Fused glass puddle cabochons would have to be one of the first projects many glass fusers would attempt. Especially if you’re into making jewellery. They are easy to make and suitable for a microwave kiln project. But there isn’t much control over the final look of the cabs, other than selecting colours and the sequence they are stacked in.
In this video, I’ll be showing you how to make puddle cabochons, but in a little more controlled way.
The Video
You will find links to related videos, a chapter list with time stamps, and links to more resources in the video description.
You will also find a review and more information about the test and the project, as well as the firing schedule, after the video on this page. Watch the video and then come back here to find out more.
Project Information
In this project, I’m trying to fulfill two goals. One is to show you how to make puddle cabochons in a more controlled manner, mainly for jewellery, but the other is to encourage the use of cabochons in the design of glass art pieces. I think these are underutilized as a design element.
For all of the glass, I’m using Bullseye 90 COE. The colours are 3 mm 1116 Turquoise, mm 0137 French Vanilla and some coarse frit of each colour.
The size of the piece was determined by some offcut glass but came in at about 10 cm x 10 cm (4 inches).
It was restrained from spreading when fused with dams around the sides. I wanted it to remain as thick as possible. The dams I used are pieces of an old kiln shelf I cut up. The shelf and the sides of the dams were lined with Thinfire paper.
Some Thoughts
Here are a few other options you could try.
Like most of my projects, you could make it using any colour combination. Try using transparent glass frit in the middle to get more depth to the piece. Even the small sheets could be transparent. Try anything. You’ll get a surprise, though maybe not always a great one.
Add in more glass layers, both solid sheets, and frit.
Cut two slices and lay face up butterfly style. Mark where you will be cutting opposing sides to maintain a butterfly effect of the pattern. In the kiln, place the 2 pieces beside each other to keep that butterfly effect and fuse. That should look very nice.
I hope this gives you some inspiration to experiment.
💥 Full Fuse Firing Schedule – Slab
- #1 – 222 C (432 F) up to 535 C (995 F), hold 60 minutes
- #2 – 333 C (632 F) up to 670 C (1238 F), hold 30 minutes
- #3 – 333 C (632 F) up to 805 C (1481 F), hold 15 minutes
- #4 – Full down to 482 C (900 F), hold 120 minutes
- #5 – 65 C (149 F) down to 425 C (797 F), no hold
- #6 – 132 C (270 F) down to 371 C (700 F), no hold
💥 Full Fuse Firing Schedule – Cabochons
- #1 – 222 C (432 F) up to 535 C (995 F), hold 5 minutes
- #2 – 333 C (632 F) up to 805 C (1481 F), hold 5 minutes
- #3 – Full down to 482 C (900 F), hold 30 minutes
- #4 – 65 C (149 F) down to 425 C (797 F), no hold
- #5 – 132 C (270 F) down to 371 C (700 F), no hold
