Glass X Penny Tests!

I wanted to put pennies into kilncastings, as copper is uniquely compatible with soft glass. We all know the copper content in pennies differs from year to year, so I ordered a bunch of pennies in chronological order and slumped a sheet of glass over top!

Pre-fusing

I left the last image in it's 'original size' to try and show how weird the pennies look. With all the glare they might look normal, but just look at the difference in size!



Oddly the pennies in the middle expanded and exploded the most, while the two most recent pennies look almost a-okay.



The conclusion? If you really want to use pennies, use the oldest ones you can possibly find, and expect strange things to happen. Otherwise, if the pennies are surface texture, just glue them in/on afterwards!


Also, do it while you can, because pennies are going away in Canada!

September 24, 2012
Mercedes
1) 1 min ↑ 750º
2) 1 hrs @ 750º
3) 1:01 ↓ 516º
4) 2 hrs @ 516º
5) 5 hrs ↓ 390º
6) 9 hrs ↓ 50º

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Random Bits!

This kiln is way too full (I let two first years put their pieces in as well, but in retrospect I shouldn't have) and glass sort of melted onto the elements. Oops! Sorry for ruining an element. ): It was done with the best of intentions though.

Note - or please do not note - the fritty texture on the horse's hooves and butt, as well as on the tip of the dragon's wings.

The horse is a gift for my lovely Jessica ~ She sculpted the base horse while hanging out, and I was a lazy friend and said, "Hey, I'll just define the body shape a little more and voila, instant gift."

The electroplated dinosaur was a commission from a good friend in the states :D

This dragon was created simply because the bulk of an online forum group yelled, "MAKE A DRAGON! DO IT!" So, I did. I love him very much. He's, "Nameless the Dragon" !


Kiln 5 Program

1) 08 hrs @ 90º

2) 17 hr ↑ 110º

3) 34 hr ↑ 120º

4) 39 hr ↑ 600º

5) 41 hr @ 600º

6) 41:01 hr ↑ 850º

7) 55 hr @ 850º

8) 55:01 hr ↓ 516º

9) 71 hr @516º

10) 103 hr ↓ 390º
11) 129 hr ↓ 30º

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