How to Cap Dichroic Glass with Clear Glass
When working with Dichroic Glass it is important to understand how to get the most brilliance out of this type of glass.
Dichroic is basically a fine layer of metal and chemicals that are sprayed on the surface of the glass when the molten glass is being rolled into sheets of glass. Then it is allowed to anneal so it can bond with the top layer glass. The metal and chemicals may be different on each piece of dichroic glass.
Capping Dichroic Glass with Clear Glass prior to a full fused will magnify the brilliance of the Dichroic.
1. What Went Wrong Capping my Dichroic glass?: As in the picture above, the glass has an uneven coverage of the clear glass and some edges of the dichroic glass never got covered with clear glass during the full fuse.
Answer: The base dichroic glass was 1 inch in diameter and the clear cap was 1 inch too. When capping dichroic glass, you want to make sure the clear capping glass is slightly larger than the actual piece of dichroic glass. The slightly larger glass is needed because the dichroic treatment covered the entire surface of the base glass and as it fused it will wrap around the edge and bond to actual base glass, encapsulating the dichroic glass.
Solution: For this one inch dichroic circle our 1-1/8 inch clear circle should have been used. Center your clear cap so that an equal amount of clear glass is hanging over the dichroic glass base glass.
You can either grind this pendant to a perfect circle again, which will also make it smaller, and then cap with an additional one inch clear circle or use our 1-1/8 clear caps centered on top of the existing cab. Both solutions will require it to be re-fired on the slowest setting to reach full fuse.
We also recommend you read the Free Glass Tips and Tricks on How to correct Fired Dichroic Glass.
2. Other Issue: Grayed edges on the Clear Glass Cap.
Answer: Regardless if you are using a large enough clear glass to cap your dichroic glass, you should ALWAYS scrub the edges of any of our precut glass or glass that has been ground to insure that you are removing any dirt. In addition, slow firing will always help to avoid trapping any impurities or air caused from by the ground edges.
Always clean your glass on all sides and edges prior to assembling as well as your fingers.
Solution: The only way to get rid of the grayed edges is to regrind around the entire piece and then cap with a new clean clear cap glass that is slightly larger. Then re-fire it on the slowest setting until it is fully fused.
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