Glass with a Past

Wine, spirit and liqueur bottles make great cheese platters and dip dishes.  Over the past 12 months I have collected several types of bottles to experiment with bottle slumping in my little kiln.  Many bottles have failed the slump and ended up in the recycling much to the curiosity of the recycling guy 😉

Before

After

Learnings

• Wine and spirit bottles are not weighted evenly and like to roll in the kiln.  A small piece of scrap glass prevents rolling and isn't noticeable in the final product.
  
• Even if bottles are placed smack bang in the middle of a slumping mold, they move and slump unevenly (some people might like the quirkiness of a wonky bottle, but it plays havoc with my OCD).
  
• It has taken much trial and error to get a firing schedule that slumps the bottles without bubbles, closes the neck, folds the bottom flat, an doesn't devitrify the glass.
• Not every bottle shape looks good slumped in a mold, some are better slumped flat.
• I need a bigger kiln - only one bottle at a time can fit in my little kiln that was designed for bead annealing (bigger kiln added to wishlist ✅).

Firing schedule (adapted from Slumpy's Glass and Mold Company)

Segment	1	2	3	4	5	6
Rate (℃ / HR)	278	139	Full	Full	100	167
Temp (℃)	593	704	802	538	427	100
Hold Time (Hr.Min)	0.10	0.30	0.10	1.00	1.00	0.00

Dip Dishes