Sakura Young Koi Show - Fundraising

[MikeM]

Yea? ...Well, we will see if you beat the $500. If it just by a penny, it counts; but that would say a lot about the size of something.

[RayJordan]

Here is a pic of the cut glass pieces assembled into the desired postion and loaded into the glass kiln. Over the next six hours the temperture will rise to about 1460F. THere is a observation window that lets me watch the final fuse occur and I gently open the kiln lid to flash cool the glass back to 1150F to stop it from any additional movement. Hopefuly the glass will not shift postion, crack or generate large bubbles that destroy the project.

If all goes well I lower the kiln lid and it will go into a controlled cooling program to slowly cool and anneal (strenghten) the fused glass. Hopefully tomorrow morning when I get up I will have a sucessfully fired round fused glass disk with smooth surface and edges. Kind of like getting up on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought you.

Keep your fingers crossed and I'll give you a update tomorow morning.

[RayJordan]

Firing of the sanke disk completed a little while ago. I stopped the firing a little earlier and at a little lower temperture than orginally planned. Melting glass is not a exact science. Looking through the viewing window it is difficult to see in much detail but it looked ready at 1435F. Glass at this temp will glow some shade of red regardless of "true" colors at room temp. After a ten minute hold to let the glass relax I opened the lid and flash cooled the kiln and glass down to 1160F to stop the glass from flowing/moving.

I took a photo through the tiny viewing window at about 1420F. You might be able to tell how shiney and smooth the piece looks. Also took photos at about 1435F when lid of kiln was opened to flash cool the piece and also at about 1180F just before lid was closed. No flash used - photos exposed by natural light and also by the red hot glowing glass itself. Hard to tell any small details but I couldn't see any major problems with large cracks or blisters on the disk.

The kiln will cycle thru a preprogramed sequence to slowly reduce the temp in specific steps and hold for different lenghts of time along the way to help temper the glass to make it stronger and also hopefully prevent and temperture shocks which will cause cracks and ruin the project. It should be returned to room temp by about 7am tomorrow.

Final step is to place on a plate mold and fire to a temp that will soften the glass disk and allow it to slump into the mold and create a plate shape. If all goes well this last step will be done tomorrow afternoon.

I am cautiously optimistic that I might be lucky enough to get this one done the first time. That hasn't happened very often but a great feeling when it all comes together as planned.

[Russell Peters]

I am keeping my hopes up for you Ray. Looks great so far.

[koiczar]

Yes Ray. Look's like the glass koi gods are with you on this attempt. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Mike

[RayJordan]

So far so good! Just one more firing to slump into plate mold later today!

[koiczar]

Quote: Originally Posted by RayJordan So far so good! Just one more firing to slump into plate mold later today!

Ray

Very nice, indeed!

Mike

[RayJordan]

Freshly baked and ready for the auction.

[dinh]

looking real good Ray... looking forward to meet you in person....

--Dinh

[RayJordan]

HI Dinh,
Thank you. I look forward to meeting many of the koi kichi in your area but especially look forward to meeting you and thanking you for all you do for koi.