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Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is fused glass?
It is glass that has been cut into pieces, layered, and melted together in a kiln at around 1500 degrees.
What kind of glass is used?
You can fuse any glass to cuts from the same piece.. However, if you combine parts from another piece of glass, they bothhave to have the same COE (coefficient of expansion).
Why do they have to have the same COE?
When glass melts and then contracts, if different segments expand or contract at different rates, cracking will occur, either as the glass heats up or when it cools down.
How do you tell the COE of a piece of glass?
You either buy a very expensive spectrometer or else you buy glass that has been tested for its COE by the manufacturer. I use primarily glass that is tested COE 90 (usually Bullseye) or tested COE 96 (Spectrum).
How did you know the COE of your Rambo glass?
I didn’t. That is why the Rambo glass is only fused to itself.
What is dichroic glass?
The word dichroic (pronounced Dye-CROW-ic) is Greek. Di means two and chroic means color. Dichroic glass is an offshoot of the Space Program. Two different colors are seen when the glass is looked at from different angles, causing a sparkling effect. The light is refracted from coatings which do not burn out when at full fuse. The coatings are applied in a vacuum chamber, and the glass is quite expensive, so items made with dichroic glass are usually priced higher.