Adhering Glass Together for Fusing in a Kiln with No Days Glass Fusing Squares

No Days Glass Fusing Adhesive is a heat set adhesive that cures strong and burns off in the kiln leaving no residue.

The adhesive is available in packs of  25, 50 and 100 one inch Squares that can easily be cut to size with scissors or a razor and placed between layers of glass. 

 
For this sample piece, I’m placing the No Days Glass Fusing Adhesive in the middle of the square on the left, and at the corners of the square on the right to illustrate the importance of where you place the adhesive. This concept applies to all adhesives, and you will see the result after the piece comes out of the kiln. But first, we need to activate the adhesive.


Using a heat gun on low, begin gradually heating the piece from 4-6 inches away.  If there are very small pieces of glass in your pattern, begin heating from 8-10 inches away, as the force of the hot air can blow them away. 


With smaller jewelry sized pieces of glass, you won’t have to worry quite so much about thermal shock, but if you’re working with larger pieces like plates, you’ll really need to think about even heat. Like a glass blower or bead maker, you’ll have to “flash” your glass with heat by going over the whole piece with the heat gun to make sure that the heat differential isn’t enough to cause thermal shock. Without getting too technical, basically, you need to move in circles over your piece with the heat gun and not concentrate the heat in one spot for too long.


If the glass is transparent, you can see when the adhesive liquifies. Otherwise, you can use a tool to push on the glass and feel if the adhesive has melted. If the glass doesn’t move or it skids, then the adhesive hasn’t been heated enough. Continue heating. If the glass glides when you push on it, then you can stop heating and let the adhesive set.

When you’ve finished heating, make sure to set the heat gun aside with the point facing up. This allows the residual heat to rise up away from the heating elements and ensures a longer life for your heat gun.


While the pieces are still warm, you can make slight adjustments in placement, straightening any pieces that may have moved out of place or weren’t exactly where you wanted them. It takes one to two minutes for the adhesive to fully cool and set up.


At this point, the pieces are very secure. You can pick up the glass pieces and easily transport them to your kiln.


Before firing your pieces, you’ll want to make sure that your kiln is slightly vented, so that any vapors from kiln paper or the adhesive can escape the kiln. Venting your kiln can be as simple as placing a couple layers of fiber paper between the lid and your kiln. 


Here is a conservative SAMPLE Firing schedule for a 2 layer piece of glass up to 12”. Remember that all kilns fire differently and the type of glass and placement of glass in the kiln will affect the firing schedule you use. It’s good to keep a journal of your firing schedules for reference so you can change them as needed. Both Bullseye and Spectrum websites are great resources for information on firing schedules.


Back to the sample piece...Remember the placement of the adhesive? On the left, the adhesive was in the middle of the small square, but on the right the adhesive was placed at the corners. If the adhesive is placed in the middle of the glass pieces, there is a greater chance that the glass will seal at the edges before the adhesive can fully burn off, creating more large bubbles. Smaller bubbles will happen with fused glass when air gets trapped under the glass. If you’re interested in trying to get rid of these smaller bubbles, you’ll have to slow down your firing schedule in the “bubble soak” range.

When building designs with the fusing adhesive, you’ll need to remember that your glass pieces will need to support themselves before the adhesive is activated. 

As the kiln heats up, the adhesive starts to liquify and can act as a lubricant at low temperatures. To prevent your pieces from sliding around, you need to make sure that the pieces of glass can be supported on their own. If the adhesive is the only thing holding the pieces from falling over, then the glass will definitely slide and fall in the kiln. As with any adhesive, the burn off temperature is well below the fusing temperature where glass actually starts to stick to itself, so the main purpose of any adhesive  is to allow you to easily transport a project to the kiln.


Occasionally, you may run into a piece of glass that simply needs two layers of adhesive in order to stick. 


If you’ve heat set the adhesive, then find a piece that is misplaced, needs to be straightened or removed, you can reheat to soften the adhesive and remove the piece. Wipe away any excess adhesive while it’s warm. Any residue will burn off in the kiln. (You can use mineral spirits to remove any residue, as well. However, you need to make sure that you clean the mineral spirits, as it may leave a hazy residue).


When working with iridized or dichroic glass, be aware that the adhesive can distort or texturize the metallic coating. If using the adhesive on these glasses, it’s best to test on a small sample piece to see if you like the effects.


For more project ideas and instructional videos, visit http://streuter.com.
For ordering information or help with questions, email info@streuter.com.