Yeah. I'm actually considering re doing the windows. I cut everything loose last night and cleaned off the sprues and mocked up the bottom. When I set the roof on, I didn't get the amount of roof overhang I want. I sprued on the outside of the windows and wouldn't do that again because I 'd really like to have a wood texture on the outside of them. On the plus side, I feel pretty good now about casting this thin. Building a pentagon is no easy task. The roof is a winner, just not so sure about these windows at this time. The cross frames seem too wide to me too. Not a big deal, I'll just raise the price
Hmm yeah that is pretty thin, I've cast a few pieces like that but it is scary and needs a lot of sprues to be sure it fills. How come you didn't cast the tall thing in 2 parts and weld them together? Does it have a pattern on it that would be hard to fix in metal?
Yeah, it's pretty detailed, but I should of whacked it in half. Thought my kiln was deep enough, looks like I was wrong. If I can't find firebrick, I'll make a steel ring to increase the height and lay kaowool in it. Only needs to work once.
The pottery shop near my work keeps 2300F IFB's stocked, and a roll of blanket that they sell by the foot. I don't know if you have a place like that near you. But if so, might be worth making a call... Jeff
I've got plenty of blanket. Might just cover this gaping hole and say F-it. As long as the it gets over 1500, I should be okay. I'll be keeping my eyes open for another catpizz kiln. Even if it's junk, I can make mine a little taller.
Bronze work continues... Hard to get back going again after going brain dead on the beach for a week. Must be the rum drinks. Now I know why boron nitride is so expensive. Because it works! No sticking to the bronze. Desired effect! Going for broke this time. 670c and hold for 5mins. Crash kiln back down to anneal 510c/60mins then slow through strain 427c Angle iron to keep edges of glass from curling up. Fingers crossed!
Crap! Cocoa got into a fight outside and I slumped for 5 minutes too long. Ugghh! If I catch that stray, I'm deporting him outta my neighborhood. Might thin up the rails... I think I need to weld up a rectangle frame to shield the edges of the glass from the heat. This might prevent the shrink on the edges. Funny how one side did well and the other 3 are crap.
Oh man that worked better than I thought. Surprised it didn't stick. I think you'll need to put a solid plate of metal over the entire back of the glass to prevent the edges baconing up like that. That way it will hold the edges in place and only the unsupported parts over the windows will slump.
If I completely cover the glass, where the metal touches, the surface will be screwed. Look at the sample as it slumped over a crossbar. Yeah I think I can hold it to the frame with some small tabs.
But where it is screwed (rough?) will be the edges that aren't visible from the outside? I'm unsure what you mean. Why is that a problem.
Son of a bitch! This glass thing is really starting to get old! Made a weight out of 1/4" that fit the perimeter of the glass perfectly and cut back the time of slumping. Looks great, but I should have just shut the kiln off and left the door closed until tomorrow. But nooooooo, I had to pull it out. Cracked! I broke the glass out of it. It was under a HUGE amount of stress. It jammed itself into that frame something fierce. Maybe my weight is too much and squished the glass with too much force?
Found firebrick in town today. Atleast that's what they called it. Cheap as chips. $1.65 each. Think I should be good to fire that long shell now. Sure its hookie as hell. I suppose I could get the tile saw out and cut them.... Nahh.. I'll leave that fancy cutting stuff to you guys. I'll stuff kaowool in the cracks.
I think I had an epiphany... What IF I use a piece of glass that's say a half inch larger than my bronze frame? Conduct the slump, then cut to size??? Wont need any weight that way.. Just MAYBE, might work?
Where's the stress coming from, is it jammed in the square holes from too much slumping?. Oversizing the glass sounds like a great idea, apart from that make the windows out of some fancy Kovar alloy to match the glass expansion coefficient.
