Unlocking Time and The Grind Goes On

Down in Studio B (Basement) it's messy but productive. All the glass cutting, chemicals, etching and torch work goes on down there, plus the kiln and the soldering station.

And the grinder for the glass. Noisy, wet, messy - but lots of fun. To watch solid glass shaped right in front of you. Very exciting.

Today the glass for the next group of clasps is being shaped and ground and the hole drilled for the toggle to go through. That is nerve-wracking, and there is a deep breath taken before plunging into the hole drilling process. And whoosh - a big exhale when it works out okay.

This photo show the fronts of the glass clasp pieces after grinding and beveling. See the scuff-marks and rough edges? That's why they go back into the kiln for a fire polish, to smooth them out and make them all glossy again. They have three firings, in all, to make the finished glass clasp.

You can see the back of the key design clasp here, and the front of the clock glass clasp. The backs have very faint writing designs on them, very subtle. These are substantial pieces of glass even after I shaped and ground down the edges, 2 7/8" x 1" wide.

The grinder I use has a beveling station on top of it, so I can put an angled edge on the glass.

When the glass comes out of the kiln from the second firing (capping the enameled image with clear glass) it's not very square on the edges and sometimes the clear cap slides around a little. That's one reason why I fuse the enamel design on the glass in the first firing, so it won't smudge if the clear glass slips or flows in firing to a full fuse at 1500 degree F.

When I use the grinder the glass has to be kept wet, to protect the diamond carbide grinding bit, and to keep the heat from building up in the glass. The glass might crack if it gets too hot during grinding. And it creates a kind of soupy glass particle spray that can't help but go everywhere. I always put on a heavy vinyl wrap-around apron to keep from getting soaked, and to keep the glass particles off my clothes.

Most important of all - I wear these glasses. To protect my eyes from little shards of glass getting anywhere near them. I can feel the grinder spray on my face sometimes, so I know it's getting up that high. The safety glasses aren't good looking and I look like a geek wearing them, but they are ultra-super-important!

Safety first! Always wear any safety gear you need when you are creating. There are links on the side of the blog for my posts on different equipment safety posts, if you need a refresher.

So, off I go to pop these two pieces in the kiln for their fire polish, to spiff them all up. But I thought you might like to see them in their 'before' state.

What do you think of them?