As indicated in the introduction to this web site I have been working for many years exploring the incorporation faceted glass into foiled stained glass panels. I have always used Blenko dalles for my faceted glass but they are mostly monochromatic with the exception of a group consisting of orange to deep red in the middle going towards yellow at the edges. In an attempt to enlarge my color palette I decided to try and fuse a piece of COE 90 sheet stained glass onto a clear Blenko dalle, which I was told were COE 90. The result shown in the following photograph taken through crossed polars indicates that the two pieces of glass are incompatible.
I then decided to fuse Bullseye 3 mm COE90 glass to a piece of Bullseye crystal clear billet, also COE 90, which works very nicely. Initially, I used crystal clear billets but I found that clear billets work very well for my purposes and are significantly cheaper. To date I have only used clear billets but both COE 90 and COE 96 billets come in many colors which may allow for some interesting fused work.
Bullseye Billet 10″ X 5″ X 3/4″
I designed and constructed the following panel using a different piece of transparent colored glass fused to a piece of compatible billet which was then faceted for each of the 12 wings of the 3 butterflies. The panel was intended give an idea of the wide range of transparent fusible glass available from multiple manufactures including Bullseye, Uroboros and Spectrum ( both COE 90 and 96 ).
Click on image to enlarge.
This second butterfly panel was constructed to illustrate other ways in which fused glass can be used to increase the complexity of facted glass panels. The butterfly wings were made by fusing two layers of 3 mm colored transparent glass with details drawn in using black Glassline paint onto a piece of billet.
If you are new to fused glass I suggest that you educate yourself by taking classes or reviewing the many books and web sites available that provide information on kiln work.
The first decision that you must make is the size of the fused faceted pieces required for your work. Given the size of my kiln and the fact that I cannot reliably facet across a piece of glass wider than 2 1/2″ I decided to work initially with small pieces. Another advantage of smaller pieces is that they require shorter firing schedules. To that end, I obtained 4 Slumpys 4.5″ X 4.5″ adjustable Link-Loc stainless steel molds. I shortened the long arms to give a mold ( 4 fit into my kiln at a time ) with an internal dimension of 2″ X 3 1/8″. The mold must be lined with 1/8″ fiber board ( cut and fired prior to use ) to prevent the glass from adhering to the mold and to allow for the different COE of the glass and stainless steel. The mold and the glass must be placed on a kiln washed shelf on or shelf paper ( Thinfire, Papyros for example ) The mold lined with the fiber paper is pictured below provides a fused piece that is 2 7/8″ X 1 3/4″.
The molds come in many sizes which will allow for fused pieces to be produced up to the size of the original billet
The next photograph shows Bullseye Sunflower clear yellow streaky fused to Bullseye crystal clear billet after it has been fired in the mold shown above.
The fused glass tends to slope at the edges so your pattern should end about 1/8″ from the edge if you do not want the sloped edge in your final work.
The next photograph is the fused glass after it has been faceted. ( faceting is described within this site in tools for faceting and Faceting a dalle ).
EYE PROTECTION IS MANDATORY
The firing schedule that I found to work with my kiln fusing 3mm glass onto Bullseye (COE 90 ) billet using the mold described above on a stainless steel shelf sitting on Bullseye Thin Fire paper is as follows:
- RATE 100 TEMP ( F ) 300 HOLD 10 MIN
- 200 600 10
- 300 1250 20
- AFAP 1500 15
- AFAP 900 250
- 30 800 5
- 50 700 5
- 150 100 OFF
The total run time is about 20.5 hours. Two useful thick glass firing schedule sites are Harrach Glass and Bullseye annealing thick slabs. The following photographs show two examples of fused faceted glass and a butterfly constructed using the second example.
Bullseye transparent Cranberry Pink, Royal Blue,Spring Green with White.
Butterfly constructed using fused faceted Bullseye Yellow/red striker with faceted surface in front towards viewer ( full panel )
In addition to the COE 90 system there is a COE 96 system which significantly increases the range of glass available for fusing and faceting. In the COE 96 system in addition to 3/4″ thick billets, 1/2″ clear casting plates are available which are cheaper, require a shorter firing time but are a bit more difficult to facet. Below are two examples of fused faceted system 96 glass and a butterfly made with the glass.
