Fused Glass Bracelets

[earart1]

Hi — my name is Janet and I have been doing fused glass jewelry for about 2 years.  Started out by jumping in feet first!  Well, I really like the fused glass bracelets using the bracelet mandrel.  I have Vicki Payne’s bracelet book and DVD and have tried numerous times to do a bracelet following these instructions.  However, my bracelet mandrel keeps tipping over and I wind up ruining the bracelet.

Now I just had a thought— could I use the Kaiser Lee board and trace a bracelet template on it and cut it out, leaving a well to pour frit?  I have assorted size bracelet molds that I use for my resin bangle bracelets and so I thought I could make a mold like these.  Has anyone tried this, do you think it would work? Thanks

Janet

jtdavis@ssd.com

 

[Stephen Richard]

It can be done.

It requires much more frit than you ever thought possible.

It requires lots of skill in placing the frit.

It requires lots more heat work than you imagined.

It requires a lot of cold working when finished.

It is similar to casting.

 

 

 

Stephen Richard

blogs at: http://www.verrier-glass.blogspot.com/   and  http://www.glasstips.blogspot.com/

[earart1]

Stephen —

Thank you for that answer.  So you’re saying that this can be done but with a lot of patience, heat and frit!  You also mentioned skill in placing the frit; so the frit can’t just be dumped in the channel and spread out? I realize that it would probably take several firings as you would be adding more frit after each firing.  So, why hasn’t someone invented a mold for bracelet casting?  Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to keep trying with the bracelet mandrel, I expect I will get it right eventually.

Thanks

[Stephen Richard]

I was assuming that you want to create a design of some sort and so you would need to place the frit accordingly.  If you want a bracelet (say) an inch wide, you can make your mould higher (say 2″) and fill to the top.  then just cold work the sharp edges off.

You could place strips of glass, or pattern bar in the mould to make the design.  Pack tightly, fire to 850C and anneal for the thickness of the space in the mould.

 

Stephen Richard

blogs at: http://www.verrier-glass.blogspot.com/   and  http://www.glasstips.blogspot.com/

[earart1]

Stephen —

Thank you once again for your answer.  Since I have not tried this method before, this will be an experience.  I haven’t made the mold yet, but will try to do one soon.  I just want to see if I can do it and what the results would be.  The strips of glass seem perfect since I have so much left over glass pieces; I expect that I could use frit to fill in spaces.  When I try this method, I will be sure to post a picture of the piece and the mold.

Your’re a great person to have around who gives great answers to my questions.  BTW your work Rocks! 

 

[glassmom3]

Janet, it is complicated to make the fused glass bracelets, more difficult to do than the dvd shows. I also own the dvd, but did take the class with Jayne Persico at Glass Visions at Warner Criv. 2 yrs. ago. I recommend that you take a class from Jayne, you will make 2 bracelets and wire fused glass pieces together that she provides to make a watch. Jayne Persico told me the technique is more difficult to do than how it seems  in the video. She said,” I make it look easy.” I took the class with no fused glass experience, my mistake.  I knew how to do stained glass and thought this is a great way to learn how to fuse glass, the advertisement for the class said all were welcome, anyhow I managed to make 2 beautiful bracelets. It was a little stressful, but I did learn. (sometimes I did get yelled at for a little less than perfect technique, but I did learn and improved my technique and want to do it again) I haven’t made one since (busy family life), but plan on trying since now a own a used AIMS kiln. You must have a correct type of small kiln, keep your elbows up when you slide the tongs(vertical) down the sides of the bracelet(must be a smooth motion). Follow the motion she shows on the video, keeping tongs open when bringing up tongs, Sliding tongs on one side while bring up opposite hand and elbow. Try practicing without glass. Also, I  believe she placed bracelet mold diagonal (More room for the movement) You need someone with you when you do the manipulating to watch the kiln temperature so temp. doesn’t drop too low. Hope this helps.

Karen

[petra kaiser]

Hi Janet,

if you carve the bracelet into Kaiser Lee Board I would suggest that you cut it out of the board – all the way trough – than smooth the inside with your fingers and kiln wash it with primo pirmer – pre fire the primo at 500 F – this will dry the mold faster and heat sets the primer.

To save some frit you can cut chunks of clear glass and place it in there with the frit – than you pieces will not shrink as much. You might come up with a complete new bracelet – I would not attempt the same look that J. Persiko’s bracelets have.

As far as cold working goes, use your grinder and final shape it with a coarse grinder and than use a fine grinding bit to clean it up. When you place the bracelet in the kiln with a drape firing 1250 F it will fire polish nicely.

Would love to see the results.

petra

 

petra kaiser – http://www.kaiserlee.com

 

[earart1]

Petra —

Thank you for your answer.  This technique seems to be pretty simple.  I will try it as soon as I get a chance.  Pretty busy now doing shows but will probably have some down time next month. I had thought about carving the Kaiser Lee board in just the fashion you suggested but without going all the way through.  Why do you suggest carving all the way through?  Would leaving a floor in the Kaiser Lee board make a difference in how the glass looks?  I thought of leaving about 1/8″ ‘floor’.

Janet

 

[earart1]

Karen.  Thanks for your answer.  I would love to take a class with Jayne Persico, if she is ever in my area (Maryland).  Those bracelets are simply gorgeous and I have been dying to make some.  I did make one bracelet that turned out OK, but when I tried to do more, I failed miserably.   I have a Jen-Ken table top kiln, so it is pretty easy for me to reach in with the tongs.  I am going to watch the video several more times and attempt to make the bracelet once again.  I got a message from Petra of Kaiser Lee board and what she told me to do was to carve the Kaiser Lee board in the bracelet shape all the way through the board, cover with primo primer, let dry and then put in my frit and larger pieces of glass.  I am going to try this techique also.  Right now I am pretty busy doing shows and festivals, but when I get a bracelet completed from either method, I will post a pix.

Janet

[glassmom3]

Check out this link at delphiglass, it describes the technique of creating fused glass bracelets.http://www.delphiglass.com/index.cfm?page=knowledgeBaseView&msg=125

Karen

 

[earart1]

Hi Karen —

I have seen this demo and I did just like it demonstrated but my mold fell over!  Thanks

 

[SarahC]

Hi Janet,

I just saw your comments on bracelet forming and I think I can help. When I first started to make bracelets, I had the same problem that you have had with the mandrel tipping over. I had Jayne Persico for another class on patte de verre, and asked her about it. Turns out that the mandrel that most everybody sells is the type on a pedestal (which is what I had). That is not the original one that Jayne designed for the bracelet making. So I purchased one from her site jpglassworks.com and have not had that problem since. I hope this helps.

Sarah

 

[glassmom3]

Sarah, thanks for sharing the tip about the mandral, now I know as to buy my mandral from JPGlassworks. I never noticed the difference when looking online.

Karen

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