Note:
A quality glass cutter with oil reservoir, available from art
glass suppliers, is much easier to use than the inexpensive
cutters sold in hardware
stores. A good cutter will
save enough glass to pay
for itself.
A Fast Way to Cut Small
Pieces
First make all your score
lines on the glass. Then turn
the glass over and tap out the
pieces. This is an easy, fast
way to cut many pieces.
Glass Fusing
The maximum size of glass fired in the
MagicFuse is 2" square, and the maximum
thickness is 2 layers of
1
8
" or 4 layers of
1
16
". Two
layers of
1
8
" x 1" x 1 ½" is a good average size.
Larger or thicker projects may break from
heat shock due to the very fast firing rate. You
can successfully fuse dichroic glass in the
MagicFuse.
Note:
For pieces larger than 1" or for
more than 2 layers, pre-heat the glass at
50% power for 5 minutes. See your mi-
crowave instruction manual for adjusting
the power.
Sometimes a finished glass piece is
underfired and needs additional fusing. After
layers of glass have been fused together, the glass becomes one thick
mass and is more likely to break from heat shock if fused a second time
in the MagicFuse. However, you can usually succeed with a second fir-
ing if you pre-heat the piece at 40 - 50% for 5 - 10 minutes.
Fire fusing-compatible glass purchased from an art glass supplier.
The glass that you fuse together must be rated to the same coefficient
of expansion (COE). A piece made from glasses of different COE rat-
ings will likely break as it cools. Your supplier can give you the COE
rating of your glass (usually 90 or 96).
-
7
-
See your microwave man-
ual for instructions on re-
ducing the power to 50%.
Note:
Glass of different COE ratings must be stored sepa-
rately in clearly marked containers, or use glass of only one
COE rating.
Before assembling glass pieces, clean
them with water or alcohol to remove fin-
gerprints and dirt, which may otherwise
become permanently etched into the
fired glass. A greasy fingerprint can also
cause the glass to break during firing.
Do not glue the glass pieces that you
are about to fire. Glue between layers of
glass increases the chance of breakage. Because the kiln fires so rap-
idly, glue doesn't have time to burn out completely and discolors the
glass, especially dichroic.
Protect the Base with
Glass
Separator
Coat the circular firing area
of the kiln base with glass sep-
arator. This prevents hot glass
from sticking to the base. Ap-
ply 2 - 3 thin coats with a brush,
and dry before firing the kiln.
Follow instructions on the
glass separator package.
Note:
You can dry the glass separator with a hair dryer or place
the kiln base inside an oven at 200°F (90°C).
-
8
-
Clean the glass before firing.
Sand off a damaged coat of glass separa-
tor before applying a new coat.
Drying the glass separator with a hair dryer.
