Making A Fused Cast
Glass Pendant
Making A fused cast glass pendant using coarse frit and colored frit powder fired in a glass fusing mold.
The materials are kiln fired in a commercial casting mold resulting in a pendant 1.75 inches wide.
Frit castings can also be made with this mold.
Small pieces of clear are used to line the bottom of the mold, coarse frit is laid over the clear.
The colored frit powder is sprinkled over the white frit.
The fused cast pendant can be made from Bullseye or System 96.
There are a number of ways to make the small clear pieces you will need.
You can cut them with a cutter, break them off with grozing pliers or use wheeled mosaic nippers.
Mosaic Wheeled Nippers
I find it is easier to use wheeled mosaic nippers as you can nip the offcuts in half very quickly if you need to.
Safety glasses must be worn when using the nippers.
If you are using mosaic nippers cut along the edge of the glass so that you can control the size of the offcuts.
Try to hold your hand around the edge so that the cut pieces fall into your hand.
If you have a pair of safety gloves wear one on the hand catching the bits, many nipped pieces will have needle sharp ends.
Use tweezers when placing pieces into mold.
On a general note wheeled nippers are a very handy tool to have in your tool kit, rods can be nipped to length, pieces easily cut from glass edges, strips can be quickly cut into pieces, these are just a few of the jobs these nippers will do.
Wash and dry the scrap before cutting, as it is very difficult to clean the cut pieces.
Try not to hold scrap in the areas that you are cutting.
Project Supplies:
Wheeled mosaic nippers or grozing pliers.
Coarse white frit.
Colored frit powder.
Clear fusing glass.
Cutter.
Fusing mold.
Kiln Wash.
Fusing kiln.
Assembly & Fusing:
Step 1. Apply kiln wash to fusing mold.
Step 2. Cut scrap into pieces.
Step 3. Place clear into bottom of dry mold.
Step 4. Put pieces of coarse white frit over bottom layer.
Step 5. Build material up slightly towards the center to help counter shrinkage.
This happens because the glass tends to compact down into the mold and may end up two thirds of its original thickness.
Generally the smaller the pieces the less they will compact.
Sprinkle colored powder over the coarse frit.
Step 6. Place mold into fusing kiln on small posts to ensure air circulation around the mold and fire as follows for System 96,for Coe 90 increase by 25 F (15 C):
300 F (150 C)/hour up to 1480 F (804 C).
Hold 30 minutes.
Check to ensure that item is fully fused.
If the surfacr is not completely smooth you may need to refire until it is smooth and level.
If fusing is complete turn off kiln.
Allow to cool to room temperature and then remove.
Check pendant for spikes as castings can quite often have spikes around the upper edge.
If any spikes are present remove with table top grinder or abrasive pad.
Clean completely and place back in kiln, fire polish to remove abrasive marks.
Do not place back in mold as the marks may not be removed if they are covered by the mold.
Use prepared shelf for this process, monitor closely as the item will spread if the pendant is over heated.
Once completed you should have an original piece of art .
Adding more or less powder will change the marbling effect.
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