Sharing your passion for making jewelry. Products. Service. Know-how.

Transcription

1 Box Basics Box Basics This project sheet provides the reader with all the basics fill weights, schedules, and techniques for using Colour de Verre s box base and lid casting molds. The resulting objects can stand alone or can be embellished with other Colour de Verre designs. Each design consists of two molds. One mold the larger of the two is used to cast the box base. The other mold; the lid. For a successful casting, there are three important steps to remember: Prime the mold correctly. Heat the molds not faster than 300 F (165 C) per hour. Availability Colour de Verre molds are available at fine glass retailers and many online merchants including our online store, Sharing your passion for making jewelry. Products. Service. Know-how. Don t rush the annealing schedule. The controlled cooling of the kiln prevents internal stresses from cracking the piece. Getting Started Always start the same way: Clean your Colour de Verre box lids and base with a stiff, nylon brush to remove any old kiln wash. (This step can be skipped if the mold is brand new.) Mix one part dry primer powder with four parts water. Next give the molds five coats of Hotline Primo Primer. While there are plenty of good shelf primers and kiln washes on the market, Colour de Verre only recommends Hotline Primo Primer for the Colour de Verre molds. It always releases and is easy to remove after firing. Tools Colour de Verre Box Lid and Base mold set Large primer brush Digital scale Two small, plastic containers Diamond pad or grinder One important hint: This primer settles very quickly. Each time the brush is dipped, be sure to give the primer a good stir so all the ingredients stay in solution. If the primer has sat more than 15 minutes, the active ingredients will cake on the container s bottom. Make sure to stir these sediments back into the solution. Apply the Primo Primer with a ¾ soft artist s bush and use a hair dryer to completely dry each coat before applying the next. The mold should be totally dry before filling. Filling the Molds The molds are intended to be used with COE 96 or COE 90 art glass. Colour de Verre molds should not be used with borosilicate, Pyres, Supplies Hotline Primo Primer Assorted frits, sheet glass, billets, casting rocks, etc.

2 Box Basics or float glass. At the temperatures necessary to melt the later glass formulations, the kiln wash starts loosing its effectiveness. The designs can be filled with any frit mesh, billets, casting rocks, glass pebbles, sheet glass broken or cut-to-fit, nipped rods, or a combination of these forms. For larger glass formats like billets and casting rocks, we suggest that the hold at the maximum temperature be increased to give the glass a chance to conform to the mold. The table below lists how much glass (in grams) should be arranged in each design s base and lid. We often refer to these weights as fill weights. Design Base Lid 3½ Round x5 Rectangle Elliptical Kidney ½ Heart Place a container on the digital scale. Zero the scale and measure out the frit for the base. If your scale doesn t have a zero or tare function, simple account for the container s weight in your measurements. With a second container, repeat the process weighing out enough frit for the designs lid. Carefully pour the weighed glass into the primed molds. When casting, glass spurs can be formed when the hot glass as it melts and compacts drags down the mold s interior. To reduce or eliminate spurs, mound the glass towards the design s center. Fine frit produces fewer spurs than larger frit or cut sheet glass. Spurs can be ground and the pieces fire polished. For projects where different types of glass is combined, it is often easier to weigh the glass in the mold. Place an empty mold on the scale, and fill the mold directly stopping when the fill weight it reached. When arranging larger glass frit or cut glass pieces in the molds, load and arrange the glass gently as the sharp edges can scrape away the kiln wash from the mold. This could contaminate the glass or cause the casting to stick. Firing the Molds Place the two filled molds into the kiln. Use the Casting Schedule below as a guide. Don t rush the Casting Schedule* schedule s slow cooling ramp as this allows for proper annealing. Also note that the schedules need to be modified for kiln load, COE, and glass color. Heating element position can also effect firings. Use lower temperatures when using a lid element kiln. Another factor is whether the glass is opal or transparent. For opal glass, reduce firing temperature by 25 F (15 C) and use shorter hold times. Opal glass has a tendency to absorb more heat. These high, prolonged temperatures can make the kiln wash difficult to remove from the mold. If this occurs, fine sandpaper or a dry, non-scratch, F/165 C 1250 F/675 C 30 minutes F/165 C F/ C minutes 3 AFAP 960 F/515 C 90 minutes 4 50 F/30 C 800 F/425 C None F/60 C 600 F/315 C Off. No Venting Fire Polish Schedule* F/136 C F/ C minutes 2 AFAP 960 F/515 C 90 minutes 3 50 F/30 C 800 F/425 C None F/60 C 600 F/315 C Off. No Venting

