Sometimes Even the Instructions Don’t Work

Recycled Wine Bottle SlumpWell phooey on the instructions! I often wonder if the people that make these things actually ever use them. The last attempt to melt a wine bottle directly in the swirl mold was a disaster. It slumped down into the mold until it was very narrow. Not at all the result I wanted. Since then I tried another slump with a flattened bottle. The result is pictured here. I adjusted my slump schedule a bit hotter, and a longer hold. The back of the bottle was beautiful, but you still couldn’t see the swirl from the top. It was also a bit skinnier that my other bottle dishes, but this would actually be a great shape for an olive tray. I was  ready to throw in the towel  and declare defeat!

And then…

I had a DUH! moment!

I’m using green wine bottles! Green wine bottles are dark! I don’t think you would ever be able to see the swirl pattern through it. I should probably be using yellow or clear bottles!

Well darn! I don’t have any clear bottles. Mostly because I never liked how the plain clear bottles looked and second, I am a red wine drinker. So now I’ll have to find some friends that like Pinot Grigio. Shouldn’t be to hard in this hot Texas weather we are having. I have a yellow Chardonnay bottle that I’ll put in the kiln tomorrow just to test my color theory. It really isn’t the right shape for this mold. Maybe I’ll go out and buy a bottle of wine tonight. Any recommendations?

 

7 thoughts on “Sometimes Even the Instructions Don’t Work

  1. Joyce @ Harmony says:

    Hi Margot –

    LOL! When I saw that bottle, I thought you had been to the store and taken a photo of MY bottle!

    I took my bottle that looks like that and fired it again with no mold, flat on the kiln shelf. (1400) That flattened the shape out of it but didn’t remove the scroll design. Then I turned it over with the scroll on top and used a spoon rest mold to slump a handle on to it. It looked great and sold for $20! There’s no reason why the design can’t be on the top!

    Thanks for your web site. I run into it from time to time and it’s always great to think, “I know her!”.

  2. Mary says:

    How about Pebeo paints in the swirls? I haven’t tried it yet, but I have the same mold and I want to do something more interesting with it as the clear glass seems so boring. It seems to leave sharp edges when I fuse the green bottles in it no matter how I have tried to tweak my firing schedule.

    • Margot says:

      Paints in the swirls sounds like a great idea. I haven’t had any problems with sharp edges but since I am slumping a flat bottle I don’t have to go as hot.

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