Making new things out of glasses is an interesting hobby to pursue. It involves a lot of creativity. People proficient in making creative things out of glass are skilled in melting glass and then molding it in to the desired shape or size. Melting a glass is half the work done. The rest depends on your level of innovation and creativity.
It is possible for this work to be done at home itself. For this the first thing required is purchasing a kiln. Anything that is going to be thick would require a kiln and for other things blowtorch would be sufficient.
All the necessary precautions must be taken before you set out to melt a glass. This procedure is a little tough and even the slightest of mistake or loss of alertness could cause injury. Working with fire always requires utmost attention. If this is your first time, a good guide or book must be consulted or even better option would be to do the work under an expert’s guidance.
The project you are working on must be very clear to you. This process is a complicated one so you must not be discouraged if your project does not turn out to be the best one. It will take time before you excel in it. If the project doesn’t turn out to be good re-melt the glass to try once again.
The first step before you head towards melting a glass would be to remove all stickers stuck on the glass. Even the glue must come out properly from the glass. Now the bottle must be dried completely. Spray a mixture of borax and water on the surface of the glass. Make sure the air dries it completely. This is to keep the glass looking clear during the process.
Place the glass on a slump mould or a kiln. The bottle must have a coating of kiln wash which prevents the glass from sticking on it when hot. The kiln wash must be prepared carefully following all the instructions.
The kiln must be heated to 1100 degrees F after placing the glass in it. Keep it for about 10 minutes and again raise the temperature to 1300 degree F. Now let it stay at that temperature for about 30 minutes. Yet again the temperature bar has to be increased to 1425 degree F at let it stay there for 20 minutes flat.
When the glass appears to have slumped bring down the temperature to about 1000 degree F straight away. Let it stay there for another 10 minutes. Now again lower the temperature by another 200 degree F bringing it to 800 degree F. After an hour bring the temperature to 620 degree F. Keep bringing the temperature down after every one hour by 180 degree F.
Eventually switch off the kiln. Leave it for about 12 hours so that it cools down to the room temperature naturally. Check out the glass now. You will see that you have accomplished your goal of melting the glass and molding it into your desired shape.
