About Dichroic Glass - glass fusing

Brief description of Dichroic glass, fusing, slumping and caste.

The best of glass.
From Dichroic pendants, fused glass pendants to art plates - it's all here (In time)

I design and make a number of glass pendants, and I suppose the most spectular ones are made of Dichroic glass. The method that I use takes at least two processes, fused and annealed, then fire polished and annealed again. Each process in the kiln takes 24 hours. Usually I take a day or two to design and cut the glass. When I have enough to fire I'll usually start about 7.30 in the morning by loading the kiln, Then firing it up by stages to the maximum temperature, then back down again slowly by stages. When it reaches a certain temperature I'll then turn the kiln off and let it cool down overnight. In the morning I open up the kiln to a magnificent vista of colour, and it's still just warm to the touch.

I use only system 96 glass (COE rating of 96) because in that way I will not make any mistakes and get different types mixed up.

However there is one exception and that is when I'm using recycled glass which has an unknown COE rating. Each seperate piece of recyled glass must not be mixed with anything else - it just doesn't work!

Dichroic glass is glass containing multiple micro-layers of metal oxides which give the glass dichroic optical properties. Dichroic glass was originally developed by NASA and its contractors for use in satellite optics and spacesuit visors.

The main characteristic of dichroic glass is that it has a transmitted colour and a completely different reflected colour, as certain wavelengths of light either pass through or are reflected. This causes an array of colour to be displayed. The colors shift depending on the angle of view. My work with recycling glass is always an experiment. I'll use bottles, broken items and more, infact I've just brought over 5 kilos of 100 year old broken blue glass, each piece is an experiment as every piece could have a different COE rating - Makes for time and fun.

I also make larger items, plates, bowls etc, all will be displayed as time allows