Make A Dichroic Glass
Cabochon Pendant
A fused dichroic glass cabochon pendant made from black base ripple dichroic and a clear cap.
A number of issues may arise when capping a piece of dichroic.
Capping:
Sometimes the base may seep out from under the cap, although you have a larger cap.
This is usually caused by the capping piece not fusing to the edges of the base, as a result the base spreads out past the edge.
Prior
to fusing remove some of the dichroic layer on the edges, this will
allow the cap to fuse to the base layer before it begins to spread.
Bubbles:
Air bubbles can be a problem when capping ripple, this can be dealt with in a number of ways.
One way is to fill the ripples with fine clear frit and then fit the cap, which is how this item has been made.
This method gives a very nice depth effect to the fused glass pendant
Another technique used by some artists is to pre-fire the piece, ripples face down in a kiln at 1400° F for ten minutes, others use a tack fusing schedule to achieve the same result.
Do not over fire.
The flattened ripples are then capped normally.
If desired flat dichroic can be used, along with a clear cap.
Materials:
Ripple dichroic on a black base.
Clear fusing glass.
Fins clear gfrit.
Cutter.
Pendant bail.
Epoxy cement.
Shelf primer or thinfire paper.
Glass fusing kiln.
Fusing:
Cut a piece of ripple 1 1/4 inches wide by 1 3/4 inches long.
Cut clear cap about 1/8 inch larger overall.
If the ripple glass isn't filled with frit then the cap will need to be slightly larger as it will slump into the unfilled ripples.
Place glass on prepared kiln shelf, fill ripples with clear fine frit.
Place cap on top.
Put shelf in fusing kiln, bring temperature up to around 1500° F, hold at this temperature for about ten minutes.
When fully fused turn kiln off and allow to cool to room temperature.
Remove item from kiln and attach pendant bail with epoxy cement.
You should now have a lovely kiln formed jewelry item with nicely formed ripples under the fused cap.
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