help i tried using rolled up kiln paper to make a gap to thread through but the gaps are not wide enougth to get the paper out to clean it let alone thread something through any tips please
Thin fire paper burns to an ash and will not support the glass for a pass thru....at least I have never used it for that . Instead, I use the 1/8" fiberblanket cut into narrow strips to form the pass thru. Works like a charm.
I have also cut short lengths of Stainless Steel mandrels and dipped them in bead release and then used them for the pass thru. You get a round hole from them instead of the square hole from the fiber blanket.
ditto what he said :P
Hi Carol,
You have to roll the paper up as tightly as you can so it forms a virtually solid sausage, or as Jim says it collapses when firing as the binders in the paper burn out. It's really easy to clean out when it works though, a slight poke, and a rinse under the tap, and you get really shiny holes with no polishing or sanding needed. I used to use the thick fibrepaper method, it was easier to do and I preferred the square holes, but found them really hard to clean out, and it left the holes rough. I don't know whether it was the same paper/board Jim and Steph use though? Probably me just being rubbish. ;D
HP x
(https://i.ibb.co/nwYy3nC/Slidependant.jpg)
i do what HP does (mainly cause she told me, lol) but it did take me a few attemps to get right, also a tip for cleaning the holes out is to use a pipe cleaner, it gets all the degraded paper out a treat
thank guys il will try again i never thought to try a mandrel its so simple it didnt enter my head
I've tried using the mandrel method, and had a problem with the mandrel 'sinking' down into the base layer of the glass.
I guess that all depends on how big you want the hole and what size the mandrel is, therefore how heavy it is. Or maybe I was jsut doing something wrong!!!
Hi - I have experimented with using sawn up mandrels (with bead release on!!) to form channels.
I think I'll give it some more trial runs - I recently read a tip that if you support the mandrels by using other mandrels underneath (at right angles) then it stops the channel-making mandrel from sinking into the glass, and forcing out those glass 'ears' on the side which have to be ground off.
Cathryn
or you could support the mandrel with fibre paper (the thick stuff) either side. if you make sure your support is 3mm high then you'll be in the middle of a fused piece - fused glass wants to be 6mm in a full fuse