3 nylon, kitchen scouring pad, e.g. Scotch-Brite, can be used to remove stubborn kiln wash. Fire Polishing With any casting process, there is a chance for glass spurs to develop. If the casting has any spurs, remove with a power grinder or a diamond pad. Clean and re-prime the molds, and place the smoothed pieces into the freshly primed molds. Re-fire the piece according to the Fire Polish Schedule. The lid should always be places in its mold whenever it is being fire polished or when tack fusing embellishments to it. High Gloss Firing Most people like the subtle contrast between the lid s high gloss surface and the satin surface of the base. However, people occasionally wish to have the base s surface perfectly mimic the lid s gloss. If you wish to gloss the box s base, place the cast, glass base into the kiln without its mold, right side up, on a piece of ThinFire, fiber paper, or a freshly-primed kiln shelf. Follow the High Gloss Firing Schedule. This firing is designed to melt the pieces outer surface without softening the piece s core and causing it to loose shape. Remember that darker and opalescent colors absorb more energy and will heat faster and hotter. For darker and opalescent glass, use temperatures in the lower range of Segment 2. For transparent, light, and iridized glass, use temperatures in the higher range of Segment 2. Tack Fusing Components to Lids Boxes can be embellished by tack fusing elements to the lids. Possibilities include Colour de Verre casting; grit balls; slumped rods; and shaped noodles, streamers, and stringers. Place the lid in a freshly-primed mold. (This prevents the lid from warping.) Arrange the glass elements on the lid. A drop or High Gloss Firing Schedule* Box Basics two of white glue can be used to temporarily hold the piece in place. If the elements have been slumped or shaped, support the pieces with wedges of kiln paper. Fire according to the Tacking Schedule. Base Feet Give cast boxes a professional finish with the addition of feet. Use peel-and stick, silicon cabinet bumpers, e.g. 3M Bumpon, available from most hardware stores. This will also protect tabletops F/110 C 1150 F/620 C 5 minutes 2 AFAP F/ C None. 3 AFAP 960 F/515 C 90 minutes 4 50 F/30 C 800 F/425 C None F/60 C 600 F/315 C Off. No Venting Tacking Schedule* F/110 C F/ C 5-10 minutes 2 AFAP 960 F/515 C 90 minutes 3 50 F/30 C 800 F/425 C None F/60 C 600 F/315 C Off. No Venting