Spectrum Spirit Vienna
Butterfly utilizing the Spirit Rio and Vienna with facted surface in front ( facing viewer ). Below is the my firing schedule for 3 mm C0E 96 sheet glass fused to 1/2″ clear casting plate using the same system described for the COE 90 glass.
- RATE 150 TEMP (F) 350 HOLD 12 MIN.
- 225 650 12
- 300 1250 25
- AFAP 1465 15
- AFAP 900 180
- 45 800 5
- 80 700 5
- 200 100 OFF
I have minimal experience with frit but to show that it can be fused to thick glass and faceted I made a butterfly and small fish both of which are illustrated below. I am sure that someone skilled in the use of frit would be able create very interesting work.
The frit ( all transparent ) used for the background for upper wings is medium marigold yellow and the spots are coarse deep royal blue and the background of the lower wings is medium orange and the spots coarse red fused to a piece of clear billet ( all Bullseye COE 90 ). If multiple firings are necessary to achieve the desired result, the frit can be fused to a piece of 3mm clear glass and which can then be fused to the billet.
I have no experience with glass paint so I cannot comment on its use in this manner.
The construction of a fused faceted stained glass panel is essentially the same as described in detail throughout this web site with two exceptions.
The first:
You must decide if you wish to have the fused surface on the front or back of the panel. Since it is much easier to assemble a panel with the flat fused surface facing down on the cartoon it is necessary to make this decision prior to starting your panel. This is a question of personal preference but I have found that with complex patterns it is better to have the fused surface in front ( towards the viewer ) since if it is in the back of the panel the light passing through the design will be distorted by the reflection and refraction resulting from the faceting and therefor blur the image. Below are two photographs of a fused faceted morning glory, one with the fused side in front and the second with the faceted side in front.Fused surface facing the viewer.Faceted surface facing the viewer.
For less complex designs it may be preferable to have the faceted surface in front since the faceting adds to the depth and texture of the piece. The butterfly constructed with yellow, red striker shown earlier in this page has the faceted side in front as does the following butterfly . If you plan to have the faceted side in front you can work on the original cartoon but if wish to have the fused surface in front it will be necessary to work on a reversed image of your cartoon since the panel will be assembled with the fused surface facing down on the cartoon but it will be in the front in the finished panel.
The second:
It is necessary to fuse the colored fusible glass to the appropriate sized piece of billet. The preparation of the billet is the same as described in Preparation of a Dalle. The fusible sheet glass must be cut to size and the pattern traced onto the glass.
The glass in then cut using a traditional glass cutter and a bench grinder and the pieces fit together and placed onto the piece of billet in the mold. I perform the final grinding of the edges using a 220 grit and then a 600 grit head attempting to get the glass edges to fit as closely as possible. I then carefully wash and brush the ground edges to remove any grit or dust and clean all of the surfaces with alcohol to remove any contaminants. After fitting the pieces into the fiber board lined mold, just before firing, I dust the surface with small brush to remove any stray bits of fiber board which, if present, will be permanently incorporated into the final piece.
Loaded mold ready for firing.
The next photograph shows the glass used for one wing of the first butterfly in the second butterfly panel just before it was placed into a mold and fired. It consists of a round piece of Coe 90 dichroic glass sitting on a sheet of Bullseye 3 mm Marigold Yellow transparent glass with the veins of the butterfly wing drawn in using black Glassline paint sitting on a piece of clear Bullseye billet.
The first step, as with all stained glass work, is to develop a design from which a cartoon can be made on which the panel will be constructed. I have expressed my feelings about designing a faceted foiled panel in the section on Design in this web site which includes discussions of Cartoon, Color, Background and 3D effect. The remaining steps are described within this site under Construction which includes descriptions of: Preparation of a Dalle Tools for faceting Faceting the dalle Final shaping Foil and solder Final assembly