How to Make a Dichroic Glass Pendant
Dichroic glass is really beautiful and makes incredible jewelry. This tutorial will explain how to make a dichroic glass pendant.
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Things You'll Need
- glass fusing kiln
- dichroic glass
- fusible glass of the same COE
- drill
- diamond coated drill bits
- Bullseye Glastac, Thompson Klyr-fire, Elmers or other glass fusing glue
- glass cleaner
- jump ring, wire or pendant bail
Instructions
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1
Gather your tools and materials. Select the glass you want to use in your project. Clean the glass with Windex® or another ammonia based household glass cleaner.
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2
Cut a piece of dichroic glass to your pendant size. 1x1 and 2x2 are typical sizes for pendants. You can cut the glass to be a square, circle, rectangle or any shape you desire.
If you want to etch the dichroic glass before making it into a pendant, see our eHow How to Etch Dichroic Glass at http://www.ehow.com/how_5137826_etch-dichroic-glass.html
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3
Cut a piece of clear glass that is the same COE as your dichroic glass to your pendant size. Place the clear glass on top of the dichotic glass to create a clear cap.
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4
Cut a piece of colored glass that is the same COE to the same size or a size slightly larger. If you cut the glass a little larger, then the glass will create a border around the dichroic glass when it is fused in the glass kiln.
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5
Place the three pieces of glass in a stack. The colored glass will be on the button, the dichroic glass will be in the middle and the clear glass will sit on top.
You can use a little bit of Bullseye Glastac, Thompson Klyr-fire, Elmers or another glass fusing glue to hold the stack in place if desired. Be sure the glue is dry before placing the glass in the kiln to be fired.
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6
Place the glass stack onto a kiln shelf prepared with kiln wash or fiber paper. Fire the glass in a glass fusing kiln using the following schedule as a guide:
Ramp ºF/Hr Target temperature Hold for
1 Full 1550 15
2 900 960 12 -
7
Allow the glass to cool to room temperature. Then drill a hole in the top of the dichroic glass cabochon using a drill and a diamond coated drill bit.
If you do not know how to drill glass see our eHow How to Drill Glass at http://www.ehow.com/how_4803518_drill-glass.html
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8
Wash the glass after drilling. Place the glass back into the glass fusing kiln on a prepared kiln shelf to fire polish the pendant using the following schedule as a guide:
Ramp ºF/Hr Target temperature Hold for
1 Full 1450 15
2 Full 960 12 -
9
Insert a large jump ring or pendant bail into the drilled hole.
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1
Tips & Warnings
If you do not want to drill a hole in the glass or fire polish the pendant in a second firing the you can glue a glass bail to the back of the cabochon.
Never leave a kiln unattended when it is firing.
