Freeze and Fuse

Freeze and fuse is a fun way to get different three-dimensional designs. It is a type of pate-de-verre, which means “paste of glass”. You can use any candy, soap, or flexible mold.

Also, the design side of your mold has to be level. These pieces take a lower heat to fuse, approximately 1300 degrees Fahrenheit.

It is important to wear a dusk mask while doing this technique. Even if you can’t get cut by the glass powder, you sure don’t want to breathe these tiny particles.

Decide if you want to make a solid colored object, or one with several different colors. You will need to mix these colors in separate containers.

To mix your powder, put your powder in a cup or small container. Add just enough water to completely cover the powder glass. Slowly use your stir stick or Popsicle stick to mix your glass powder with water. Allow your mixture to settle. This might take a few minutes. You will see the mixture settle and there will be a cloudy water layer on top. Now pour off this excessive water on to a paper towel. Don’t pour this unwarranted water down the sink.

Now you can use your stir stick, Popsicle stick, or paint brush to put the wet mixture into your mold. Tap the mold gently to allow the paste to settle. Some people use a Sonic Scrubber pressed against the mold to remove air bubbles and settle the glass. If you are going to add another layer on top of this first one, just blot with a small piece of paper towel. This will give you cleaner boundaries.

Once you have all your colors into your mold, again use the Sonic Scrubber pressed against the mold to gently move up any bubbles. These bubbles can be removed by poking with a toothpick. Using a tiny piece of paper towel, again blot the top of your glass to remove any water.

Fill your mold completely. You can use your stir stick or popsicle stick to smooth out the top your piece. The top of you piece will become the bottom when you go to fuse, so be sure that it is nice and smooth.

Be sure your kiln shelf has been prepared. When you take your mold out of the freezer, invert the mold over your shelf and flex or twist the mold to release your piece. If your piece doesn’t release completely, it is not completely frozen.

If your piece should break when removing it from the mold, just start over and redo your piece. Place it back in your cup, let it thaw and remix with water.

You will need to wait about an hour for your piece to dry. You can put it in a warm place to help this process move along.

You will fire these freeze and fuse pieces at about 1300 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. The pieces should start to become shiny and you will notice that they have shrunk. Be sure to anneal your pieces.

After your pieces fuse, you can use the sandpaper to smooth them out. These pieces can be glued on to other items, made into pins, or fused onto other pieces of glass.

These freeze and fuse pieces are a quick and fun way to experiment with glass powders.

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