Stained Glass Express - The Blog / Category_Fusing

I totally learned something this week. We always think that we know compatible glass by its COE. I really thought that when Bullseye started saying Bullseye compatible they were really trying to brand themselves and set themselves apart. Now Oceanside is doing the same. I read a very interesting article that was written by Daniel W. Schwoerer from Bullseye Glass. It is Bullseye Technotes #3. If you would like to read the entire article, click here: https://www.bullseyeglass.com/images/stories/bullseye/PDF/TechNotes/technotes_03.pdf To summarize, the article says that you really must take more than coe into consideration when deciding if glass is compatible. Mr. Schwoerer says you should also consider viscosity. COE would be how much the glass expands when being heated and how much it contracts when cooling. The viscosity would be the thickness. A high viscosity glass when melting would flow slower. The article does say how to test. I guess if you were doing a large piece and mixing glass (manufacturers) it may be important to do it. So the question is can you put 90 dichroic with Bullseye glass? It is small generally, probably not a lot of expansion and contraction and not a lot of viscosity flow. It is safe to put Wissmach with Youghiogheny or Uroboros or Spectrum. Goodness knows we have and we have done it successfully. However, now and then we hear “my piece cracked for no reason”. Well maybe now we know the reason?

If you have a difficult time adapting to change---LOOK OUT! There will be so many changes in the upcoming months, it will make your head spin! Oceanside made several announcements in July, 2018. We have been passing this news directly on to you through our eblast which go out a few times during the week. If you are not signed up for these and would like to be, click here: https://www.stainedglassexpress.com/newsletters.html. One announcement made was what would be retired July 1, 2018. For that list, click here. https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/3066318/art%20glass/96%20Transition/July%201st%202018%20Retired%20Products.pdf?t=1533154518844. To help you understand this list a bit and not to get too upset. A-100G does not mean clear granite is going away. It means clear granite in large sizes is going away. That is what the" A" in the front means. Architectural. The "I" in front of the next list means Iridized! Yep—that is a long list of iridized. Gone! Spectrum was outsourcing coated glass and Oceanside is having logistical problems doing that because it means crossing borders and dealing with NAFTA. Not easy. So they are hoping that in 2019 they will buy the equipment and start production again. The spoa number are the very beautiful opal arts. These: Nautica, Godiva, Sour Apple The next batch of numbers are Spirit glass numbers. Again just beautiful Art Glass. Rio, Valhalla, Sedona, Seattle. (and they even had cool names!!)

Some Info from The Frog Blog Dichroic glass is so beautiful and there are so many uses, it is just delightful. However, there are a few problems that knowledge can help deal with. One is that it is impossible to tell 96 from 90 COE if you get them mixed up. The answer to this one is—DON’T mix them up. Keep them labeled. If you keep scrap, keep it in a well-marked box. It is often important to know which side the dichroic coated side is to get the look you are going for. If it has a dark base, no problem—you can see it. However, on a transparent base, it can look the same on both sides! Reasons you may want to know this? Cutting. Always cut on the non-coated side of the glass. It will help prevent chipping, especially on textured glass. It also saves your cutter. Coated Side Down. When using the coated side down or capped with clear glass, the dichroic glass will have a smooth glossy surface and sparkle like glitter. It will also change colors between the transmitted color and a completely different reflective color, depending of the angle of view. Coated Side Up. If you use the dichroic glass with the coated side up or uncapped, the dichroic surface will have a highly metallic sheen. The piece may additional be rough and textured depending on the type of dichroic glass you are using. This is what to do. Place the glass over a dark background. Look at the glass at an angle so that you are seeing the reflection of the dichroic. Touch the surface with a paperclip (don’t scratch it). The paperclip will reflect. To know your answer. Does the reflection meet the paper clip, or there a gap between the clip and its reflection?

