Recycling Fused Glass into Coasters

 The cool thing with working in glass fusion, is mistakes and broken pieces aren't that big of deal.  Well they are from an emotional standpoint but they can be recycled and re-fired into a different creation or sometimes into the same depending on the break.. 

When my job closed (yes due to Covid) I got a fair amount of fusible glass.  Some were old samples some were scrap but there was a fair amount of it.  Unfortunately it's not the *COE (Coefficient of Expansion) I generally work with, which basically means the glass I got from work would not work with the glass I typically work with. Mixing the 2 *COE's would be very bad. So I have to not mix them EVER.  So what can I do with all this glass, can't sell it as mine as I didn't make the samples. Not a fan of some of the designs created, so what did I do???

I had a mold, that's basically a coaster or tile mold. I actually have 2 ones a single square and ones a 4 square (so big that its the only thing I can put in my kiln when its being fired). So I chopped up a bunch of the glass and laid it in the mold fired it and taa daa! Coasters, really cool coasters. 

pre fired coasters, just the glass in the mold

after firing in the kiln, glass is all melted and fused together

finished coasters

so many different variations

close up view of one

same close up view but different angle.

DEFINITIONS:

COE or Coefficient of Expansion - how much a material will expand for each degree of temperature increase.

AAAWWWW June

Today I went as a chaperone to the ocean for Shane (my 3rd grader). We went to Crescent state park. It was really fun.. We had a scavenger hunt, the boys played some football and some frisbee. It made me glad that I've been trying to get into shape because OMG do those kids have energy...

I was working in my garden the other day and leaning against the garage was a mattress spring and i was looking at that and weeding my peas (which are beginning to lean over) when a lightning bolt hit me.. all those "going green" and "recycle and reuse" shows i watch and there it was my pea climber.. so i put it in my garden for my peas to climb.. I think it looks REALLY cool and sage says though it looks cool, it's also very redneckish.. Craig thought it was awesome even went so far as to see if we had another to use for my other garden beds..

pictures will be coming soon but for some reason it won't let me upload them right now... you can also check out my photos at http://www.myspace.com/witchweaver there in the 2009 photo album...