Ongoing Challenge No 15.
Slicing Hot Glass

By Janie Jones

Focusing on a single word in our monthly theme “Pirates”, I thought . . . Pirates have sabers and they’re even curved a bit. Perfect for slicing!! Hence: “Slicing Glass”. That’s our Challenge for this month: slice some hot glass! Use an exacto knife or a single sided razor in a vise – but not a table knife. It won’t give you the sharp defined slice, or cut, you’ll need. I use a paint scraper because it has a larger surface to grasp and the blade also retracts for safety, (also because I found one in the garage!) Beginners: start small and practice, because multi-layered glass grows quickly.

The beads in the photo at the top were each made as a tiny, white, marvered, base beads, encased in pale transparent blue, rolled in Triton frit, encased in clear, then sliced at an angle (from hole to hole ) on the clear encasement layer, like a melon bead, only at a slight angle.

The last bead began as a tiny, white, marvered, base bead, swiped with a rod of Triton, sliced at an angle, then encased in clear – so the surface is smooth. But you don’t have to use silver glass – any frit, colored rod or even scrap glass looks cool, (check out our YouTube video on how to make scrap glass). Either way you choose, just slice some hot glass and share your photos.

Show us your efforts in comments on our Facebook page beneath this Challenge #15 post. Try both versions: (in this order) multi-layers, slice, then encase and (in this order) multi-layers, encase, then slice. Can’t wait to see yours.