Metal Inclusions
I’d been wanting to try fusing some old watch gears into glass for a pendant for a while. Only recently did I have the watch gears. So I dug around a little bit and read about other people’s experiences with this. Then I realized their information was about specific types of metal. Having no clue what kind of metal I had, I decided to throw caution to the wind. So I cut and grinded and loaded the kiln. It occurred to me to wonder if my unidentified metal might emit toxic fumes, so I took my fire extinguisher and sat outside in the yard while these fired.
So here’s the one with the watch gears. I’d read someone else had a similar result with the huge bubble. Their piece, I believe, shattered later after a sudden temperature change. I currently have this stored in a climate-controlled safe room. The gears are fairly close to the same color now as when they went in. I’d love to find a way to make this one have fewer bubbles – I actually like the small bubble over the center of each gear – and be less likely to shatter at inopportune times.
This one is a tiny watch gear and an old key. Probably the one key out of the bajillions I keep finding that would unlock that box with all the money. I thought it’d be cool to hang the pendant using the key as the bail. The key turned black and had a coating of some black stuff that fell off the exposed part when touched. The ratio of bubble-to-watch-gear is way off here, so this one is a no go, too.
First experiment with metal: epic fail. The quest for knowledge goes on.
Oh, and this is me, resisting change. I don’t like the improved “Add media” function on wordpress.
Filed under: Glass, fused glass, pendant, steampunk, warm glass | 3 Comments
Tags: Glass, metal inclusions, pendants
Well done! It may not have come off a full-blown success, but if we don’t try, then we won’t learn nothin’!
Just happened to run by this page, but it’s a pretty cool idea; I bought some clock bits recently (got mine from VolcanoArts, like $3.50 for a little container of about 20) and have been trying to decide what to do with them, and also have been wanting to make a steampunky version of the pendant I wear; glass fusing just might be the ticket! Thanks for the inspiration =)
So first off what do you not like about the new media function on wordpress. I like it but think it needs a few improvements.
Now, can you take these pieces and fuse them again in more glass? I know NOTHING about glass fusing so if that is a silly thought then just laugh… hehe… but maybe that would safeguard the possible blowing up of the bubble? Or would that actually make the bubble explode?
Funny I got this mental picture of driving down the road and seeing some blonde sitting outside holding a fire extinguisher. Which alone could cause you to think of tons of blonde jokes you know… oh, and yea, I’m blonde so I’m allowed to make blonde jokes!
Well, as we speak, I am hand coding some rather image intensive entries on wordpress. I can upload the images, but the insert function isn’t working. I can copy the image’s url and enter it by hand and GEE it’s so efficient to do that. *sigh*
I most likely won’t mess with these glass pieces again. I don’t think a bubble squeeze will work (which is what one usually does to get rid of bubbles. I’ve never done it.) but I have been talking to someone who used float glass rather than the kind I used here. She was successful. So I ran right up to Lowe’s and bought some scrap glass. We shall see…
Yes, that’s the same mental image I had, too! Let the jokes begin!