MICA ILLUSION TRANSFERS

Illusions transfers are 3x3 transfers than come in Silver, Champagne and Gold. They are new to the market and we will be introducing them at Stained Glass Express in April. (2018) Will work on any coe. Not for food bearing surfaces. The white parts of the stencils is where your glass will show. The color part is actual mica backed with enamel, so it adheres to the glass. Fires at lowest possible. If you fire too high the mica will adhere too much to the glass in the negative areas because the glass is softening. You don’t have to use dichroic glass for these because the mica is so awesome. You could do it on anything. Clear, dichroic or anything! Experiment. These samples are on black glass. They are hi fire decals. 1250F to 1300F. Glass MUST BE pre fused. Then add the mica transfer. Remove the wax carrier Soak the transfer in distilled water take off the backing and apply to your fired cabochon. Smooth out air bubbles with paper towel. Let dry. 3 hours might be enough, but you probably should do over night

DICHROIC GLASS

MOST INFO FROM HOWARD SANDBERG OF COATINGS BY SANDBERG

Dichroic glass is one of the most beautiful things SGE carries and it has been one of the most challenging. It was kind of nice to see on CBS page “the history of dichroic glass” that Howard says, “When you look at the history of an artist using Dichroic coated glass, it appears that the artist has been under the major handicap of not having any information on what he or she was working with. These artists were exposed to a piece of glass that had interesting color effects but came from a very complex and scientific industry not easily understood. These ‘high-tech’ coatings were capable of reflecting a narrow band of light (or one color) and at the same time, transmitting the remaining part of light.” So at least it was not just us facing challenges. I could go on about how the development of this metal film was done by our military and aerospace industries. The text would make your head hurt! It was 30 years (mid 70s) ago when CBS started production for art applications. When SGE first brought in some dichroic glass it was a big deal. We made a special display rack for it. We were displaying 1 piece that was about 2x4 inches of each one. We outgrew that fast! Then we would get questions about what it was going to do. We had some idea but not much. To complicate things, we didn’t even always know what we were getting. A customer would buy a piece that was rainbow or mixed and one part of the glass would behave one way and another part another way. Then our suppliers started to drill down and offer a standard stock and good descriptions. We changed our sku system and our descriptions to help our customers know what they were buying and to help us have them organized in a way that the customer could find what they wanted, and we would have a way to see gaps in our inventory and keep our stock consistent. About five years into stocking this glass we bought a shrink wrap machine. We bring in the glass, cut it, shrink wrap it and label it. No more ruined pieces from scratches and no more fighting to get the glue from the label off the glass. We stock CBS (Coatings by Sandberg), Profusion, and Austin Thin Films. We stock both 90 and 96. Just recently we have started to look into stocking some 104 and 33 coe for out bead workers and glass blowers.

BUYING A KILN It is a big decision. It is a lot of money. It is a big piece of equipment that will take up space. There really is a lot to consider.

• How much space do you have
• Do you want to go to the expense of 220 line or get by with what you already have?
• Size of the kiln
• Programming

We sell Olympic Kilns at Stained Glass Express. www.greatkilns.com. We love their support and we love the kilns. Basically, you have a box made of firebrick that is attached to a controller. So the support piece is BIG. For your workspace you should be prepared to make it a fire proof space. Easily done. Flame resistant sheetrock or metal set away from the wall. Put it on something that won’t burn. Common sense kind of stuff. Don’t burn your house down. The big difference between having a 110 line and a 220 is the depth of the kiln. When there are two elements in the kiln you can run it on a 110 line. You just have to change the outlet to accommodate the commercial plug. Consider what you want to make. Jewelry and little dishes. You are good with a little kiln. If you think BIG, you will need a bigger kiln. Maybe one with a clamshell feature so that it opens from the top and the bottom. You can get one that bottom slides out. Features to consider when thinking about putting things in the kiln and getting them back out. If you want to do tall things like a drape lamp shade or vase you should consider bringing in that 220 line. The 220 allows the kiln to have three elements and therefore it can be deeper. Everyone I know, recommends upgrading to a digital controller. One where you can save multiple programs. We sell the RTC-1000 with great results. We can store 6 programs which pretty much covers everything. What you definitely do not want is one that you have to babysit and make sure it gets turned off. You run around with a timer around your neck (seriously) and I have heard terrible results of kilns burning through when someone went to bed and forgot. One more thing to put into your brain. If you think you ever might get into glass blowing or bead making you might consider a kiln with a punty door that you can use to anneal your beads. To see what Stained Glass Express offers https://www.stainedglassexpress.com/fusing_supplies/kilns-and-accessories/

