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Silverstaining into brilliant cutting

Hand Lettering topics: Sign Making, Design, Fabrication, Letterheads, Sign Books.

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DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Silverstaining into brilliant cutting

Post by DAVE SMITH »

I posted a while back on glass silverstaining into brilliant cutting. It is process of painting glass with a specialist kiln paint then heating it to a temprature in a kiln to achieve a gold or amber colour. I sprayed the kiln paint onto the cuts to get an even coating of silverstain ,the only problem was when I pulled the mask off some of the loose dried powdery paint went onto the open areas of the glass, this would not be a problem if you were going to white acid or glue chip the background. In places you can see a staining to the background mirror,This can be easily solved by taking your time and a little more care removing the mask.
The silver staining looks great in brilliant cutting just like the old victoian pub glass . On this piece I decided to chemically make it into a mirror to see what sort of effect it would have on the glass, the cuts came out looking a really deep colour gold . This is a a great effect to add to your glass projects, it is almost like angel gild.

Dave

Happy Thanks giving!
Image
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Images

Post by DAVE SMITH »

I can post pictures at last!
Dave
Wayne Osborne
Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 2:03 am
Location: West Sussex.England

Post by Wayne Osborne »

woooooooh, they're so beautiful,- so deep.
Having had a "go" at cuting with you Dave, I can really appreciate the work involved in those small pieces- Stunning!
Doug Bernhardt
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Location: Ottawa Canada
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Post by Doug Bernhardt »

You really hit the money with this technique Smitty....can hardly wait to see you throw the whole works into a project!
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

silverstain

Post by DAVE SMITH »

Yes Doug I have some pieces in mind to put all the techniques into especially the bird designs. Maybe when you come over!
I think the nerveracking thing would be putting it in the kiln with all the work done then slumping or silver staining the piece.
Patiece would have to be considered to avoid unwanted breaks in the kiln.
Dave
Doug Bernhardt
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Post by Doug Bernhardt »

Patience...I buy that one for sure....but will it ever be beautiful.....so ya gotta try it. Make an extra or two....etch and cut then bend. I found a guy in my neck of the woods with a good sized kiln and have a job coming up that needs to be bent around the corner of a building. The glass for that space is long gone and they have an old piece of plastic in there now. It looks like . by the way. They are a good client and are weighing the idea of a new double sided carved piece or that. It is likely to be both of them done over the space of a year.
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

bending glass

Post by DAVE SMITH »

Sounds like that is the sort of job you could get your teeth into mate. Certainly the sort of client you want. How big is the bend on the glass Doug?
Dave.
Doug Bernhardt
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Post by Doug Bernhardt »

Yeo Smitty....the glass is about 24 inches wide and wraps around the corner at about 60 degrees, with a height of about 8'. It'll need to be done in a couple of pieces as the fellow's kiln can only handle about 7' altogether. They actually called today about it so things should get underway in a few weeks. BTW...the posted images are terrific and good to see you can do this. For some reason I haven't been able to so "me tinks" it's time to re-read the instructions!...Instructions? Hey... were guys and first thing to do with those darn things is toss 'em in garbage!
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Post by DAVE SMITH »

Doug I can bend that piece for you at that size. would it be better in one piece? give me a call mate.

This is a piece I made yesterday for a client. I have attached a few pics to show how the process went. the bubbly looking glass was for some balistrading and the cut glass piece was just a test ,the cuts are not polished. the clear bend was ordered by a glass company here in Torquay ,it actually went very very well I needed to adjust anealing times and find my maximum tempratures but now the formula works should be the same for big pieces. I think Pat M has done some of this work also. Also After talking with Stuart Norton today about bending glass and touchening it ,he told me that glass processing companies bend two pieces one on top of the other at the same time, then seal the edge leave the top open and pour in a specialist resin which creats a laminate between the glass . pretty cool stuff!

Dave

[img][img]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o95/ ... tip071.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o95/ ... tip070.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o95/ ... tip068.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o95/ ... tip064.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o95/ ... tip065.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o95/ ... ass002.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o95/ ... ass003.jpg[/img][/img]
Wayne Osborne
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Location: West Sussex.England

Post by Wayne Osborne »

Wow dave - Thats smart!- (done in the kiln i assume?) How long does that take?
DAVE SMITH
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Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Post by DAVE SMITH »

It took about 5 hours to reach it's maximum temp Wayne then cool down was around 9 hours, you can get a bit impatient when it comes to openning the kiln too early.

Dave
Patrick Mackle
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Location: Monrovia, Ca.
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Post by Patrick Mackle »

Looks good Dave.
Your glass piece appears to be about 1/4" thick. I bring my glass up to bending temperature in about 2 to 2.5 hrs. on a piece
that size.
Saves on electricity and speeds the job. I know that you don't want to thermal shock and break a piece that you
have spent hours etching, engraving or chipping, but a single layer of glass can be warmed reasonably fast as long
as it heats up evenly.
I allow it to soak at the bending temperature until I see the outter edge of the curve contact the mold. I remain holding
at that temperature just until I see the reflection of the heating elements become nearly straight/flat accross the trough of the bend
(but before the central area of the glass contacts the mold, causing pits or dents) This way you get a even plane on the bend and
avoid the "saddle" or "swoop" at the ends.
When the glass reaches the proper point, I do not "crash cool" the kiln, but rather crack open the top several times, while watching the pyrometer to stop the bending action. (Venting too quickly will stress the kiln and you will hear it "talk" with a kind of cracking sound. Not good!)
After stopping the bending by venting, I generally just allow the kiln to cool by itself. If I'm in a rush, I will sometimes place a 1/4" metal
rod accross the front of the kiln to hold the lid open 1/4" to speed cooling. I have used a glass cutter to cut glass that I have bent in this
method, and it always cuts perfectly, proving that it has been properly annealled and is not under stress from the proceedure.
By the way, are you protecting your precious eyesight while peeking into your kiln?? At higher temperatures the coils in your kiln will
give off infrared rays that will damage your eyesight. The damage is cumulative and can't be healed or repaired.
I bought a pair of protective glasses from a company here in the US called Aura Lens Products, Inc. (www.auralens.com)
They are a light shade of green so you can see your work, but shield out the infrared waves. Let me know if you can obtain a simular
pair over there, or I can get you a pair over here.
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Post by DAVE SMITH »

Pat
I wish I could look in somewhere my kiln has no sight to check the work. I may just adjust the formula like you said. Just getting a bend at this stage was great for me it .Almost looks antique in places ,the glass is crystal clear. I let it soak for 30 minutes then brought it down to 580 degrees then soaked for 30 minutes then turned off.

I will give you a Skype over the weekend Pat.

Thanks for the info

Dave
Patrick Mackle
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Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 10:21 am
Location: Monrovia, Ca.
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Post by Patrick Mackle »

Dave,
You could cut some small rectangular holes into the sides of your kiln and fit in some thin quartz glass site holes.
They would allow you to check the progress without cracking open your kiln which drops your temperature everytime
you open it to peek.
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Post by DAVE SMITH »

That's a good idea Pat, I will look into that one.
Thanks
Dave
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