Microwave Kilns at Home

Fusing Glass in a domestic Microwave kilns - you have to see it to believe it!

I've written this post to tell you about my experience and pass on a bit of information as well as some hints and tips.  Feel free to comment and let me know what you think! Please ignore any bad spelling that there might be, its not one of my strong points! Enjoy!!!  

Clear with some purple glass and lots of sparkly dichroic pieces

Purple & Green with dichroic and matching cabochons, perfect for stud earrings

This is the piece, made and photographed for this "how I do it" guide. Layers of coloured glass, Dichroic, confetti, frit and rods.

Things I use at my microwave kiln demonstrations....

Didymium Goggles - to use when looking at the red hot glass, only for a split second!
Glass Breaking Pliers - my past students know I call these "my babies", I couldn't live without them.
Glass cutter, Ruler, Tweezers and heat proof gloves - all pretty obvious, I think?

Findings to glue onto my glass creations after firing.

Also you need Fire Paper for the base of the kiln, Safety Goggles when cutting glass and a mask.
A Microwave and a heat proof surface and finally a Microwave Kiln!!!
Please do your research and follow any Health and Satefy instruction you are given by the manufactures.  My write up is not meant to be a step by step guide for you to follow, I just like passing on my knowledge.... and I like talking!

One of my very well used and well loved Microwave Kilns. I use a layer of thick fibre paper and a layer of bullseye fire thin paper on the base of the kiln

Very girly colours! Can you spot all the different layers?

There is a base of 4 colours, a 2mm thin clear piece that covers them all plus the turquoise and dichroic piece on the right hand side

One of the major draw backs of the microwave kiln - for me -  is the limitation on size.  You have to make sure not to go up to the edge of the kilns base.  I have drawn a circle around a centimetre away from the edge to try and stick within..... it kind of worked.

I work on my designs, moving and manipulating colour combinations, often working with a drawing. After washing and drying the pieces of glass I assemble them directly on the base of the kiln. Using tweezers to place small pieces of coloured accessories like confetti and frit.

Placing the base of the Kiln into the microwave - carefully so the pieces of glass don't go flying.  If bits do move, the tweezers come back into play!

Pop the lid on the Kiln and fire!

I make sure I work in a well ventilated area and I'm ready to start the microwave.  The first firing, with a cold Kiln, takes a bit longer.  I find 7minutes is a good estimate.  Keep an eye on the kiln, you can see an orange glow coming through the hole in the top of the kiln.

The glow means the glass is Red Hot!

With your Didymium Goggles and heat proof gloves, you can lift the lift, slightly and  have a quick look at what's happening.

If the glass is molten and has rounded off, it is at a full fuse temperature of around 800 degrees centigrade.  Replace the top of the Kiln and, carefully, bring the whole kiln out of the microwave and place on your Heat proof surface.

Now the hard bit..... let the whole kiln cool, naturally, don't take the lid off, be patient! I find this takes at least half an hour.

Before

After

Close up!

I am happy to do demonstrations to groups so contact me if you'd like to talk more.
I hope you have enjoyed my blog, if you would like to keep in touch through facebook or my website, that's great!
Stevie