Glass Fusing Basics And
Techniques
Fused glass jewelry is a great place to start learning about glass fusing. Working with a glass kiln on small scale jewelry projects will allow you to build confidence and experience,laying the foundations to move to more advanced levels of fused glass art work. Unlike other forms of glass work, warm glass fusing does not take a great amount of time to learn. A studio can be set up very quickly in your garage or basement with very little effort. At it's most simple level fusing art glass is just stacking two or more layers of fusible glass in a glass kiln and heating the glass until it fuses together into one piece. Of course things are never that simple, however, you will find that with knowledge and experience you will produce beautiful art glass jewelry. One of the most important aspects of glass fusing is the two layer rule which deals with the final thickness of fully fused glass. One of the natural properties of glass is that when fused it will normally expand or contract to approximately a 1/4" thick. Experimenting with colors, shapes and thickness can result in quite spectacular results. Glass can be placed over a glass fusing mold and heated until it slumps into or drapes over the mold. Cast glass results from the glass melting and flowing into a mold. There are a number of different casting methods that can be used. Placing powdered glass (frit) into a mold and heating is used quite often in jewelry making. Adjustment of the temperature and time the glass is in the kiln produces different effects to the finished piece. Fused glass jewelry makers use the following fused glass processes to achieve the desired result: Fire Polishing is a method used in the warm glass kiln to round and polish the edges of a glass piece that has been "cold worked" by grinding, drilling or sawing. The piece is heated and held at the selected temperature until the edges are nicely rounded with a shiny finish.
Tack Fusing occurs when separate glass layers are fused together with very little change in the shape of the object apart from some softening of the edges.
Contour Fusing happens when separate glass layers are fused together, edges are soft and rounded and the piece will retain a degree of its original shape, subject to the heat applied. The item will be more than tack fused but less than fully fused.This technique works very well in jewelry making, particularly in producing a raised surface for a decal application.
Full Fuse results in separate glass layers completely fusing into a single uniform layer with a smooth top layer with glass pieces being nicely rounded.This is one example of a fully fused art glass pendant.
Combed glass is a process where a metal tool is drawn across molten glass in a kiln, creating patterns. The glass sheet can be cut on a tile saw and the pieces then fire polished as per the photo. Combing can be done in a table top glass kiln.Not recommended for beginners.
Glass Pot Melts produce a multi-colored swirl of fusing glass. Scrap glass is placed in a terra cotta pot which is placed on kiln posts in the kiln and melted, the glass flowing from the hole in the bottom of the pot.Molds or plates can used to catch the glass, a variation of this is a screen melt where the glass is placed on top of a wire screen and then melted. Like combed glass the finished glass is cut on a tile saw and used to create "one off" pieces of glass jewelry. Pot melts can be done in a table top kiln.
Fusing glass comes in a large range of solid or transparent colors and is available in standard thicknesses. Either 1/8" -3mm or 1/16" -1.5mm glass fusing sizes are available. It comes in different sizes with 12" square being very handy for fused glass jewelry making. Smaller pieces can also be purchased from some glass shops.Of utmost importance is that the glass must be tested compatible to ensure that it does not crack or break. One of the natural properties of glass is that when fused it will normally expand or contract to approximately a 1/4" thick. This process is quite handy when making jewelry as it produces some very interesting end results.  A more recent addition to the glass range has been dichroic glass cabochon. This glass has become very popular for glass fusing as jewelry artists utilize the brilliant colors produced after the glass has been fired. There are an amazing number of dichroic glass patterns, no two fired pieces will be the same due to the way the coating is applied to the glass when it is being made.
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