Hello,
Just starting to have an interest in the art of glass...I was wondering at about what temperature will you need to heat glass to make it melt? I have a kiln for ceramics, but I don't know if it would do the trick. I'm looking to take old glass...crush it up, and melt it down into small panes for reuse. I was wondering what temperatures I should be looking to achieve.
Thanks much, K-
Yes it will do the trick. The panes of glass will not be very good for looking through if just fused from bits - air bubbles galore, like pate de verre.
Depends on your glass, but full fuse is around 1450-1550 for your basic soft (i.e. not borosilicate) glass. If memory serves, that's something like an 018 or 016 cone (but if you actually use cones, you'll want to go higher in temp to get the soak time you need.)
It would, though you might find that you have to work harder to get the quality of results you could get with a dedicated glass kiln.
You probably won't get what you think you'll get. Fusing transparent frit will tend to create 1/4" thick puddles of glass infused with hundreds or thousands of tiny bubbles.
I missed the other important part... if your glass is from different sources, you'll probably discover firsthand what "coefficient of expansion" means.
A good resource on kilnworking glass is
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