Friday Night Fusing Clinic
January 13th, 2006 ... Using Lava Cloth & Fibrepaper as a Base Design Element
Lava Cloth:
It is fibreglass strands woven together. It will last about 12 firings. It has to be pre-fired to tighten itself up. It will change colour from tan to off white once fired. It can be fused on, but any high temperature firings like combing should not be attempted. The softer glass would melt into the weave of the Lava Cloth, and ruin everything. It comes in a 3 square foot bolt.
You can cut it up with normal scissors, a sharp knife or a paper punch. Simple shapes are best, as the individual strands will want to start to unravel if you are cutting up a complex shape.
There are 3 styles, and 2 of them have a different texture on the reverse side.
- Crow's Foot (Reversible) $9.95 per Sq.ft.
- Herringbone $11.95 per Sq. Ft.
- Harness (Reversible) $14.95 per Sq. Ft.
Fibrepaper:
Comes in various thicknesses, 1/32", 1/16", and 1/8". Usually one side has more of a texture on it. It can be used a few times before it starts to crumble. It is advisable to vent your kiln when firing with fibrepapers. When the binder burns off, it can deposit a slight film on your glass if not vented away. It does have a slight smell to it. It is a ceramic fibre product, so use care when disposing of it. Use a dust mask, wash off in a dedicated bucket, anddo not wash down the sink, it can clog your pipes.
- 1/8"= $5.95 sq.ft, comes in a 24" x 24" sheet
- 1/16"=$2.95 sq.ft, comes in a 24" x 48" sheet
- 1/32"=$3.50 sq.ft, comes in a 24" x 96" sheet
As a Design Element:
Start with normal shelf prep, shelf paper or kiln wash. You can either cut out shapes and lay them out, or cut shapes out of a larger sheet, and lay the sheet with the holes in it on the shelf. This method would be good for making miniature 'feet' for your fused piece. Position your glass on top on the material. If your have too much material stacked up, the glass may not balance on it . Also, if there is too much material and you fire a little too long, the material may poke through the glass as it slumps down. The action of the glass when being fired is either slumping or draping, just on a small scale. You can combine Lava Cloth and Fiberpaper in the same project. You can also use a sheet with holes cut out of it and shapes on top of the same sheet. You can stack a layer of Lava Cloth on top of a project being fused, and then put another project on top of the upper layer of Lava Cloth. The imprint on the top of the lower glass from the Lava Cloth will diminish towards the outer edge of glass.
We experimented with small squares 4" x 4" of Spectrum 100Double-Thick glass and a mixture of Lava Cloth textures, fibrepapers, and even a few chunks of Kaiser Lee Board.
Friday Night test pieces, before firing
After Firing
