Irid glass question.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I bought a bunch of irid glass on sale last weekend and now I need some helpful hints on the best way to fuse with it.  I’ve read that fusing with the irid side down on the kiln shelf will produce a matt finish. 

What about fusing face up?  Capping with clear?   Temp considerations?  

Thanks for the help,

~Celeste 

[Anonymous]

Hi Celeste,

You can use it up or down — but some irid deteriorates if fired down twice or more. I like the look of irid fired down – the irid textures nicely.

Face, capped with clear – they all work fine. Iridized glass is pretty tough stuff.

As for firing, when I have irid in a piece I fire much more conservatively.  I believe the thin, metalic coating can really mess with even heating.

– Paul

 

 

---

Paul
FusedGlass.Org
Helios Kiln Glass Studio
PaulTarlow.com

 

[SillyDog]

I like to fuse with irid side down.  Having the irid side on the kiln does give a bit of a matte finish to the irid, but it is super pretty that way and brings up all the colors.  I also will use a cap of clear irid with the irid side down on top of other colors.  This gives the whole piece a glow. 

[ouiser1955]

Thank you Paul.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

~Celeste 

[ouiser1955]

I’ll have to try both ways. 

Thanks,

~Celeste 

[Ed Richburg]

I love the stuff.

Just about everything I do has some irid in it

Try it over opalescent with a glue or sandblast resist over the irid and

fuze together and you can get some great effects.

One can use it in mosaics,

On strip bowls it can cause problems, as

you have to watch lining it up face to face as it will not bond.

On drop rings it does not hold together as well as non-irid.

Ed

 

 

[Jolinda]

 Thanks for those suggestions, Ed.  But I’m a bit confused with “try it over

opalescent with a glue or sandblast resist over the irid”.  Are you suggesting

placing irid side down against the opal, after having first made a design on the irid

with glue..or sandblast resist (like Contact paper)?  I don’t see how the plastic

would fuse…so at the risk of sounding dumb…I’m not getting it   Or perhaps you

mean to first sandblast a design in the irid (which works well and is very easy to do)

 but then I don’t see how the opal comes in?  Thanks for any light you might be able

 to offer…

[Ed Richburg]

Thought #1 –

If you cut out a piece of irid and glue it to a piece of opalescent and fire it.

Then paint glue over the irid and let it dry completly, maybe even 2 coats.

Then sandblast the opalescent. Then soak off the glue. The irid looks great in contrast to the sandblasted opal. Then you can slump it.

Thought #2 – Also you can glue white shelf paper (self adhesive) over a piece of irid.

Draw a design and cut it out removing hte pieces where you do not want the irid to show. Then sandblast off the irid that is not covered up with the contact paper

Strip off the contact paper that is cover ing up the irid to expose the design. Then slump.

Ed

[Jolinda]

 Hey Ed…

I really appreciated your ideas here.  I have already accomplished the sandblasting a design into the irid…very easy and quite impressive!  I will give the other approach a try as well…thanks for that help!

Jolinda

[caseyalb]

I like to fire irid side down. It will keep glass from sticking to kiln wash and will also give you a nice finish on the back or bottom of your piece. Especially if you are using an opaque glass.

Casey

[Author]

Posts