Tack Fusing

Tack Fusing

I am going to tack fuse these flowers onto 2 pieces of circular clear glass previously full fused together.  First I am full fusing 2 pieces of circular clear glass using the full fuse from the colour de verre and then I will tack fuse these guys to it.  So in my mind it appears that one of the most important questions in glass fusing is the firing schedule.  In most cases I have found that the Bullseye schedules are best.  And that simple is best.  Each time I have tried to make up a firing it has not worked out, either the glass broke or it was beset with devitrication.  But for the base in this project which is 2 pieces of 2mm circular glass I have used the firing schedule recommended by the colour de verre instructions with some minor alterations on my part and that was:

400dph..................................................1250 degrees.....................hold 30 min
600dph...................................................1420 degrees....................hold 10 min
FULL.......................................................900 degrees.....................hold 1 hour
100dph....................................................700 degrees......................hold 1min
Full............................................................70 degrees......................Off

So I am going to use the tack fuse schedule that is recommended by Bullseye for a first tack-fuse firing of a piece composed of one layer of 4mm base glass and an application of frits and powders.  I have 2 layers of 2mm glass covered with multiple layers of glass, frit and other additions.  The schedule is as follows:


600 dph................................................1450 degrees......................hold 15 min
FULL......................................................900 degrees......................hold 1 hour
100 dph..................................................700 degrees.......................hold 1 min
FULL........................................................70 degrees........................Off

That flower I tried to create is multi layered, the pieces of glass are pieces i got with my mosaic chopper from a previously fired screen melt.  So this design may be a lot thicker than an application of frits and powders that are described in the Bullseye instructions.  Nevertheless I am trying it anyway.  I will tack fuse that flower and the blue flower along with some stringer and single pieces of glass onto the circular panel that I have already fused together and see if that works.

Upon further reflection, and further reflection is always a good thing, I decided not to tack fuse it but to full fuse it instead.  Since there were so many thick pieces of prefired glass and so many different amounts I thought a full fuse would be better.  So I am using the following schedule:

400dph....................1250 degrees.............................hold 30 min
600 dph....................1470 degrees............................hold 15 min
FULL.........................900 degrees.............................hold 30 min
150 dph.....................700 degrees.............................hold 1 min
Full .............................70 degrees.............................OFF

The full fused worked although now the disk has an uneven surface. this is going to effect how I slump it.