Sunday, May 7, 2023 
10:00 am - 1:00 pm PDT

Instructor: Helen Cowart

All Levels

All classes include the video recording, which you will have access to for 30 days after the class. Zoom link and instructions for joining the call will be emailed 1 day (24 hours) prior to class.

The class supply list is below. It contains links to buy the supplies you need.

Turn silver into gold! Well, sort of. Including copper, silver, and gold can create some special results in your glass. You will discover how you can create and manipulate glass to make jewelry, art, and functional art pieces. Learn about how glass flows and volume control, how the amount of heat, and repeated heat, affect the outcome of your glass work.

We will cover the skills and techniques you will need to create your own small glass work. The hands-on project will use the basic techniques of cutting, fusing, and drilling small glass pieces to create jewelry.

Please contact Helen with any questions about your class tools or materials purchases via helen@littlemetalfoxes.com.

Supply List for Students

The links below will take you to RioGrande.com or other suppliers. To see prices for precious metal items, you need a free Rio Grande account. Registered Little Metal Foxes students can access the Rio for Schools program for significant savings (discounts and flat-rate shipping). This site may contain Amazon and other affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, at no cost to you, we may receive a small commission on qualifying purchases.

Recommended Materials and Tools:

• Silver foil, 3.5 microns thick
  • or 32 gauge or thinner copper or fine silver sheet or foil. Leaf will probably burn out.
  • and/or 24 gauge or thinner copper or fine silver wire
• 1 or 2 colors of 2-3 mm thick fusible glass, smallest size available is good. Refer to this PDF guide when choosing colors that react with silver or copper. I recommend choosing sulfur/selenium-bearing glass. Delphi also carries Bullseye (CoE 90) (see NOTE below)
• Your choice of reactive glass:
  • Alchemy Clear Silver To Gold Transparent, Thin-Rolled, 2 mm, Fusible (3 mm is also OK)
  • Alchemy Clear Silver To Bronze Transparent, Thin-Rolled, 2 mm, Fusible (3 mm is also OK)
  • Reactive Ice Transparent, Thin-Rolled, 2 mm, Fusible (3 mm is also OK)
• A kiln (see below)
• Kiln shelf - this depends on the size of your kiln and it will usually come with your kiln.
• 1/2" Kiln Posts - 4 Pack (ceramic supports) - also usually comes with your kiln.
• Kiln separator paper - Use Bullseye Thinfire or Spectrum’s Papyros
• Glass cutter/scorer or this one. I recommend the Toyo brand. The better the tool, the better the score.
• Glass cutting oil
• Running pliers
• Triple Ripple diamond drill bit
• Diamond drill bits (coring bits)
• N95 mask, for fine particulates/dust
• Safety glasses
• Glastac by Bullseye. Elmers or wood glue will also work but use sparingly or it will leave a residue.
• Glass cleaner - alcohol-based, vinegar-based, or ammonia-free. NO Windex or ammonia-containing cleaners. It will leave a residue on the glass.
• Towel. Paper or cloth, preferably lint-free.
• Pencil and paper for sketching and note-taking
• Sharpie for marking your glass for cutting. 
• Newspaper or a paper towel under the glass to catch any shards or splinters. Scoring and breaking will create tiny shards.

Optional Materials and Tools

• Clear 2 or 3 mm thick glass instead of colored glass for the base.
• Glass cutting waffle board
• Kiln wash - if you don’t want to use kiln paper.
• Haik brush - a fine hair brush made with a bamboo/reed handle for applying kiln wash. This will give your kiln shelf a nice smooth surface.
• Stringer for decorating your glass. You can buy a sampler tube of multiple colors.
• Dichroic Glass
• Dichroic Slide decal paper
• Dichroic on copper foil
• Cut-resistant gloves - rubber coated are best
• Candle or torch to bend stringer
• E-6000 glue to attach a glue-on bail. Clear epoxy glue is also good or this one.

NOTE: When choosing your glass, please pay attention to the CoE number, typically 90 or 96 for fusing. CoE, or coefficient of expansion, is a small but very important factor in fusing. Glasses of different CoEs generally cannot be mixed and will result in stress fractures and breaks. Please be sure to select 2mm (“thin”) or 3 mm thick glass.

Kilns
I recommend a small enamel kiln with a digital controller. You can use it for fusing, enameling, PMC work, and heat-hardening metals. You can use a kiln with a dial, but you will need a pyrometer and to watch it constantly which is very time-consuming and inconvenient.

There are quite a few kilns that can be plugged into a regular 15-amp household receptacle. It is very important to check your work space’s circuit panel to make sure it can handle the amperage of the kiln you want to buy.

A kiln, the list starts with the least expensive: 

• Ultralite Beehive Pro Studio Kiln, Rio Grande. I strongly recommend purchasing the dial controller ($33). It is very useful for PMC, keum-boo, and enameling, but limited with fusing glass. I also strongly recommend getting an infrared thermometer (Amazon) to monitor the kiln's temperature.
• Skutt FireBox 8 Kiln - (dial/pyrometer), Clay-King
• Rapidfire Standard Pro-L - (digital temperature setting, but not programmable better than a dial controlled kiln), Tabletop Furnace
• Rapidfire Standard Pro-LP - Tabletop Furnace
• Olympic Hotbox HB64 Kiln w/3 Key Controller - Soul Ceramics
• Olympic Hotbox HB64 Kiln w/3 Key Controller - Sheffield Pottery
• Evenheat Studio Pro STP Kiln - Rio Grande
• Olympic Hotbox Kiln w/3 Key Controller - Sheffield Pottery
• Olympic Kiln - Hotsie - Soul Ceramics
• Paragon SC-2 - Delphi Glass