can be piled together when you put them back in the kiln and will form a puddly cabochon with lots of sparkle.

Once you've finished cutting all of the pieces, it's time to put them back in the kiln.

Each kiln is going to fire a bit differently. This is just a recommended firing schedule, and I'm using my "Little Miss" Caldera kiln with a 6" shelf.


For a nice, clean edge that holds the shape of the cut, you'll fire to approximately 1420 degrees F and hold for 5 minutes. Since my studio is really cold right now (we're in the middle of a blizzard), I slowed the ramp up to 500 degrees per hour to 1000; then continued AFAP (as fast as possible, or 9999) to 1420 and held for 5 minutes. Follow this segment with your annealing schedule back down to room temperature.

This schedule will soften the edges without globbing out of shape.


For my scrap bits, I'll throw those in the kiln AFAP all the way to 1480 for 8-10 minutes. I want these pieces to be rounded and full fused. They're all really small pieces, too. So, they won't shock from the heat on the way up.

Look for my last post in this series on attaching the bails with No Days BailBond...

How to Make Layered Dichroic Jewelry - Part 1

Tonight, I'll be giving a quick demonstration of some of the upcoming classes I'll be teaching at Architectural Glass Arts (1 block South of 48th and Prescott) here in Lincoln, Nebraska. In particular, there's been a lot of interest in the Dichroic Tile for Jewelry class. It's a great way to make a bunch of gifts all in one go, because you start by making a 4" x 4" layered dichroic tile and end up with 10-20 pieces for jewelry (depending upon how large or small the pieces are that you decide to cut the tile into).
So, without further ado, here's part one (in the kiln prepping for part 2 as we speak)!


First, you'll need to gather your supplies:
You'll need your cutting tools (glass cutter, running pliers, mosaic nippers), a pair of tweezers come in handy for moving small pieces around, 5" x 5" piece of ThinFire paper (if you're not building directly on the kiln shelf like I did) on a sturdy piece of cardboard, your favorite brand of fusing glue (I'm using No Days Liquid Fusing Adhesive), cleaning supplies (I use Sparkle brand glass cleaner and microfiber cloths), and of course, glass.
You'll need a variety of dichroic bits on black and clear. You can actually purchase sample kits or assortment bags from several dichroic suppliers, and I've found this to be the best way to build up a variety of different dichroics at a good price.
Lastly, you'll need either: 4" x 4" piece of thin black (or whatever color you want to be the base layer) AND 4" x 4" piece of thin clear, OR a 4" x 4" piece of clear. If you're using thins, just follow the steps below verbatim. Otherwise, you'll need to start by laying out your ThinFire on cardboard and drawing a 4" x 4" square on the paper with a pen or pencil. This square is where you'll start layering your pieces.

Now, it's time to assemble the layers:

Begin by placing your thin black on the kiln shelf. (Alternately, you may use ThinFire paper setting atop of a sturdy piece of cardboard. After the glue has dried, it is easy to scoot the paper off of the cardboard and into the kiln. DO NOT FIRE THE CARDBOARD!!!

[Note: If using standard thickness (1/8") glass, then you should not have a base layer. Instead, mark your kiln shelf with a 4" x 4" square (lightly use a pencil to mark the primed shelf), or draw a 4" x 4" square on a piece of ThinFire paper on sturdy cardboard. You will not use a base layer of glass. Your base layer will be your dichroic on black pieces.]

Now it's time to play with dichro!!! First, you'll be laying down bits of opaque dichroic glass. (Dichroic glass comes on black thin glass or on clear thin glass.) Cut the dichroic pieces into random shapes, squares, triangles, strips...whatever you feel! Trust me, as long as you load the dichro up, you'll be pleased with how this turns out.
I included a wavy stick of dichro and some flameworked twisty stringers. The only thing I would not recommend is to use plain old glass. I've tried it once and it overpowered the dichro. It's a mistake I will not try again!
You can see bits of my base glass that are naked. They will likely show up in the final piece, depending upon how well I cover those bits with clear dichroic in the next step.


If you haven't used a base layer of glass, then you need to use more dichroic than I did. You should not be able to see the kiln shelf or ThinFire.
At this point, I also dropped a bit of glue in the seams, especially along the edges of the glass. Even though the glass is placed fairly randomly, it takes some time to do. I don't want my nicely stacked piece to shift around before I get it in the kiln!

Now, you start layering clear dichroic on top of your opaque dichroic. A word of warning! The metal oxides that make that beautiful dichroic coating do not stick to each other when fired. What does this mean? It means that when placing the transparent dichroic glass on top of your opaque dichroic, you need to carefully examine each piece to make sure the dichroic coating is up and not down. I do this by holding my piece of glass to a light and trying to catch the reflection of the light on the dichro coating. If your dichro coating is face up, the light it reflects will run all the way to the edge of the glass. If your dichro coating is down, you will see a slight "shadow," kind of like when you stand really close to the bathroom mirror and look at the edge. (Anyone besides me ever done this?)
Make sure you have plenty of transparent dichroic on top of your base layer, but it's okay with this layer to go a little lighter than you did with the opaque layer. AND, some transparent dichroics will completely obscure the layer underneath them. So, don't get too crazy! (Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?)


As I laid each piece of transparent dichro down, I put a tiny bit of adhesive on the bottom side. Like I said earlier, I use No Days Liquid Fusing Adhesive. It's got a pleasant orange aroma that helps to cover up the garage smell in my studio. It's also really tacky, so when it dries, my pieces are more stable than if I were to use different fusing glues. (Did I tell you how long it takes to put this piece together? Just long enough to make it really frustrating when pieces move before they are in the kiln!)
Tada!!! Made it to the kiln, and now all that's left is to cap it! Dichro is nice and sparkly, but when you put the clear layer of glass on top, it adds a really nice dimensionality to the metal coating. This is where I gently add the 4" x 4" piece of thin, clear glass on top before firing up the kiln. [NOTE: If using standard thickness glass, you didn't have a base layer. However, you definitely want a clear cap. So, this is where you would add a 4" x 4" piece of clear to your lovely stack.

Load the kiln and fire!
The firing schedule will vary from kiln to kiln. But, for my small Paragon Caldera kiln, this is the schedule I used:

500 degrees per hour to 600 degrees and hold for 15 minutes

(I didn't let my glue thoroughly set and dry. The No Days adhesive starts to set within 3 minutes, but can take much longer to dry - even overnight. This step helps to dry and burn off moisture, so make sure the kiln is vented. I simply place 2 stacked squares of 1/8" thick fiber paper in two corners of my kiln and leave it vented the whole time.)

500 - 1000 - 5

The binders in the ThinFire and the glue will burn off completely during this stage. The kiln still needs to be vented...

full - 1250 - 10

This stage heats up to slump temperatures and let the layers fall together, squeezing out air bubbles and beginning to tack.

full- 1480 - 15

All the layers should now fuse together fully.

full - 900 - 20

Annealing temperature. My bitty kiln holds its heat well, and with small pieces like this one, it doesn't need any further annealing.

0000

The end.

Make sure you DO NOT open the kiln even to peek once the kiln is below 1000 degrees! You're just asking for trouble if you do. Don't want to put all that work into making this nice piece and then stress out your glass and make it shatter!!!
No, No, No!

Part Two will cover cutting the tile into smaller pieces, rounding off the sharp edges and attaching a bail.