Frit Mandalas Using Glassline and No Days Liquid Fusing Adhesive

If you're interested in purchasing the plates below, they're currently for sale at the Noyes Art Gallery in downtown Lincoln through the month of April. After that, perhaps I'll list them on Etsy. Contact me if you're interested.

Ready to fire in the kiln

No Days Liquid Fusing Adhesive can be used with frits to easily create complex designs. In this set of Mandala plates, I've added Glassline Pens to the mix to add extra layers and dimensionality.

Base layer of clear becomes the clear cap

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.