I'm addicted to videos on this subject today, and I'm thankful to you, and all of the other people who're sharing their skills on here. I don't own a microwave, or any of the other necessary kit apart from tile cutters, but I can feel your enthusiasm and share it!
Nice video. I have used kilns for a while, combining warm glass project intermixed with copper foil work. One thing I have had issues with though and your video was the same. Fixing the bales to the glass. 2 pack epoxy probably but never, for me, works very well though.
I love making these. I make refrigerator magnets in the Kiln .I also use a drill press with a diamond circle bits different sizes and make dots and turn them into earrings. Thanks again for all the videos
Thank you so much for taking your time explaining to us ..I love your attitude and about your fingers they are just adorable they do make a great job....God bless you
YEAYYY Capt Mike, Congratulations Im watching your video from Brazil and I LOVE IT!!!!! You do AWESOME pendants ♥♥♥ Hope that I can do it soon. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much for your videos! There were no microwaves back then, but something tells me that fused glasses are Otzi age trade goods, and very likely to have competed with lapis and opal, as being affordable, mass produced jewelry- a delight for the eyes, but not worth cutting throats (maybe).
Great videos on knapping glass probably the best on this platform my question is can I fuse glass in to a slab so I could carve it in to animals shapes and other things with a high end rotary tool flex shaft fordom ?
You can fuse glass into any thickness you want. You will gave to have a mold to do so. If you melt glass without a mold it will want to puddle to about 1/4inch and spread out.
Capt Mike, I am a little confused. I am a stained glass mosaic artist and I want to explore this method. All I have is standard stained glass. However, I watched several videos of a lady that uses broken wine bottles to do this same thing. I am wondering if you are saying we need to use fuseable glass? And are you saying one cannot mix the type of glass?
I just love all of your videos, thank you so much for sharing.Can I ask is it possible to fuse glass onto ceramic. I make ceramic jewellery and would love it if you could combine it with glass . Thank you
Ann, all I can say is it works sometimes. I have melted glass inside small pots, but that is all. When the weather turns really hot I will retire to the airconditioned shop and do some tests. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.
@@CaptMike Thanks for all your replies! I saw this recently on making one start to end. I'm passing it along to you even if you might already have it, just being sure. I'm not ready for that, but imagine how simple it could be? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rAIyLWEKt8U.html Thanks again!
Just found your channel last night, You have answered so many question i had thank you, Now i have one more can you do the metal clay in the microwave kiln
I love your video, you explain things so we'll, do you teach this? I have been looking for a new craft, I make jewelry, sewing beads and modeling with paper clay but this has caught my attention and I am starting a 6 week glass fusion mini course in my community TODAY. Thank you for sharing.
@@CaptMike you play well. I had my first day of the glass fusion class, I'm hooked. I love it. I was even asked to teach wire weaving, oh boy, what have I let myself in for lol
Sure, but remember, if you try to combine a glass with a different COE (coeficient of expansion) you will have problems. Just melting or fusing bits of this glass together will work fine.
Thanks Mike, I had an experimenting day yesterday. Few successes and few not so good. What can I do with the not so good ones? Can they be broken and mixed or something? Thanks Mike xx
All the market will bare, pluse 10%.....Actually I have seen prices all over the place. I have seen prices as high as $20 each, depending on the materials used and then much lower. Myself, since I use only scrap material I sell for $5 each or 3 for $10. I have been told I sell too cheap, but your market will dictate what you can get.
I’m just finding out about being able to use a microwave to melt stuff. Is it okay to use my microwave in my kitchen? Or does this ruin a microwave and make it unsafe for preparing food? Do I need to do it in a well ventilated space or is it safe to do inside a room in my house? I’m just wondering if there are any gases or anything to be concerned about. Sorry if you covered that in the video and I missed it.
@@Gilded_Cage_Princess thanks. I’m thinking I can probably just snag a cheapo second hand one off Facebook marketplace. But my kiln just arrived and I’m too eager to try it to wait. Hopefully it’s safe in terms of any gases it might emit.
I think that one was fused using a blue 3mm piece that had white streaks in it. I capped that with clear.....probably! I have made literally hundreds of these pendants so it is hard to remember exactly.
