jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 14, 2024 8:25:30 GMT -5
I'll be interested to see what you make with this. I hope this works out well for you. Thank you much rockbrain. This was about the only affordable choice. Shoulda added lavender and purple to complete the natural spectrum. This comes in 7mm-10mm rods, could get cheaper if bought in plates or bricks. Consider the rods offer a whole different dimension in patterns. Certain I will be tooting my horn by posting photos .
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 13, 2024 9:53:10 GMT -5
Hmmm, opaque glass rods from China. Getting an Alibaba quote. Let's see how placing a China order fares. American glass rod is probably $200/kilogram. China selling for $6.99 TO $9.99/kilogram. Certainly cheaper. Pricing makes sense, 6.99 for cheaper blue and green colors, 8.99/9.99 for costlier yellow/orange/red colors. Did a sample quote for 180 kilograms(see order in photo below). So 400 pounds of rods cost $1518.20. Shipping via sea is $820(China to Atlanta USA freight terminal for me to pick up). Total cost would be like $2340. Ship time slow, March 8 - March 20. 400 pounds makes about 40 bricks selling at $200/brick totalling $8000. Enough to support a hobby, no get rich quick scheme. Melting rods would present some unique patterns.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 13, 2024 9:24:56 GMT -5
To save energy two bowl/brick melts were performed simultaneously. Peak temp(1475F) dwell time was raised from 3 hours to 4 hours to assure kiln would not struggle to melt 25 pounds total glass. The above brick being brown and black glass could handle the extra heat. However the red glass in the other brick suffered from too much heat and fractured trashing 11 pounds of glass grrr. At raw glass cost of about $15/pound it is good that I acquired this glass very cheap. Has cracks throughout(trash):
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 12, 2024 11:13:34 GMT -5
Had lemon yellow glass been used with the black the patterns would likely be different RickB.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 10, 2024 15:23:15 GMT -5
Poured from a bowl into a brick mold. Poured a whole 14 pounds of glass(normally they are 10 pounds, brick about 11x6x1.6 inches). Black glass is actually dark brown, other is tan, both probably loaded with iron and strong tough glass. Tribal pattern, almost dendritic flow. Lower photo is cut thru where glass poured in. The glass was stacked in the bowl in alternating colors. It flowed thru the hole like brown and black balloons inside of each other(more obvious in upper photo) which is mysterious. More glass was added in the bottom of the bowl per color and less as filling bowl thinking that the first balloon to fill the mold is larger, but the smaller balloons are thicker. Could have been a theory of vanity...an upside down volcanic obsidian flow into a brick mold comes to mind. Two 1/4's of the whole brick
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 9, 2024 16:29:49 GMT -5
Think Fordite or "damascus glass". Perhaps a tightly banded agate slab. Stack began with 16 colors 1/8" thick = 2". Stack was 4"x 9" before melt. After, the melt puddle is reduced to 5/8" thick and about 16" diameter but still has 16 color bands. Poor man's Fordite ? So technique is similar to a Fordite cab to reveal layers on dome slope, but in this case layers would be revealed as arrowhead is knapped from it. However arrowhead would be schitzo because one side would have different colors than the other. Or it could be fused 8 colors on top half and same 8 colors on bottom half. Glass laminated like this is extremely strong. Rings like a stiff bell when two halves are tapped together. Perfect for long skinny spearheads. Need to get some of you cabbers playing with this stuff.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 8, 2024 12:38:57 GMT -5
Unique Horse Creek chert in cobble form NE AL/SW TN.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 8, 2024 12:31:30 GMT -5
That is a slippery slope of some seriously talented folks. Lol.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 8, 2024 8:52:46 GMT -5
You should delve into making points rockbrain. Best to search "heat treating flint"(or agate, chert, jasper) to increase 'knap-ability'. If cooking rock in soil it is best to do it on low wind days so the fire burns at consistent heat and to avoid temp spikes. Or talk to master knapper RickB. His points are to cry for. Cooking Native American(tenets of Shem) style
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 4, 2024 7:16:53 GMT -5
jamesp Good looking glass bricks, even the ones that did not quite come out. Also good to see you active and posting again, your posts with pictures are always a favorite of mine. Stay busy my friend. Henry I call this one the atom bomb pattern Henry. It took several attempts to duplicate from back in 2018. Couldn't remember the recipe. Instead of having a 5 inch stack using 1/8" of each color it took a 5 inch stack using 1/4" of each color to get the defined color banding to not mix with each other. These stacks would be laid into an 11" Ikea stainless salad bowl with a 1.5" pour hole in the bottom of the bowl. Bowl hole about 1.5" above the brick mold. Changing the hole size or the pour bowl height makes for a different outcome. Pouring from higher causes more mixing. Smaller pour hole makes for more mixing. These mechanical dimensions were established back in 2018, it was the stacking of the glass that was forgotten. Anyway, this was yesterday's pour. Sawed 10x6x1.75 inch brick into 3 sections and they were sold on FB arrowhead maker's site(Art of Flint Knapping) within 10 minutes. These guys are making arrowheads out of a wider variety of agates and cherts these days, worth a visit. The materials they use have to be tough and fracture free, good rugged stuff for tumbling and cabbing. 3 colors of green, light clear green, opal tennis ball green and darker clear green. Note jagged accordion effect. No idea why this happens. Back lit so the clear greens can be seen
