|
Confetti
This is the second part of
a multi-part tip on confetti. Click here to go to part one.
There are several ways to use your kiln to make confetti, but
all are based on the concept of heating glass until the sides
stretch and become very thin. To achieve the necessary thinness,
it's usually best to suspend the glass high in the kiln and allow it
to slump and stretch until it reaches the floor. When the glass
cools, the thin sections of the glass can be broken into shards and
used in future fusing projects.
The simplest way to make kiln-formed confetti is to use a drop
ring. By supporting the ring high in the kiln and allowing the glass
to slump beyond the point of forming a simple vase, the sides become
very thin. This works best with a square or rectangular drop ring,
rather than the typical circular one.
An alternative to a drop ring mold is to make the confetti by
stretching nichrome or other heat-resistant wires across a metal
frame constructed in your kiln. By laying a sheet of glass across
the wires and then slumping, the sides of the stretched glass will
be very thin.
Although the colors of the confetti made in this fashion are
sometimes not as intense as the colors of commercially available
shards, starting with tested compatible glass virtually guarantees
compatibility, so that confetti can be layered heavily if your
design dictates.
----------------------
Copyright 2007 Brad Walker.
All rights reserved.
|
