shawnhar Posted June 11, 2020 Report Share Posted June 11, 2020 Anyone done this? Any tips to avoid catastrophe? Special ramp or cool down needed? My friend wants me to melt some bottles of various shapes and sizes so she can make an art window type thingy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted June 11, 2020 Report Share Posted June 11, 2020 It's pretty simple. Do a Google search and you'll find lots of firing schedules. You want the bottom of the bottle to be nice and smooth, so start with a fresh application of kiln wash, as smooth as you can get it. The glass will pick up every little bump. Ideally, use an unwashed shelf and kiln paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta12 Posted June 11, 2020 Report Share Posted June 11, 2020 Neil is correct, there is a lot of info out there. The firing schedules will depend upon the size of your kiln. You need to get your ramps up to a certain temp and then hold, and same with cooling. A controlled cooling with help with devitrification, a cloudiness on the glass (like crystallization) I slumped a lot of bottles when I got my kiln, once I figured out the firing schedule, for a 7cu ft kiln, the bottles paid for a lot of clay supplies. The material was free (people dropped off their empties at my house) and it was a trend at the time. Shorter firing time, less electricity, all that. Now I slump about one load a year, someone wants a bottle for something special. I really do like finding another purpose for glass bottles! I have a customer who buys the slumped bottles from me and incorporates them into her stained glass work. Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted June 11, 2020 Report Share Posted June 11, 2020 One thing I found out the hard way was to either use really flat shelves or put a little mound of alumina hydrate under the far edge of the bottle if your shelves are at all warped. Bottles can roll, I had a couple roll and fuse together. The alumina hydrate acts as a speed bump to stop the bottle rolling and just brushes off after the firing. Genesis controller comes with this schedule for slumped bottles. 500/500/15 hold 500/1000/15 hold 600/1250/20 hold 500/1475/15 hold 9999/1100/30 hold 200/970/30 hold 120/750/10 hold off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnhar Posted June 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2020 Awesome thanks all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted June 11, 2020 Report Share Posted June 11, 2020 8 hours ago, Roberta12 said: Neil is correct, there is a lot of info out there. The firing schedules will depend upon the size of your kiln. You need to get your ramps up to a certain temp and then hold, and same with cooling. A controlled cooling with help with devitrification, a cloudiness on the glass (like crystallization) I slumped a lot of bottles when I got my kiln, once I figured out the firing schedule, for a 7cu ft kiln, the bottles paid for a lot of clay supplies. The material was free (people dropped off their empties at my house) and it was a trend at the time. Shorter firing time, less electricity, all that. Now I slump about one load a year, someone wants a bottle for something special. I really do like finding another purpose for glass bottles! I have a customer who buys the slumped bottles from me and incorporates them into her stained glass work. Roberta Got any pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta12 Posted June 12, 2020 Report Share Posted June 12, 2020 15 hours ago, Babs said: Got any pics? Of the bottles in her stained glass work?? I will have to see if I can "mine" her fb page for something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted June 12, 2020 Report Share Posted June 12, 2020 I did glass casting with recycled glass, I was melting it into bisque molds. I had to do a lot of testing to find the right schedule and firing temperature and annealing process. One thing I did find is that most bottle glass is tempered and will slump but takes a high temp to melt. I use crushed window glass for a blue green glass and cheap clear glasses from the Goodwill store for my clear. The thicker the castings the harder it is to fire and anneal correctly, my castings are a inch thick and it took 21 hours and that was as fast as I could go. Denice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted June 12, 2020 Report Share Posted June 12, 2020 If you search for resources on "warm glass" you'll find the information you need, especially if you're working with stained glass. It's a bit different than bottle glass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted June 12, 2020 Report Share Posted June 12, 2020 Long ago in the 70s I was making my own beer . I got the idea of making my own labels with decals and had collected many cases of long neck beer bottles. I was ramping up the run and test fired a few bottles with luster temp decals I had printed-well the tem to flux the decal (cone 019) if I reacll also was the temp that all the necks started to slump over. I got some great labels on crooked unusable beer bottles.. I gave up glass in electrics at that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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