Coldworking Fused Glass with Loose Grit

Spinning Bowl

You know it happens. You slump a bowl or plate and it doesn’t sit flat. I have such a bowl. It’s the piece that my husband delights in spinning on the table every time he passes it. Well, not anymore!

The Bullesye Glass website has a video in their Education Online library called Coldworking with Loose Grit. After watching it, I purchased 1# bags of loose grit from His Glassworks in 80, 220, 400, and 800 grit sizes. Today I finally gave it a try on my spinning bowl.

Loose Grit BowlThe technique basically involves making a slurry of loose grit and water on a piece of plate glass. The piece that needs to be finished is moved in a figure eight motion across the grit slurry. I was a bit skeptical about how long this procedure might take. I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t really that bad and the result was great. For the bowl in question, I started working with 220 grit, then 400, and finally 800. I worked the piece with each grit for about five minutes. It’s a good upper body workout. It left the bowl with a very professional looking smooth finish on the bottom, and it is flat!

This is a great way to cold work pieces if you don’t have expensive equipment. For full details checkout the Bullseye Education Online videos.

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