Written By Poppyfields Design
Fusing Glass H
i, my name is Lara Humphreys & I’m a Glassaholic! I’ve been working with fused glass now for about 2 years and I’m completely hooked!
Fused glass dates back over 4,000 years to ancient Egypt although it wasn’t until the Roman era that its use become widespread.
There are 2 really important things you need to know.
Fused glass is a great medium to work in as it can have a functional use as well as be decorative. So you can make bowls, dishes and plates for your home along with jewellery & decorative glass panels to display. I’m no expert and I’m learning new and exciting techniques ever day, but funnily enough, sometimes the things that don’t go completely right are more exciting than the original idea. Glass comes in all shapes and sizes from the normal pieces which you would expect to see PLUS stringers (long thin glass), confetti (very thin glass shards), frit (crushed glass) & powder. All these can enhance a project.
“Ok, so what do I need to know about glass so I can get going?”
Glass isn’t considered a completely ‘stable’ item. The formation of glass is such that it undergoes considerable stress to achieve our desired shape & colour, which is why sometimes glass cracks for no apparent reason. The stress within the glass just became too much! We can help to alleviate that problem in the cooling process.
Firstly; safety has to be our main concern! Glass has lots of sharp points and bits that ping off so you must wear safety goggles and lightly padded gloves (ok, so I don’t wear the gloves but I get cut ALOT). You cannot eat or drink whilst cutting glass. Who really wants to find a glass shard in their sandwich or cup of tea? It’s also extremely dangerous! Secondly; glass has something called ‘COE’s’. This stands for coefficient of expansion. This is the rate of how quickly the glass expands and contracts. In fused glass you would normally see Coe 90 or Coe 96. It is important that you don’t mix the two as the glass when fused will crack. It’s not difficult to ensure you keep to one