MESH MELT, POT MELT

I made my own mesh using 1 inch thick fiber board with strips of 3/8th inch fiber papers strung across and secured by steel pins used in sewing.  I choose blue opaque with violet transparent and clear.  I used medium pieces of glass, going for big swaths of color, but I like it better with more mixing of colors and less separate blocks of color.  To fire it I used the following schedule:

500 dph...................................................1000 degrees..........................hold 30 mins
225 dph..................................................1225 degrees...........................hold 60 mins
Full..........................................................1595 degrees.........................hold 45 mins
Full..........................................................1475 degrees.........................hold 30 mins
Full............................................................900 degrees.........................hold 45 mins
100 dph......................................................700 degrees.........................off

The original firing schedule had me go up to 1600  degrees but I did 1595 instead.  You can see from the top picture that a lot of glass was still stuck to the mesh.  Additionally I had a few bubbles in the piece.  Thus I am not going to mess with original firing schedules until I try them first.  This piece was pretty, no black flakes in the glass from the stainless steel screen that I have.  I did knowingly use less glass than I was supposed to because I wanted to be conservative and so it came out a little uneven.  So I have ground the edges of the piece, it still isn't much of a circle and tomorrow I will fire polish it, using this schedule:
150 dph................................1000 degrees.................................hold 30 mins
Full.......................................1400 degrees.................................-0-
Full.........................................900 degrees.................................hold 60 mins
50 dph....................................800 degrees..................................-0-
100 dph..................................700 degrees..................................-0-
Off

and then I will add a layer of clear glass to the bottom, and fire it to a full fuse using a ramp of 100 dph for segment 1.  The firing schedule is as follows:

100 dph.................................................1000 degrees..........................hold 30 mins
225 dph..................................................1225 degrees.........................hold 60 mins
Full .......................................................1475 degrees..........................hold 20 mins
Full.........................................................900 degrees...........................hold 45 mins
50 dph.....................................................800 degrees..........................-0-
100 dph...................................................700 degrees..........................-0-
Off

Thank goodness for time to think.  I read my instructions over again and saw the steps for putting a transparent rim on your finished mesh melt.  The first step is to grind the piece after the melt to get rid of uneven edges.  The second step is to full fuse that piece on your piece of glass which is 1/2" larger than your piece and the third step would be to slump it, if that was the way you wanted to go.
I am currently fire polishing the piece after grinding its edges trying to see if the fire polish, which apparently works only on the surface, will get rid of the big bubbles which are now on the top of my piece.  If, as I am hoping, the fire polishing gets rid of the bubbles I will slump this piece and put a rim on my next piece.

It did not get rid of the bubbles, but serendipitously Stephen Richards wrote the following in his blog.  I hopte to remember this:

When using textured glass there is a decision to be made on whether the smooth or textured side is up.

"Oddly, the largest, but thin bubbles occur when putting the smooth sides together. it seems that as the glass is not perfectly flat, it holds air within the fused piece.

The fewest bubbles seem to be promoted by placing the rough side down on all pieces. This is easy as cutting is done on the smooth side anyway, and so no reverse cutting is required. It seems that the rough side of the glass provides ways for the air to escape during the bubble squeeze although it does promote micro bubbles within the glass.

If more bubbles are desired, you can place the textured sides together. That seems to allow the majority of the air out, but still leaves the micro bubbles from both sheets.

I have had good results following the Bullseye recommendation to keep the smooth side up on all layers. "

So finally after some deliberation I have decided to try and grind the piece a little longer and then slump it.  Results to come. 

Ok, the bubbles remained.   I have tried to grind it to a more perfect circle but it is quite far away from that so I will slump it in 
 This is relatively deep, so i will use a hold time of 15 mins.  Otherwise the schedule goes as follows:

150 dph..........................1000 degrees.......................hold 30 mins
100 dph.......................... 1200 degrees......................hold 15 mins
Full..................................900 degrees.......................hold 1 hour
50 dph..............................800 degrees.......................-0-
100 dph.............................700 degrees....................-0-
Off

 I have great hopes for this pot melt.  I broke down and bought some pots because these are only 2 inches high and so can be put on supports and still not be too high for my shallow kiln.  There are 6 holes and it is about a 6 1/2 inch diameter circle by 2 inches high.  I am putting a little over 10 ounces of blue and green transparent along with clear glass, elevated somewhat off the kiln shelf.  On the shelf I have a 6 1/2 inch diameter circle of clear glass 2mm thickness over thin fire paper.  My shelf's kiln wash is a little rough in some places and I did not want to re-coat it with kiln wash just now.  I will be using the following firing schedule tomorrow;

250 dph.....................................1100 degrees..........................hold 15 mins
450 dph......................................1680 degrees.........................hold 1 hour
Full.............................................1520 degrees.........................hold 15 mins
Full ............................................  900 degrees..........................hold 3 hours 
100dph..........................................800 degrees..........................hold 1 hour
100 dph.........................................650 degrees..........................hold 15 mins
off 

Pretty, but a corner of it broke off.  I think that was because it came in contact with one of the posts that was holding out the pot melt pot.  I will try to grind it down to a better shape, soak it in vinegar water, and fire polish it and then slump. 

NEXT POT MELT

  I fired it using the firing schedule on Bonny Dune Molds Pot Melt Tutorial and it came out well with only a few bubbles.  I wish I could get rid of those and will keep looking for some option.  Fired it as follows:

250 dph...............................1100 degrees.....................hold 15 mins
450 dph...............................1685 degrees......................hold 1 hour