Cast Glass Jewelry
How cast glass molds are used to make jewelry and other fused items, cast glass usually refers to frit melted in a mold.
There are many casting molds available.
Jewelry can be made from frit, powder and small pieces of fusing glass combined in the same design.
It is important to know that different size frit can produce different results.
Transparent fine frit will produce a casting, which can be very opaque.
This is due to air pockets forming around the small pieces resulting in a large number of air bubbles being trapped.
As frit size increases the number of air bubbles decreases allowing more light to pass through the casting improving the clarity of the casting.
A combination of sizes helps to minimize the problem.
Like other fusing molds you should apply kiln wash prior to adding any fillings.
Allow to dry completely before using.
You also need to allow for shrinkage by adding a little more material during the filling process.
Use a brush to move material away from the edge of the mold and mound it up in the center.
This will give a nice edge to your casting and minimise spikes occurring around the edge.
Colors can be mixed and added to produce a multi-colored item.
Strong colors should be used sparingly as they may overwhelm light or medium colors.
Different colors can be poured directly or individual colors can be mixed with fuser’s glue and packed into the mold to prevent the colors merging with each other.
Care needs to be taken with dichroic as the coating sometimes burns off home crushed frit.
The dichroic may also migrate through the filling as the material reaches fusing temperature.
Molds should be elevated on posts in the glass fusing kiln to ensure adequate air circulation during the fusing process.
Molds
will allow you to produce a wide range of fused items such as
cabochons, earrings,fused glass pendants and fused bracelets.
Return From Cast Glass Jewelry To Fusing Basics
Return To Home Page
