Pot melt/kiln shelf

[nancytole]

It was suggested to me that when I do a pot melt (my first one), that when the glass melts onto the shelf it can get messy.  The artist suggested I use a used kiln shelf, something not in perfect condition.  My neighbor, who is a potter, said that I can use one of her used shelves, but she is concerned that doing the pot melt will destroy the shelf and make it unusable to her afterwards.  Input?  Will the shelf be unusable to her after the pot melt?

 

Thanks!

[Stephen Richard]

Certainly without a separator the glass will stick to the shelf.  My advice is that you should not use your friend’s shelf.  There already is concern about future use, so keep her as a friend and spend a little more money or use your own.

You can get ceramic pot bases, paint them thoroughly with kiln wash and drip into them.  This keeps the glass away from the shelf and leaves you with a round object, sometimes thicker than wanted.  But look at the tools and book sections on this site.  Paul has just published a book on pot and mesh melts.  It would be worth looking at it before committing youself.

 

Stephen Richard

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

[blamdimond]

I have a designated pot melt shelf.  It is really hard on the shelf and sometimes can even remove small chunks out of it.  Give your shelf more coats of primer and you should be able to not have any “surprise” chunks.  I do about 10-12 coats when I do a pot melt. 

And FYI, any time you put black or royal blue into your pot melt…expect that the whole thing will turn out either black or blue…the colour is just too strong and overwhelms everything!

[sunny4art]

I have had really good results using a clear piece of glass on my kiln shelf and it becomes part of the melt but works really well and no sticking problems because I use kiln paper under the glass. I actually use legs under stainless steel screen and get some really varied effects rather than the regular look of pot melts. Good luck

 

[riafires]

For most of my pot melts I kiln washed terra cotta saucers and they worked really well.  I too was concerned about abusing the kiln shelf and found these saucers extremely successful.  Depending on their origin, some seem to last much longer than others.   Some of them cracked after only one use, but many I have used several times over and no cracks.  The beauty of these besides being very inexpensive, and the variable sizes, is that the pot melt doesn’t stick at all and comes out with a very clean bottom, as opposed to when it flows onto the kiln shelf.  Seems like it takes part of the shelf off and is very difficult to remove from the glass.  Lots of elbow grease or grinding to get the shelf material off.

Also there are no worries if you used too much glass of it dripping on to the floor of your kiln as it’s all beautifully contained in the flower pot saucer.

 

[blamdimond]

The challenge with a pot melt is that even you do put a sheet of clear underneath, the flowing glass pushes it outward.  In a screen melt the glass is dripping straight down from all manner of sources…so your clear stays more in place.  I haven’t used shelf paper under the pot melts because it would just get picked up and carried along and now I have ick that I can’t sandblast away.  Oh the trials and errors, I have experimented extensively with pot melts because I love the look but sometimes I just shake my head and wonder why I was so optimistic that something would work!  LOL!  The disappointments can be very informative.

[blamdimond]

I had gotten some ” made in Germany” and some of them have lasted 5 and counting pot melts.  What I discovered rather painfully was…you will sometimes get a crack near the base of the pot.  If you lift it by the top lip…and you have several pounds of glass in it…the stress is too much and the bottom falls out. I have managed to make my pots survive longer by not being cavalier about my handling of them.  The saucers are a good idea, but I have found that they are rather expensive…especially in larger sizes.  Where did you find yours? 

[sunny4art]

Sorry, I should have made it clear that the glass I put on the shelf paper is only for screen melts. I don’t do pot melts, don’t really like them. Get such fantastic results with screen melts and haven’t disliked any and no muddy results using blues & blacks. I wouldn’t use paper under a pot melt either-you’re right.

 

[wordana]

You can use fiber paper under pot and screen melts — not ThinFire — fiber paper (such as 1/4″ and 1/8″).

Dana W.

Jester’s Baubles Fused Glass Designs

http://www.jestersbaubles.com

[jimsi7833]

I usually melt into a fiberboard called  110J from brad Walker at the Warm glass BB.

Works wonderfull

Jim

 

[blamdimond]

Jim,

Do you get ick in there?  I mean does it pick up stuff off the fiberboard? I was contemplating trying a pot melt with fiber cloth, but was concerned about getting it off.  I guess that’s another experiment when I have more free kiln time!

[jimsi7833]

You get a little, but it comes right off with some water and  a scrub brush.

[Marvin]

I just ruined my last shelf with a pot melt, glass totally cracked, had to scrape of and left the shelf deeply pitted. I think back to basics(?) How do I know if there is enough kiln wash? I like the idea of a terra cotta saucer though. Why do I find all instructions to just dumpt the glass directly on the shelf

[Author]

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