HotPot Norge 1

Recently we encountered a very fun new thing that's happening in the world of glass fusing.

It's called HotPot and you can fuse glass in your own microwave, how about that.

With the use of the nice dichroic glass types out there it's possible to make very nice fused personalized jewelry in a very easy way.

At the moment we are practicing this and the results are very satisfying from the start.

Time for some show and tell.

The HotPot is a small kiln that is designed for use in a microwave. When placed in the microwave this kiln should be elevated from the microwave floor. The kiln comes with some blocks for this purpose. 

The only other thing to prepare before using the kiln is to put fiber- and releasing paper in the HotPot and you're ready to go. These papers prevent your glass from sticking to the kiln and will give the piece that you're designing a smooth finish on the back.

After this 30 second preparation, the real fun starts - designing your jewelry.

It is much easier than it sounds, more or less placing several pieces of glass on top of each other.

And there are so many nice type of glass out there.

Another nice thing to do is to incorporate milefiori or precut shapes in the design you're making.

To make it more personal, cut your own glass shapes. Remember, when cutting glass cutting for use in the HotPot, always do it with an oil free glass cutter.

When cutting dichroic glass, always cut on the back side of the glass so you don't damage the layer of dichroic film. 

There's even a glue to stick glass pieces together because stacking glass is slippery business, and they can slide.

It happened several times while placing the kiln in the microwave - glass falling of each other by the smallest bump or when carrying it on the tiniest angle.

How unfortunate it happened again, maybe we should start using the glue?

We the glueless people (or are we the clueless people?) gently place the bottom part of the Hotpot with the assembled glass pieces, on the blocks in the center of the microwave.

And be even more careful when placing the Hotpot lid on. Most of the time we end up lifting the lid just one more time to make sure the glass didn't shift. (Remember glue less)

All set and done. Time to start the microwave (750-1000 watt) and let it go for about 5 or 6 minutes. Time to have a peek. Put on your gloves and lift the top up far enough so you can see if the glass is melting. If not melted far enough give it some more microwave time.

You can look every 30 seconds if you want till you see a nice orange mound of glowing glass. 

Done that's all to it.

Carefully remove the kiln from the microwave and place it on some heat resistant tiles (leftover tiles from your bathroom will do the trick) to protect your worktable surface.

Let the kiln cool down totally and do not remove the glass till after the cooling down. Doing so early will cause thermal shock to the glass and it will crack.

That's all that there is to it, time to have a drink and maybe prepare your next piece.

For more info on the Hotpot visit www.glassatelier.no






Fred Hebing