It depends on what your end goal sare. If you only plan to do a small amount of glass work a small 120 volt electric kiln will work fine, but if you plan to get into ceramics, a larger 240 volt kiln is a good investment as it will do both glass and ceramics.
@@raysanders332 There are no stupid questions. Get the biggest microwave kiln offered. It will work great for small glass projects such as pendants and will also handle bisqueware that will fir inside.
Hey I had a question from an older video you made. You showed plaster of Paris doesn’t stick to bathroom tile but that it will stick to ceramic. Isn’t the bathroom tile made of ceramic ?
Mark, I will have to re-visit the video to see what I said, but if I remember correctly, plaster will stick to un-glazed ceramic but will not stick to glazed ceramic. At least that is what I was getting at. Reason; one is porous and one is slick.
Just finished making a few. In a large microwave kiln you can make a slab about 3" x 3"". 2 pieces of 3mm glass will make a slab about 1/4" thick. If you need thicker stack 3 pieces of 3mm. Remember, all the glass has to be the same COE or from the same source. Start off with a firing schedule of 2 minutes at a time. After 4 to 6 minutes increase to 3 minutes each time. This helps keep down the glass splitting. Check it after each cycle and when it gets cherry red let it cool (hardest part).It will take an hour or so to cool. When cool, knap it as you would normally. Let me know how it goes for you.
Never tried to see how many will fuse.....but I will. I have done three 3mm in the MWK with no issues. Are you thinking pendants? Larger pieces of glass fused one on top of another seem to give more problems that small pieces.
Mellisa, that is a real problem. You could take small pieces of different glass and fuse them to check the compatibility (if incompatible it will crack). What I do if I am not sure I make pendants out of the same glass by cutting it into smaller pieces or save it for stained glass projects.
@@nancyruegsegger4259 I'm not sure I understand. I know that COE 90 and COE 96 are not compatible (within 6 # ). Float glass is hard to determine the COE as there are many different manufacturers. Most of the time (for me anyway) bottle or float glass does not work with COE 90. All my stringer material works with COE 90, but I have some glass rods,COE 104, that will not work with COE 90. It want to crack where it melts together.
Great tutorial. This is a must see. I am just starting and I have a question for you. Does the clear glass have to be COE 90? I would appreciate an answer. Love your channel. Thanks
Mary, I have been using my original kiln for about 3 years and except for wear and tear of the soft parts, it is still going strong. Thanks for watching!
I just got my kiln and I wanted to melt depression glass and it didn’t work. It caught fire after 5 min. I read you can use silicone molds in your kiln? Is that true? Mine burnt
Eric, do not use a silicon mold in a microwave kiln. The temperatures are way too high for any type of silicon or rubber based material. You need to kiln wash the firing platform of the kiln and use kiln shelf paper to keep glass from sticking. Depending on what you want to do, you can just place the glass on the kiln shelf paper and fire.
Ray, I have never tried. If you have the gold leaf I would put a small piece between two pieces of glass and give it a try. I have none or I would try it for you.
@@CaptMike Thanks, Mike, I am getting everything I need to start my Microwave glass fusing. I did ask you another question on a different video about using pendant frames in glass fusing. I have always been told not to put metal into a microwave. I guess the kiln makes the difference.
Good thought David and thanks for the comment, however many of us who just like to experiment bought microwave kilns just for grins and giggles and also have most of the bells and whistles that make glass and ceramic easier..
I use a microwave kiln as well as a real kiln. All I will say is if you want to sell your items you really need to anneal the glass properly - and the microwave kiln will not do that. Research this for yourself but it's fact :)
Hi Lennii, you are right, a microwave kiln has no way to accomplish proper annealing. However, my experience has shown that small glass objects (1 to 2") usually exhibit no stress if proper attention is paid to glass COE. Of the hundreds of glass pendants, most mixing colors and Dicro I have made I have had maybe 10 crack. It is always a good idea to let your glass ware, even that fired in a regular kiln, sit around for awhile to determine how stable it is. Any glass is prone to cracking. Thanks for the comment and for watching my video.
