Comments on: How Do I Handle Glass and Porcelain?

By: Anne Mulligan

Anne Mulligan — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:35:08 +0000

I use a lot of broken glass that I tumble to create a faux seaglass. (I’m always upfront if people ask if it’s the real thing and they’re often fascinated by the process.) I wire-wrap the glass to make pendants, earrings and rings, among other things.

By: Kym Kinnison

Kym Kinnison — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:53:41 +0000

Hi Kate
I made a necklace by cutting out the bottom of a china cup and setting it in silver. I used a tile nipper which you can by online, then smoothed the edges on a grinder. I would suggest wearing eye protection as the shards of china end up flying everywhere !

By: Renee

Renee — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:09:44 +0000

Kate,
Use a diamond cut off wheel on a Dremil. Its like porcelain tile that you use a wet saw with diamond blades. The small cut off wheel allows you to cut out what ever element of the design you which to use. Or you can just break the plate and hope it breaks in away you can use.
My Mom is a China Painting Artist and over the years she had pieces she wasn’t happy with that we cut up using the cut off wheel.
Hope this helps.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:07:39 +0000

Porcelain and china cannot be cut with a glass cutter, as the composition is very different from glass. A glass cutter actually creates tension in the glass under the cut mark, and the glass breaks along that tension line. To break china, you need a Tile Nipper, which can also come with a wheel for creating score line on the china. Here’s a great tutorial:
uniquelychicmosaics.blogspot.com/2010/09/breaking-china-plates-for.html
Note the excellent picture of the tile cutting tool.

By: Karen Simmons-Milligan

Karen Simmons-Milligan — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:42:16 +0000

Hi Kate,
I too love to recycle and work in precious metal clay. I have worked a while with dichroic glass and love it. Setting it into metal clay is not hard, you just have to be careful with firing times and temps. I recently did a whole collection using sea glass and metal clay. Sea glass was a little different because you never actually know for sure what the glass is made from. You could experience slumping at a lower temperature or change of color. Both didn’t bother me, sometimes an unexpected curve adds character and the color change adds some highlights. For most of the time the sea glass comes out just fine. I have made metal clay bails for it, wrapped it in metal clay and linked pieces together- a little more tricky to keep the glass from melting to itself while sintering the metal clay, but it can be done.
I heat dichroic glass at 1000 degrees an hour to 1220 and hold in low fire silver clay for 35 minutes. Same for sea glass. I prop up any dimensional parts, like bails or flower petals with fiber blanket to ensure it holds its shape.
I don’t use a torch because glass needs to heat/cool very slowly so it doesn’t crack. When my kiln beeps finished, I turn it off and go home for the evening. When I return to my store in the morning, I can get busy polishing.
I have done some touch ups with metal clay paste and a torch but really focus on keeping the flame as far from the glass as I can and let it cool naturally, no quenching.
Sorry to be so long winded but I love metal clay and hope you have great success with it and glass.
Feel free to email me with any other questions, I would be glad to help if I can. Karen