4 Gift Boxes with Crinklized Dichroic Gift Boxes with Crinklized Dichroic Colour de Verre s box molds and CBS s Crinklized Dichroic are combined to create these very impressive and quite showy boxes. This project was created using Colour de Verre s box molds and a new product by CBS Castings By Sandberg, their Crinklized Dichroic glass. Not only does the glass have the highly reflective, color shifting coating of traditional dichroic glass, it crinkles when fired creating beautiful, dimensional, crystal-like patterns. This new material makes a marvelous addition to cast boxes made with Colour de Verre molds. The process is easy and straight forward: A template (included with this project sheet) is used to cut two pieces of clear glass and one piece of the Crinklized dichroic. The three glass pieces along with some black frit are placed in the lid mold. Availability Colour de Verre molds are available at fine glass retailers and many online merchants including our online store, The base is filled with a combination of clear and black frit. The bases and lids are fired separately each with their own, special schedule. If the pieces have any sort of spurs or rough edges, the edges are easily smoothed with a grinder or diamond pad and fire polished. Getting Started Always start the same way: Clean your Colour de Verre box lid and bas with a stiff, nylon brush or a green 3M Scotch-Brite pad to remove any old kiln wash. (This step can be skipped if the mold is brand new.) Mix one part dry primer powder with four parts water. While there are plenty of good shelf primers and kiln washes on the market, Colour de Verre only recommends Hotline Primo Primer for the Colour de Verre molds. It doesn t obscure the mold s fine detail, always releases, and is easy to remove after firing. One important hint: This primer settles very quickly. Each time the brush is dipped, be sure to give the primer a good stir so all the ingredients stay in solution. If the primer has sat more than a few minutes, the active ingredients will cake on the container s bottom. Make sure to stir these sediments back into the solution. Apply the Primo Primer with a ¾ soft artist s bush and use a hair dryer to completely dry each coat Tools Colour de Verre Box Lid and Base mold set Digital scale Lidded container, Artist s brushes Glass Cutter Glass grinder or diamond pad before applying the next Apply five, thin primer coasts to the box lid and base molds. Making the Lid For each Colour de Verre box mold these is a set of corresponding patterns on the accompanying template page. Identify the pattern set for the cob mold you plan to use. The larger solid, out shape is used to cut two pieces of clear sheet glass. The smaller, dotted shape is for the piece of dichroic glass. To cut the clear pieces, place the clear sheet over the template. Use a glass marking pen to trace the solid line onto the glass. Score and break the glass to trim away extra material. Next, use a glass grinder to trim the glass piece to match the template. Repeat this process with a second piece of clear sheet glass. (A glass saw can be used in place of the scoring and grinding technique.) Cutting the dichroic material takes a bit more care. Some of the cut dichroic pieces are not symmetrical. While the cut, clear Supplies Hotline Primo primer Medium Water Clear and Black frit Crinklized Dichroic (black base) Clear sheet glass

5 glass pieces cab be flipped over to find the best fit, the dichroic glass is coated only on one side. Cut out the dotted template, Place the template s printed side against the dichroic glass s black side. Trace around the pattern using a white, waterproof marker. Use the same method described above to cut out the dichroic piece. Use a fine diamond grinding head. Grind with a coating side down to avoid chipping. Check to see if the sheet glass pieces fit the mold nicely. Clean all three pieces. Use four small dots of white glue to secure the clear pieces to one another. Let dry. This step makes it easier to transport the filled mold from the workbench to the kiln. Lid Fill Weights Design Recess Fill (grams) Surround Fill (grams) Rectangle Round Ellipse Kidney Heart Using the table above, determine the Recess Fill weight. With the digital scale, weigh out that much medium Black frit. Place the frit evenly in the lid mold recess. Place the dichroic glass cutout on top of the frit dichroic coating side up. Again, weigh out the Surround Fill of medium Black frit. Arrange this around the dichroic piece. Use a small, soft brush to level the frit and brush away any frit that may have fallen onto the dichroic glass. The dichroic cutout and frit should be about even with one another. Gift Boxes with Crinklized Dichroic Gently lower the two clear pieces into place on top of the dichroic glass piece. Transport the filled lid mold to the kiln. Once in the kiln, check to see that nothing has shifted. Given the variable thickness of art glass, the mold weight might be slightly less that recommend in the packaging. No need to worry: We will be firing the lid a bit cooler than generally recommended. Thus there will be less opportunity for the glass to pull in from the mold s edges.

