| 12. To the extent possible, do not touch the side of glass that you are applying glue to with your fingers. Your fingers have oils on them that may not burn out in the kiln and leave ugly scum on your piece. Glue your pattern pieces down first. Glue oozing out the sides of your pieces is actually a good thing, but not so excessively that the pieces slide around on their own. In fact, make sure to recheck before the glue is too dry to make sure your grout lines are still there and the pieces have not slid around. But be very careful not to break the suction-like seal between the clear glass cap and your pattern piece. |
| 14. Again, remember to check and recheck your grout spaces. |
| 13. After your pattern pieces are all glued down, start glueing down the mosaic tiles. I fill the bowl of tiles with rubbing alcohol. As I pull out a mosaic piece to place, just dry it well with a towel before applying the glue. I suggest doing one vertical and one horizontal row first. This kind-of gives you a guide to follow through the rest of the tile. |
| 16. Mix up a batch of "grout." Pour a pile of powdered glass frit into a small bowl then add your mixture of 1/2 elmers glue and 1/2 water to the glass until it is the consistency of thick peanut butter. If the mixture appears white and stringy, there is too much glue. If the mixture develops puddles on the surface after a few minutes, there is too much water and/or too much liquid. If your grout has too much moisture in it, it will soak under your pieces and ruin the piece or it will loosen the pieces and they will fall off while you are trying to work. This may be a trial and error kind of thing. Believe me, you'll know once you start what work and what doesn't LOL! |
| 15. Set your project somewhere out of harm's way and let it dry thoroughly. |
| 18. When your all done filling in the spaces, set your project aside and allow it to dry thoroughly. |
| 17. Start by dropping a spoonfull of the grout on your piece then gently work it inbetween the tiles just like you would any tile job. Don't be too concerned about the surfaces of the tiles, just be sure to get grout into each space. |
20. Finally, here's our piece, all shiney and ready for the kiln :) |
| 19. Once dry, Inspect the grout lines and find any air holes that may have developed. Be sure to fill them before going on. Using the paring knife or curved x-acto knife, carefully scrape the surface of each piece. After that, dip a Q-tip into rubbing alcohol and carefully clean the surface of each piece until the entire piece is clean and shiny :) |
| 21. With a song and a prayer, into the kiln she goes: 412 dph to 1200 hold 30 minutes 90 dbh to 1364 hold 30 minutes FULL to 1500 hold 17 minutes FULL to 960 degrees, hold 30 minutes 100 dph to 700, hold 30 minutes OFF |
Fused Mosaic Tile Page 2
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