Freeze and Fuse
By Stacey - jsglassart.etsy.com
Tools you will need:
1) Powdered frit
2) Water
3) Flexible mold
4) Small container to mix water and frit
5) Paper towels
6) Razor blade, or something with a straight edge
7) Most importantly, an NIOSH approved mask.
Mix the water and the frit. You want the frit to be soaked but
not liquid.
Pack the wet powder into the mold as well as possible. If your mold has a lot of detail make sure the powder is wet enough to fill the detail to prevent bubbles.Tap the mold to release any hidden bubbles.
Use paper towels to soak up the excess water. Soak up as much as you possibly can.If
you let the mold with the powder sit for a few minutes, or tap the sides of it,
more water will come to the surface to be removed. BUT, if you’ve removed too much
water so the powder is pulling away from the sides of the mold, or you’re noticing
little cracks in the powder, then you’ve take out too much. If you were to fuse
it that way you would see little cracks in the glass when it came out of the kiln.
I scrape the excess frit off with a razor blade to give it
a flat surface. If the back is uneven while sitting on the kiln shelf, it can crack
and break as it heats up.
Next, put it in the freezer. Depending on how thick the piece is depends on how
long to freeze it. Check thin pieces at 15-20 minutes, very thick pieces at an hour,
or more.
When frozen, pop it out of the mold. If it’s not frozen through it will crack and
fall apart when coming out of the mold.
If it does crack or break when taking it out of the mold, you cannot repair it.It may look like it’s repaired, but once fired the break will show...like this
Once they’re frozen they’re pretty sturdy. You have a few minutes to brush off any excess frit, or lightly file a rough edge before setting on the kiln shelf.
You can put them as close as possible to each other on the shelf, as long as they’re not touching. They won’t spread unless you over-fire. They do shrink about 10%, so keep that in mind when making or choosing a mold.
Before After
600F to 1000F – 30 min hold
400F to 1300F – 20 min hold
AFAP to 970F – 60 min hold
150F to 700F – no hold
AFAP to 500F – off
Tips I’ve learned along the way:
1) If you have hard water buy distilled, or the very least use filtered water. The minerals in hard water can react with some glass colors
2) If layering different colors, soak up as much water as possible and put in the freezer between each layer. There will be less color bleeding that way.
3) Any type of flexible mold will work. Candy molds, soap molds, as long as they’re not hard plastic.
4) Make an appointment for a manicure once you’re done. Glass powder wreaks havoc on your nails and cuticles
You can buy kits for Freeze and Fuse from Pyros Glass Studio. They’re the kind people who took the time to figure out how to make it all work.