6 Gift Boxes with Crinklized Dichroic CBS Coatings by Sandberg, the manufacturer of Crinklized Dichroic, recommends a lower target temperature when casting with this specific product. To account for this, our schedule holds the lower target temperature longer. Making the Base Use the chart below to determine how much grit is needed to fill the base. Into a large, lidded container place one-half the fill weight of medium Clear frit and one-half the fill weight of medium Black frit. Put the lid on the container and shake it to completely mix the two frit colors. Put on a dust mask, open the container, and pour the mixed frit into the box base mold. Slightly mound the frit to reduce glass spurs and cold work. Base Fill Weights Design Base Fill (grams) 3½ Round 295 4x5 Rectangle Elliptical Kidney 385 3½ Heart 310 Place the mold into the kiln according to the Base Casting Schedule shown below. Lid Casting Schedule* Finishing If either of your casting has a spur or tow, remove the spurs with a diamond pad or grinder. If either piece needs to be fire polished, follow the Fire Polish Schedule below. Be sure to completely clean and reprime the mold before fire polishing F/165 C 1250 F/675 C 30 minutes F/165 C 1350 F/730 C 90 minutes 3 AFAP 960 F/515 C 60 minutes 4 50 F/30 C 800 F/425 C None F/60 C 600 F/315 C Off. No Venting Base Casting Schedule* F/165 C 1250 F/675 C 30 minutes F/165 C F/ C 90 minutes 3 AFAP 960 F/515 C 60 minutes 4 50 F/30 C 800 F/425 C None F/60 C 600 F/315 C Off. No Venting Fire Polish Schedule* F/135 C 1320 F/715 C 10 minutes 2 AFAP 960 F/515 C 60 minutes 3 50 F/30 C 800 F/425 C None F/60 C 600 F/315 C Off. No Venting

7 Base Feet Give cast boxes a professional finish with the addition of feet. Use peel-and-stick, silicone cabinet bumpers, e.g. 3M Bumpon, available from most hardware stores. This will also protect tabletops. Variations Instead of using the dotted template to cut out a full piece of dichroic glass, use the template to cut out a piece of Black glass. Next, cut ½ strips of dichroic glass and collage the trips onto the Black glass. Glue the strips in place with white glue making sure not to get the glue on the dichroic surface. Gift Boxes with Crinklized Dichroic A second variation is use an interesting piece of art glass instead of the dichroic glass. Substitute medium Clear or other, complementary colored frit for the black frit. Again, cap with a double thickness of Clear sheet glass. One the glue has dried, grind away any excess dichroic that overhangs the Black glass. Omit filling the lid recess with frit and instead drop the collaged, double this glass panel in place. As before, surround the panel with medium Black frit and cap with a double thickness of Clear sheet glass.