Application 1. Clean glass is a must! Use ammonia or alcohol if needed. Avoid touching glass surface with your hands. 2. Remove the wax paper barrier before soaking. 3. With a good pair of small scissors trim about 1/16 inch away from the decal card 4. Curved-tip tweezers are very handy. 5. Wet the surface of the glass when applying the decal, it allows the decal to easily move into position. 6. To apply the decal, slide it slightly off of the paper and hold the paper edge with the tweezers. Position decal and hold exposed edge with finger, or a second pair of tweezers, on the glass while pulling paper from underneath. When the decal is in place hold with finder and blot excess water. Continue to gently blot, using an inside out rolling motion, until all the water and bubbles are out from underneath the decal, a small squeegee (credit card) is useful. Continue until the entire decal, including the edges, are firmly affixed to the clean glass surface. 7. Allow to dry completely before firing. The smallest amount of moisture can stream aprt the decal from the glass. Firing Conditions 1. Over-firing is disappointment. Decal are temperature sensitive, some colors more than others. The best results are achieved with the lower temperatures and slightly longer soak times. 2. Good ventilation in the kiln during the burn off phase, (500-900f), is important for all decals and critical for hi-ire and low-fire ) accents) metallic decals. Leave the lid vented till the kiln reaches 1100f. Info from Profusion Studio.

Have no fear if you do not have a kiln, you can rent space in our kiln. Step 1. Drink the wine! No problem with that step right? Step 2. Make sure the bottle is clean and dry inside and out. Step 3. Apply Spray A to the side of the bottle that will facing up in the kiln. Be sure there is no spray A on the bottom as it won't brun off against the shelf. Spray A is very finly ground glass suspended in a medium that burns off clean. It not only helps prevent devitrification (a scummy layer that can appear on the glass after it is fired), it will also help to keep any painted labels that may be on the bottle from burning off during the firing process. Step 4. Use a kiln shelf that has been coated with kiln wash or covered with fiber paper. Leave enough room around each bottle to accommodate the spread as the bottles flatten out. Step 5. Kilns are different, so make adjustments as necessary for you kiln. 300 dph (degrees per hour) to 1100, then soak for 30 minutes (this allows the glass, shelf and air to reach equal temperatures) 400 dph to 1450 soak for 10 minutes or until the bottle is flat.. (take a peek) Step 6. Cool AFAP (as fast as possible) to 1050 d. We don't suggest you open the lid because of the potential to thermal shock the glass. If your kiln doesn't have a controller, turn the power off until the temperature reaches 1050. Cooling quickly through the 1200 to 1350 range also helps to emininate devitrification. Step 7. Hold at 1050 for 1 hour and then cool 100 dph to 400. the annealing temperature for bottles is somewhere between 1050-850 so you want to go slowly through this range. That's it. . . you have made a great gift! Add a cheese know tied with a piece of raffia to really kick it up! You can also paint with glass paint, use decals, sandblast designs--use your imagination! We will slump your bottle for you for $10. You must have it all prepared.

Hello Folks! Here is a little bit of information for those interested in starting a home based craft business.Here is a pricing equation that might help you get started. Materials + Overhead + Labor + Profit = Price Direct Costs: The direct costs associated with the manufacture of any craft include money spent for raw materials and finishing products as well as for any directly related services. Overhead: These costs are rent, utilities, office supplies, depreciation, etc. It is figured as 1/3 of materials or 1/3 of labor whichever is higher. Labor: To figure cost of your labor, find out what it would cost in your locale to hire others to perform identical or similar tasks. For example, when you are working as a manager, then your hourly wage should be manager wage. If you are doing general work like cutting, grinding, etc, your hourly wage should be as non-skilled labor. Profit: Your business profit should be the same as any retail business. Most galleries and stores will mark up your wholesale price by 100%. Therefore, you should mark up your product by 100% before you offer it for wholesale. Example: Materials and Firings: $25.00 Labor: $14.00 Overhead: $ 8.34 (33.3% of $25.00) Cost to Manufacture Product: $47.40 Profit $47.40 (cost to manufacture product x 2) Price of Product: $94.80 The price you come up with for your product is the starting point for actually setting your price. You will now need to consider if the product is something you will be retailing yourself or wholesaling. You must now think about what the market will bear and if you are in the right market for your product and price points. If you have any other questions, let us know! SGE