It looked to be so easy - cut up a bunch of glass and heat it way past the full-fuse temperature until the glass becomes a liquid and flows out of it's container onto a prepared shelf/basin on the kiln floor. After researching the topic a little further it seemed that there are 2 main ways of doing a pot melt: either by using a terra cotta pot to hold the glass (and enlarging the drainage holes in the sides of the pot so the glass has enough space to flow out of) or by using a stainless steel grid. Both methods result in a very different look because of the pattern that is formed by the flowing glass.
After several weeks of scouring local stores it became evident that I was not going to be able to collect all the items I needed for either method on my own. I ended up buying a pot melt kit from Slumpy's that would enable me to do the grid style of pot melt.
Step 1:
Preparing the kiln: Fiber paper was placed on the kiln floor and a 9" round stainless steel casting ring was set atop the paper. After cutting the grid to size, it was placed on top the ring.
Step 2:
Preparing the glass: I chose a combination of opalescent and cathedral (transparent) glass in clear, white, gray and purple. A second casting ring was set atop the grid and was filled with glass. A melt firing schedule was programmed into the kiln and away she went!
Step 3:
Wait a really long time for the firing schedule to finish and for the kiln to return to room temperature before opening. Here is the melt still inside the kiln after the top casting ring and grid was removed.
Step 4:
Clean and sand rough edges. Remaining fiber paper was scrubbed away and a diamond hand pad was used to sand down any rough edges.
Step 5:
Slump into shape. After finishing the edges I slumped the piece into a bowl mold. Unfortunately the edges of the piece didn't smooth and shine up like they usually do. This piece will require an additional firing (a fire polish) before it's finished.
I did a second pot melt, which I'll post about later. I used less glass in the second attempt, but this time I used too little glass and I wasn't able to get a full circle. Of course I neglected to record how much glass I used in both of these projects so it'll be tough to figure out a happy medium for my next attempt. Sigh.
Once I've finished the second grid melt I need to do some more shopping so I can try a melt using a terra cotta flower pot. The cover of Brenda Griffith's book shows a pot melt done with a orchid pot. So cool! I'd also like to get a few different shapes and sizes of stainless steel casting rings, which forms the flowing glass.
