Puddle Cabochons
Small chunks of glass, when fired to a full fuse, melt and round out in the much the same way a small, melting chunk of ice turns into a round drop of water. To create our cabochons (round, unfaceted “stones”), simply arrange chunks of your puddle on a kiln-washed shelf.
Keep these things in mind:
- Don’t use shelf paper or fiber paper since both will interfere with the flow of glass and the rounding of your cabochons.
- Take a picture of your pieces before and after firing. This will teach you how to get different styles of stripes by changing how the chunks are placed on the shelf.
- Stacking small puddle pieces on larger ones before firing can provide interesting results.
Before firing, your kiln shelf should look something like this:
And here is a close up:
Fire using this schedule:
| Segment | Ramp | Target | Hold |
| 1 | 500° F / hr | 1000° F | none |
| 2 | FULL | 1500° F | 30 minutes |
| 3 | FULL | 950° F | 30 minutes |
| 4 | 300° F / hr | 725° F | none |
Once the firing is complete, your kiln should now be loaded with goodies like these:
On to the next step…
