Image Above: Glass magnet, tack fused then full fused.

Process of Fusing Glass

1. Gather materials. Select glass pieces and colors.

   • be sure to use a tool to dig through the glass, NOT fingers

   • wear safety goggles AT ALL TIMES, especially when others are cutting glass around you.

2. Assemble pieces to fuse by layering glass (up to 3 layers).

   • TO CUT: Use scoring tool to draw a line where you want to cut. Line the notch on the cutting tool up with the scored line and pinch glass with it. Glass should break neatly along the score line.

3. When design is finalized, apply krazy glue to attach the pieces together. Add heat wires between layers of glass, with one 1/2 loop out to create the hook for hanging art if desired.

4. When your pieces are ready to fire, set them in the kiln, with a layer of kiln paper down. NO GLASS SHOULD BE OVER THE EDGE. Close the kiln.

5. For a full fuse (glass completely fused smoothly): Set the kiln to medium slump fuse.

   • For a tack fuse (Pieces soften but keep separate shapes): Set the kiln to medium tack fuse.

6. Check your pieces! If they are done, option to add clasps or pin backs with krazy glue. If you aren’t satisfied with the tack fuse, you can fire again for full fuse.

Classroom Application

Glass would be best in a high school classroom due to safety considerations, (krazy glue, sharp tools, small pieces, safety googles etc.) As the teacher, I would operate the kiln. If my students were in an higher level elective art class, I would maybe have them watch and/or help load the kiln so they can learn another technical step. Introducing them how to load and start the kiln would contribute to learning but I want to focus the lesson time on design work.

If I had access and materials I would love to facilitate a glass unit or a glass class in a high school.

Fusing glass, stained glass and mosaic are all opportunities for creation with glass. Each have very different procedures so they would be separate units, enough for a full class focused on glass alone.

Fusing glass could be integrated into a ceramics unit. Students could fire their small pendant sized glass work into ceramics pieces, adding an interesting edge to both ceramics and glass work. Another art crossover with glass could be into metalworking, where students could use the glass to make interesting jewelry pieces.