8 Gift Boxes with Crinklized Dichroic

9 Peach Blossom Box Peach blossoms, branches, and leaf castings are tack fused to the lid of an elliptical box creating a look reminiscent 1920 s European glass. Very pale, translucent colors were chosen as not to distract from the classic design. There are four steps to completing this piece. 1. The box base and lid are cast. 2. The components the leaves, branches, and blossoms are cast. 3. The components are shapes or slumped. 4. The components are tack fused to the lid. The reader is invited to modify Availability Colour de Verre molds are available at fine glass retailers and many online merchants including our online store, this project by choosing a different box mold, choosing different elements, or creating his or her own frit mixture. Getting Started Always start the same way: Clean Elliptical mold with a stiff, nylon brush to remove any old kiln wash. A dry, non-scratch, nylon, kitchen scouring pad, e.g. Scotch- Brite, can be used to remove stubborn kiln wash. (This step can be skipped if the mold is brand new.) Mix one part dry primer powder with four parts water. Next give the box molds five coats of Hotline Primo Primer. Give the Branches, Small Leaves, and Blossom molds each four coats of primer. While there are plenty of good shelf primers and kiln washes on the market, Colour de Verre only recommends Hotline Primo Primer for the Colour de Verre molds. It always releases and is easy to remove after firing. One important hint: This primer settles very quickly. Each time the brush is dipped, be sure to give the primer a good stir so all the ingredients stay in solution. If the primer has sat more than few minutes, the active ingredients will cake on the container s bottom. Make sure to stir these sediments back into the solution. Apply the Primo Primer with a soft artist s bush and use a hair dryer to completely dry each coat Tools 6 Elliptical Box, Branches, Assorted Small Leaves, Blossoms, molds Large primer brush Digital scale Lidded, plastic container Stiff nylon brush Peach Blossom Box before applying the next. The mold should be totally dry before filling. Making the Lid and Base The fill weight for each box design is listed on the insert packaged with the molds. 375 grams of frit is required to fill the base and 180 grams fill the lid. This means we will need 555 grams of frit to fill both the base and lid. After some testing (See Creating Frit Paint Chips on the Colour de Verre website), a 50/50 mixture of Pink Champagne and Clear was chosen. Medium mesh frit was selected to reduce trapped air and bubbles in the final casting. Place 275 grams of medium Pink champagne and 280 of medium clear frit into a lidded container. Shake the container to combine the frits. Wear a dust mask before opening the container. Place the base mold on the digital scale. Tare (zero) the scale and add frit to the base mold until the scale reads 375 grams. Repeat the process with the lid mold. However, this time, filling Supplies Hotline Primo Primer Medium and fine Clear and Champagne Pink frit ¼ kiln paper White glue

10 Peach Blossom Box the lid mold with 180 grams of frit mixture. Leave the frit mixture slightly mounded. This will reduce and, in most cases, eliminate any casting spurs. (See the Box Basics Project Idea on the Colour de Verre website.) Fire both pieces according to the Box Casting Schedule. Making the Components The components are made with fine frit rather than medium mesh frit. The reasons for this are two fold: 1. Thinner and better detailed castings can be made with fine frit and lower heat. 2. The fine frit will catch tiny air bubbles and create components with a softer look. Rather than using the fill weights from the Branches, Small Leaves, and Blossoms molds packaging, use the Thin Fire fill weights from Fill Weights at a Glance document on the Company s website. These lighter weights, in combination with the cooler firing schedule, will result in more delicate castings. For more information see Tips for Thin Casting on the Company s website. The Branches require 4, 12, and 18 grams (34 grams total). The Small Leaves require 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 grams (21 grams total). the Blooms require 4, 4, 6, 6, 8, and 8 grams (36 grams total). Into the lidded container mix 50 grams of fine Clear and 50 grams of fine Pink Champagne frit. As before, use the digital scale s tare function to fill the molds according to the fill weights. If you scale doesn t have a tare function, use a small piece of paper to weigh frit and transfer it to the mold. Place the filled mold into the kiln and fire according to the Component Casting Schedule. Shaping the Components The castings from Small Assorted Leaves molds can be made to look much more realistic by slumping the pieces on the former on the mold s reverse sides. Box Casting Schedule* Component Casting Schedule* Give the Small Assorted Leaves mold s reverse side three coats of primer using the above techniques. Arrange the leaves on the slumping surface and fire according to the Component Shaping Schedule. Tack Fusing Components to Lids Place the lid in a freshly primed mold. (This prevents the lid from warping.) Arrange the branches, blossoms, and leaves on the lid. If your branch is too long, score the backside of the branch with a glass cutter and break it. A drop or two of white glue can be used to temporarily hold the pieces in place. Since tack firing temperatures F/165 C 1250 F/675 C 30 minutes F/165 C F/ C minutes 3 AFAP 960 F/515 C 90 minutes 4 50 F/30 C 800 F/425 C None F/60 C 600 F/315 C Off. No Venting F/165 C F/ C 5-10 minutes 2 AFAP 960 F/515 C 30 minutes. Off. No venting. Component Shaping Schedule* F/165 C F/ C 5-10 minutes 2 AFAP 960 F/515 C 30 minutes. Off. No venting.

