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Psilosopherr
A psilly goose



Registered: 02/15/12
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idea: Melting down glass and pouring petri dishes with it
#24472999 - 07/10/17 03:26 PM (6 years, 6 months ago) |
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Anybody with glass casting experience want to give a little advice here? Just an idea I'm fiddling with, here it is: Make a kiln or forge to achieve sufficient heats, crush down your glass, maybe add a flux (what flux? are there any i'd want to avoid that might compromise the qualities of the glass?) and heat in a proper crucible.
Then pour into a mold (made of?) and probably press it down into the mold with a second piece of mold material so that the glass gets pressed into the petri dish shape, then leave to cool. Do I need to add anything to prevent the glass from sticking to the mold?
And hey obviously if I put in the time researching, which I am I'm just busy today, I can answer these questions myself just trying to see if someone cares to assist.
(I'm aware that molten glass is caustic, hot, and puts off fumes probably, spare me the warnings)
Petri dishes are just so simply shaped and costly, why not try
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Bacchus
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Re: idea: Melting down glass and pouring petri dishes with it [Re: Psilosopherr]
#24479219 - 07/12/17 10:14 PM (6 years, 6 months ago) |
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Instead of sandwiching the glass between molds, you might try forming the sides of the dish by casting upside down. Your mold can just be an island with moat. (I don't have glass working experience either. Just throwing out an idea)
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Living on a no-Flash diet is way easier than you think. Give it a shot.
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Psilosopherr
A psilly goose



Registered: 02/15/12
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Re: idea: Melting down glass and pouring petri dishes with it [Re: Bacchus]
#24479266 - 07/12/17 10:42 PM (6 years, 6 months ago) |
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Boom! Thanks for pointing that out. Didn't like the idea of a mold sandwhich
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chicksgrowtoo

Registered: 12/01/13
Posts: 3,422
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Re: idea: Melting down glass and pouring petri dishes with it [Re: Psilosopherr]
#24496054 - 07/20/17 10:40 AM (6 years, 6 months ago) |
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Dude if you want to play with glass safely skip any homemade molds and start out with a microwave kiln, they're cheap and fun to work with then you can grind it down into the shapes you want. It's a lot easier to start with something like that or bead making so you can really understand glass and the way it acts while heating. You should also be using a mask especially if you plan on using frit (crushed glass powder) because if you breathe it in you're dead.
-10 years of experience working with glass.
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chicksgrowtoo

Registered: 12/01/13
Posts: 3,422
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Re: idea: Melting down glass and pouring petri dishes with it [Re: chicksgrowtoo]
#24496059 - 07/20/17 10:44 AM (6 years, 6 months ago) |
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You also need to make sure to not mix different types of glass as it will degrade the structural integrity of your piece. I like COE 104 for beads (COE= Coefficient of Expansion) it's a soft glass.
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Psilosopherr
A psilly goose



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Re: idea: Melting down glass and pouring petri dishes with it [Re: chicksgrowtoo] 1
#24497946 - 07/21/17 03:32 AM (6 years, 6 months ago) |
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Very grateful to get some advice from someone experienced in the field Its very late and I will have to look into this microwave idea tomorrow. I'd heard you can melt metal in a microwave at least.
Can't believe I forgot there were different kinds of glass. Looking at bottles it doesn't seem like there's a universal symbol that tells you what kind of glass it is? like there is with plastic.
frit can kill you if you breathe it in? Goodness, thanks for the heads up. Doesn't sound like a pleasant death
Edited by Psilosopherr (07/21/17 03:45 AM)
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Wiiiiilson
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Registered: 06/07/17
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Re: idea: Melting down glass and pouring petri dishes with it [Re: Psilosopherr]
#24499652 - 07/21/17 08:49 PM (6 years, 6 months ago) |
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Ive fucked around with a lot of ideas in the hope of avoiding paying for something straight up.
Do the math though. A microwave kiln + your time + health (for a product that might not work how you need it to) vs $20 for 4 borosilicate glass petris off eBay?
Going one step further... Washing and pressure cooking glass petris (time, gas, fucking around) vs single use sterile plastic petris ($20 for a sleeve of 20 sterile petris) which are ready to go out of the packet...
Will you be able to pour a moulded glass petri with a flat bottom and a lid that fits well which won't crack from handling or pressure cooking?
I know you need to make up your own mind though and good luck if you go ahead with it! Sorry to be a naysayer, but it sounds like quite a project!
-------------------- Long time lurker and learner!
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Psilosopherr
A psilly goose



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Re: idea: Melting down glass and pouring petri dishes with it [Re: Wiiiiilson]
#24499742 - 07/21/17 09:24 PM (6 years, 6 months ago) |
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Always got to keep practicality in mind and I appreciate you bringing it up. I'm a cheap bastard though. Always cracks me up when people spend 100 dollars trying to save 20
Reading more about these microwave kilns, what a concept! I'm guessing the heat these can produce maxes out at 1,600 degrees, would be cool if it went higher though, just melting and casting iron/steel with a frakkin microwave Wonder if you could take advantage if this for sterilizing things. Maybe not grains/media but like scalpels and tools.
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Wiiiiilson
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Re: idea: Melting down glass and pouring petri dishes with it [Re: Psilosopherr]
#24499837 - 07/21/17 09:59 PM (6 years, 6 months ago) |
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oOOoo good ideas. Im considering getting one now!
-------------------- Long time lurker and learner!
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chicksgrowtoo

Registered: 12/01/13
Posts: 3,422
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Re: idea: Melting down glass and pouring petri dishes with it [Re: Wiiiiilson]
#24501059 - 07/22/17 04:01 PM (6 years, 6 months ago) |
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I made all of these pendants with a microwave kiln, these are from when I first started and they hadn't been grinded or polished but you can make some pretty cool stuff with them and there are pieces you can buy to bend them into the shapes you want. I do stained glass and lampworking/beadmaking too... These are just fun though 

As far as using them for tools, you'd have to have a pretty big one and a huge microwave, keep in mind the walls of the kiln are really thick so you don't have much surface area on the inside to put anything.
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