My Dad's 60th birthday is coming up and I want to make a little something with some pieces of broken glass. The glass is from the remains of champagne bottle which was used to Christen his sailboat, which is basically his over the hill Harley Davidson toy/baby. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but I think melting the glass and using it as part of a picture frame or something would be cool. Any ideas on how to do something like this?
A MAPP gas torch burns at 1900+ degrees. Glass melts around 1400 IIRC so... there you go.
PM Volvoclearinghouse
I've used a propane torch for melting glass before. Melting it is easy. Keeping it from shattering when it cools is the hard part - if you care about that.
You have to cool it really slowly to avoid stress fractures.
Do what they do in South America: Use the broken glass to line the top edge of your concrete block security fence for a theft deterrent that glistens in the sunlight.
For slow cooling, use cat liter to cover and place in an oven or other insulated heat resistant container.
DaveEstey wrote: You have to cool it really slowly to avoid stress fractures.
Heating it slowly is a good idea also.
I was messing with a marble once, it exploded.... ah yes... glass.
My daughter once made a picture of my ElCamino using coiled up paper scraps (called quilling- look it up)
How about a mosaic of his boat made of tile, with glass accents?
Check your local area for a glass blowing studio- I've never been in one that didn't have a fusing oven- that will both raise the temp as well as anneal the glass.
One thing to know- tell them you are using commercial glass. It's very different than the art glass that they use. Theoretically, they can be mixed- but the temperatures that they change properties are much different. The key temp for commercial glass is that it stiffens up at a higher temperature than art glass- so when it's made, it will "freeze" quicker.
If you want to add glass to what you have, you'll need to find more commercial glass, and for your application, a bottle of wine that is clear would be the most logical choice.
If you do it yourself, I should not have to remind or suggest using safety glasses. Can't imagine a 1000F shard of glass hitting my eye.
Small plug here for my wife's biz:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/GardenDaisiesStudio?ref=shop_sugg
volvoclearinghouse wrote: Small plug here for my wife's biz: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GardenDaisiesStudio?ref=shop_sugg
That is very cool. For a while I was going to make jewlery with recycled glass. Need to just get back into blowing glass, first.
alfadriver wrote:volvoclearinghouse wrote: Small plug here for my wife's biz: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GardenDaisiesStudio?ref=shop_suggThat is very cool. For a while I was going to make jewlery with recycled glass. Need to just get back into blowing glass, first.
Glass called. He's in town and wants your number.
But seriously, glasswork amazes me. We went on a cruise once that had a glass studio on board that did shows all week long. I think we were at all of them in the from row nerding out. I could watch that E36 M3 all day.
In reply to JG Pasterjak:
You should try it- most studios offer some kind of "try it" thing- be it something simple up to 3 hours of 1-1 time.
you know that zone you get in when racing a car... yea, that. It's a very similar kind of focus. You know if you screw up, it can hurt a lot. But if it goes well, it's magic.
volvoclearinghouse wrote: Small plug here for my wife's biz: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GardenDaisiesStudio?ref=shop_sugg
As far as I know, my Dad has no need for ear rings but if I could mail you this and you mail me some molten product back that could be neat. Interested?
To everyone else, thanks for the ideas. I'll hit a small piece with a torch and see what happens.
alfadriver wrote: In reply to JG Pasterjak: You should try it- most studios offer some kind of "try it" thing- be it something simple up to 3 hours of 1-1 time. you know that zone you get in when racing a car... yea, that. It's a very similar kind of focus. You know if you screw up, it can hurt a lot. But if it goes well, it's magic.
Yeah, I looked into it but I think I found that the closest place with any programs like that was in Tampa. I can see that getting real addicting, though. It seems like you're always operating on the edge of failure. There's something appealing about that to me.
I have a friend who received a gift of a melted / sorta flattened patron bottle (tequila). It was cool. The person who made it Peeled off the label, then put it back on afterward.
This was done at one of those "paint your own" pottery studios. Their kiln melted glass just fine.
Enyar wrote:volvoclearinghouse wrote: Small plug here for my wife's biz: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GardenDaisiesStudio?ref=shop_suggAs far as I know, my Dad has no need for ear rings but if I could mail you this and you mail me some molten product back that could be neat. Interested?
That was kindof what I was going for. 
She has a couple of kilns and several molds to do all sorts of jewelry. We have piles and racks full of old wine bottles she's collected just because they were some cool shape or color. A favorite thing of hers is just to melt down a bunch of shards of glass and see what happens. Pretty cool stuff. I'll let her know you may be contacting her- you can do it through the Etsy page I believe. Or shoot me a PM and I'll give you her email.
I drank water last night out of the bottom half of a wine bottle she made me for my 30th birthday, FYI, they are very nice pieces.
I worked at Simon Pearce (http://www.simonpearce.com/) during the summers in college doing quality control and finish work. One of the most popular questions we got from visitors was "Do people get burnt often?" The answer is "You get burnt once."
I liked that place. Still have a house full of blown glass from my time there.
Edit: Those glasses are badass, Tuna.
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