Pixel Tracking

Brendan Eilola

Date: 12-02-2022
Showcase Winner: Hobbyist

 Brendan Eilola

Submission from: Brendan Eilola
Business: Hobbyist - Camp Hill, QLD
Item: Carmine Red Glass Heart Ring

This was my first successful solid glass heart ring using Gaffer blowing glass for lost-wax investment casting. While I've been casting these in crystal for some time, it's been particularly difficult trying to achieve excellent results from opaque glass - and crystal isn't produced in opaques (beyond black and white) so I've had to improvise here.

This glass is not formulated for casting and there's no references on the topic so this has been a lot of experimenting with many, many failures!

Usually, colours such as reds become sapphirin (in glass this is not a good thing as it exhibits a liver-like colour) when heated for prolonged periods as required for casting. In addition this process also causes surface devitrification which has to be ground off.

The other major issue with casting glass is that of surface bubbles which completely ruin the cast and generally cannot be salvaged. Unlike metals you can't just melt some more glass and fill a hole! Anyway, this piece took about 5 hours of grinding and polishing post casting - with the complete process taking about 4 days.

AJS Products used: 

Roll Sander Mounted Abrasives - Grits 240, 600, 800 & 1000, Eve Universal Coarse Square Wheel + knife, Eve Universal Medium Square Wheel + knife, Dedeco Pumice Wheel Knife

 

Join Our NewsletterStay up-to-date with the latest products and get exclusive discounts straight to your inbox! Including 5% off your next order.