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Fusing Wire Inside Glass Jewelry
This
is part three of a multi part tip on fusing wiring inside glass
jewelry. Click here to go to part one, which discusses the
characteristics desired of a wire used in fusing.
Once you've selected the wire to use, it's
time to figure out the best way to fuse it between two layers of
glass. Normally, this is done by placing the wire between the
layers, then firing to a typical full fuse temperature.
However, it's not uncommon to have trouble with the wire moving
around before it fuses.
Here's a list of tips to help keep the wire
in place until it fuses:
1. Glue is rarely the best choice.
Since it burns off at around 900F/480C, the wire often gets loose
and moves around before the edges of the glass can permanent seal it
in place. (This happens at around 1300F/700C.)
2. Instead of glue, try weighting down
the outside ends of the wire. Just use small scraps of glass
as weights that will hold the wire down and keep it from moving
around until the glass fuses together. One nice benefit of
this approach is that the scraps will often ball up in the heat of
the kiln; these balls can be used as decorative elements on future
pieces.
3. Another option involves the use of
fiber paper, rather than scraps of glass, to keeps the ends of the
wires weighted down. Start with 1/8" (3mm) thick fiber paper.
Cut a small strip square of the paper, around 1/4" (6mm) on each
size. Set one square under each end of the wire that's poking
out of the glass. This is enough to keep the wire from moving
around and rolling out of position. The small squares are
reusable also.
Click
here for even more tips
to keep the wire in place until it fuses.
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Copyright 2005 Brad Walker.
All rights reserved.
This tip based on suggestions
and tips from posters on the Warm Glass bulletin board.
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