11 Finishing Give the box a professional finish with the addition of feet. Use peel-and-stick, silicon cabinet bumpers, e.g. 3M Bumpon, available from most hardware stores, This will also protect tabletops. Peach Blossom Box are hotter than slumping temperatures, there will be a tendency for the components to flatten. To prevent this from happening, cut small wedges of thick kiln paper. Slide the wedges under the folds in the components. Fire according to the Tacking Schedule. Note the slow ramp and the long annealing time. It is important to follow these slow reamps to avoid stressing and perhaps, cracking the piece. Variations Don t be afraid to try new color and component combinations. Different effects can also be achieved by combining different frit mesh for the box base and lid. For example, the whole project could cast using only fine frit. The same firing schedules can be used. Above are some samples made with Colour de Verre s Anemone, Lotus, and Leaves (3) molds. Tacking Schedule* F/110 C F/ C 5-10 minutes 2 AFAP 960 F/515 C 90 minutes 4 50 F/30 C 800 F/425 C None F/60 C 600 F/315 C Off. No Venting

12 Tricks of the Trade Tricks of the Trade We want our customer to have a great experience and wonderful outcomes with our molds. Let us pass along these hints and advice. Use Hotline Primo Primer. We tested 1 many kiln washes and primers form a number of manufacturers. Only Hotline Primo Primer offered us the three properties that we required: thin, even coats that don t obscure the design; consistent release; and fired primer can easily be removed with a stiff brush. Mix the powder with water according to the label instructions. Apply four to five thin coats to the mold s inside surface. Let each coat dry before applying the next. A hair dryer can be used to accelerate the drying between coats. Keep the primer well stirred. The primer s fine particles - the active components - settle out of the mixture rapidly. If the primer settles, the particles will start to cake on the container s bottom. Use a stiff brush to stir the compacted particles off the bottom of the container and back into solution. It is not necessary to pre-fire the mold as long as the primer is dry. After firing the mold, use any nylon kitchen brush 2 or a toothbrush to remove all traces of the primer form the mold. We strongly recommend wearing a dust mask. 3 Always follow the firing schedule recommended on our website and packaging, Colour de Verre molds are made from a specialized ceramic material. Like glass, this ceramic will crack or shatter if it is heated or cooled too fast. 4 Finished pieces will have much smoother edges if you use a small brush to move the frit away from the top edge of the mold. This trough only has to be 1/8-inch wide and deep. Use only crushed art glass or frits in Colour de Verre 5 molds. The molds are not designed for Pyrex glass, float glass, or crushed bottles. We don t recommend firing Colour de Verre molds above 1500 F (815 C). At higher temperatures, the primer will start to fuse and becomes more difficult to remove. If the finished piece doesn t fall out of the 6 mold, don t panic. Turn mold face-down and tap it against a hard surface cushioned with several layers of newsprint. If the piece still doesn t fall out, the mold probably wasn t properly primed. 7 Occasionally, a few glass spurs might be on edges of the finished pieces. These are easily removed with a wet diamond block or grinder. Following hit #4 will minimize these. Butterflies, dragonflies, flowers, and leaves can 8 be given more life with a second, slump firing. Some of our designs have a specially designed slumping surface on the reverse side. A sugar fire yields wonderful results 9 with Colour de Verre snowflakes. Fill the mold to half of the recommended fill weight with fine frit. Fire to a partial fuse - about 1300 F (705 C). This technique can be used with any of our molds. 10 Don t be afraid to experiment. Add CMC solution to your glass powders to make a pate de verre paste. Mixed crush dichroic with your frits. Tack fuse finished pieces to slumped plates and platters. Mix shredded copper, silver, or gold foil into your frits. Embed smaller forms inside of larger, clear forms. The possibilities are endless. Availability Colour de Verre molds are available at fine glass retailers and many online merchants including our online store, The Bell Group, Inc. All rights reserved.