Kiln Status

We're gettin' there.... The manufacturer of my kiln is Paragon. I bought this brand because of their reputation for known quality, durability, and customer service. I also felt it was the right size kiln for me at the time of purchase, which was in March of 2007. I'm happy to report I was right on all counts. Although I must admit I've been checking out larger kilns for the day when I need a second kiln!

The technician walked me through some additional troubleshooting this afternoon. It looks like the main power cable to the board may have had a problem that started this malfunction for me. They will ship out a new circuit board, cable harness, and two relays so I will have a spare. Once I get them, I need to call them back so they can walk me through the process and make sure we've found and fixed the problem.

I'm thankful and hopeful that my kiln will be operational next week. Paragon's staff is the best...helpful, courteous, and they definitely want the customer to be happy. Now I only wish they would have given me a little better price break on the replacement items, but ya can't have everything, right?

Happy creating. Tomorrow I head to Denver for a three day class with Patty Gray. Can't wait.

Election Day

Off topic, I know. And I won't discuss politics.

I just want to encourage everyone to vote, regardless your candidate. Your vote is important!

Thanks.

Looking for a Bright Note

Well, my kiln needs a 'transplant'. While trying to trouble shoot the controller, it started smoking. Not a good sign when it comes to circuit boards. So, I removed it and will send it to the manufacturer for replacement. And I still don't know what the actual cause of the problem was. As my husband says, we'll see what happens when the new circuit board comes back and we install it. If it's still malfunctioning after that, we'll try to find an authorized repair service in the area. For now, my kilnwork has come to a halt and I am very disappointed.



Looking for the bright note in my day, I was able to solder the Peace Angel. I wasn't sure I could put a lead border around her, but after looking at her tonight, I think I can, so that will be my next step. I did get to see the light shine through the glass this afternoon and she's beautiful.

Things happen for a reason. I just don't know what that is right now in terms of the kiln malfunction. But I'll go forward with my stained glass pursuits and wire wrapping glass cabochons for now.

At the end of this week, I will be heading up to Denver for a three day glass with Patty Gray. D & L Stained Glass is having her come to teach her techniques for fused bowls. That's another bright spot for me.

Happy creating everyone.

My Kiln is Out of Commission

Right now I'm pretty bummed. I started to fire my latest batch and after about 1/2 hour my kiln sounded an alarm. It failed to fire to temperature. Well, it hadn't even really started. It was at about 138 degrees F when it quit. I will attempt to troubleshoot what I can, but I'm not an electrician. The instructions on what to look at seem good, so I will try that later today. I'm disappointed and hope it is something that can be easily fixed this week.

In the meantime, I took advantage of the beautiful weather we're having and did the final painting of our outside doors and frames. Does that qualify for plein air painting? No, I didn't think so. The bassets were most interested in my activity and for once, none of them drug their ears through the paint. Although the youngest one had a few near misses.

I'm taking a break and trying to generate positive energy so I can start soldering the Peace Angel. When I'm done with that, my husband and I will head to Home Depot or Lowes to buy a voltage/ohm meter for the start of the kiln troubleshooting.

Wish us luck!

Progress Reports

When I opened the kiln this morning, I was greeted by this beauty! I'm happy with the result and it confirmed why this glass is expensive too. Nice rich colors. The picture doesn't show how well the accents compliment the streaky parts of the glass, but they do. Several of them are iridized, which really adds a nice effect. Given this result, I will proceed with making the next two larger sizes. This piece is so 'fiery' that I think I may call this series Fuego.

As a mentioned a few days ago, I want to try Peter McGrain's glass painting techniques. I now have my design....an aspen branch, of course.


This is my design template I used for cutting out the glass.

And I'm also posting a picture of the actual piece that just went in the kiln this morning. What I've done here is place the template underneath the glass circle and it becomes my guide for leaf placement. Once fused, I'll go back and paint in lines and other washes to create some of the effect I'm going for with this piece.



In my opinion, the cool thing about fusing is you can do things with glass (shapes, lines or lack of lines) that you just can't do in the traditional stained glass method. If all goes well, the fused blank will be ready for painting in the branches and creating some shading for the leaves. You probably noticed some other items with this piece. I'm working on some new pendant designs so I added them to this batch for the fuse.

If I'm happy with the outcome of this small plate (about 9" in diameter), I have two others in larger sizes that I will use for this series. I imagine I'll name this series The Aspen Branch.

Happy Creating All!

Work in Progress - Foiled!

In this case....foiled! is a good thing. Here's the Peace Angel, with all of the copper foil complete. Now the definition of the lines is clear. Soldering will be the next step.

In my multitasking process today, I still need to cut out another design for fusing tomorrow. With that as a goal, I may not start soldering the Peace Angel until tomorrow. That gives me a large time slot to devote to the soldering process and I can complete that phase, which is important to do all at once, if possible. Once the soldering is done, oxidation of the solder lines takes place almost immediately. It's important to clean those lines and apply the desired patina asap. I think I'll wait to start soldering until tomorrow.

At least she's almost complete and I'm very happy with the outcome so far. It's been a productive day for me.

Today's Fusing Project

I just put this piece in the kiln for fusing. I don't know what I'm going to call this series. I have plate molds for this shape in three different sizes. This is the first one, the smallest....about 9".

I'm using a Bullseye Streaky glass, with some colored flakes. This is the first time I've fired this particular Bullseye and I'm very curious to see what color changes, if any, I will see once the piece is fused. I find this glass gorgeous and tried to find nice pieces of accent glass for the design I placed in the left side of this. If all turns out well, then I'll use this same design and color scheme for the two larger plates.

A footnote on the Peace Angel, I'm almost done with the copper foil. My plan is to finish that phase today. I also want to work on another design for fusing so that will be ready for firing tomorrow.

It's the first of November (can you believe it?!?) and I'm multi-tasking.....