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 4, 2024 6:30:14 GMT -5
Thanks pebblesky. with a bunch of colors it doesn't take too much effort.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 2, 2024 7:46:23 GMT -5
This has "clear striker red" - the fucsia stripes(on left). To right, the thick red band is "opal red". Well the opal red did not like the higher heat of the small kiln, it has heating coils just 1 inch from the stainless steel brick mold. This made the red opal get too hot and suffer cracks after cooling which makes the brick trash grrr. Note how striker red flows at ends of stacked plates. It is a "high flow" glass which can be good or bad depending on intent. Test for cracks is done by wetting. As drying the residual moisture reveals the deadly cracks and fractures. Glass is funny, cracks anywhere in brick often propagate into rest of brick. Useless for arrowheads, makes for cab killers, OK for tumble fodder.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 2, 2024 7:28:29 GMT -5
Sorta botched this one. The flesh color was supposed to be blood red for red(blood)tipped spearheads. The light tan glass looks just like the "striker red" before heating. Striker red changes from clear tan to blood red go figure, easy to confuse.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 2, 2024 7:18:14 GMT -5
Its just so....nice to look at. kudos and thank you! And a very very merry christmas Thanks for the well wishes wargrafix. I hope your Christmas was merry as well. Not too much to the glass. Most of it just stacked into a mold and melted ot stacked in a bowl and melted thru a hole in the bowl down into a mold. This is a tray of glass blower's scraps. Blowers use very little colored glass(costly), just enough to get job done. After molded into a 6x6" brick. sawn slab
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 24, 2023 7:19:38 GMT -5
It is easy to do wargrafix. It just takes a lot of glass colors and electricity.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 21, 2023 14:56:11 GMT -5
I was thinking that the air bubbles were a problem, but I can't see how it would be possible to avoid them. Kiln in a vacuum ? Patty Holding at max temp. often allows the bubbles to rise out of the molten glass Patty. Stacking method plays a big role in catching air too(like plates stacked horizontally trapping air). In some cases the rising bubbles rising thru mixed colored plates laying flat make crazy patterns as the bubbles rise mixing the colors. Sorta makes upside down funnels if ya know what i mean. I hadn't reached that level of sophistication but may one day . I have seen hundreds of small bubbles rise thru a stack of glass making some very interesting results.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 21, 2023 14:47:59 GMT -5
So is the mold just a welded box of mild steel, lined with 1/8" fiber paper and set atop other paper? No problems with glass oozing out the bottom? seems like you had some stainless? molds that bolted together.
The mold is 11x6 and bottomless oregon. 1/8" welded stainless. Steel sheds oxides at 1500F making a mess in kiln and in molten glass. The mold just lays on a 3/4" ceramic plate covered with kiln paper. The mold is lined with 1/8" kiln felt which gives enough clearance to remove mold from brick. If thinner kiln paper/felt is used a split-able mold is required to remove brick. A bad problem. A split mold is no problem. The viscosity of the glass is thick enough not to leak at bottom of mold, rarely an issue. The process is real simple/user friendly. A taller kiln is nice when melting glass over baffles or pouring thru a bowl, the taller kiln assists such options above the brick mold. The brick molds have a saddle cut in them to accept a bowl for a (11") bowl melt(thru a 1.25" hole in bottom of bowl). Or whatever hole size and height for various results.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 21, 2023 14:32:38 GMT -5
Today, Dec. 21. Looks ominous as it spews. Varying reports on duration and quantity. Concerns about flow direction towards town. Time will tell Son Of Beach.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 16, 2023 13:40:14 GMT -5
This one about all transparent glass; boring in brick form, let the light in things change. A thin arrowhead lets more light thru. Note how fold-over caught air bubble, grrr.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,169
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 16, 2023 13:32:14 GMT -5
a few new man made obsidians out of the bakery Victor saw this at angles for slabs and get some interesting results. Sawyer has all the fun... Much of what looks black on this brick is transparent colors, see backlit below. Note varying saw angle effects. Above backlit, lighting change does color changes(digital cameras) That's pretty eye candy James.
Been a few years since making glass Rick. Hope to get groove back. The re-start is certainly easier than starting out. Having to buy some supplement colors like popular opaque red and yellow. Testing new brands to see if they are copesthetic with the China made stuff.
|
|