Hoops!
Yes…I’ve finally managed to make HOOP earrings out of fused glass! This was the most challenging project I’ve given myself yet, and I had the most wasted glass yet of any project as well with all the breakages! Take a look and let me know what you think!
I made these earrings by making blocks of glass following the patterns in my FOXY Circles line, fusing these blocks a really long time, then drilling the blocks with my coring bits.
Coring glass with a drill press is very dangerous and difficult. In fact, the local art center (Art Glass Fusing Center in Austin) does not even have a drill press anymore because of insurance risks…a student sliced her hand open coring glass during a class!
The bigger the drill bit, the longer it takes to core glass and the wackier the glass block behaves as it’s being cored. It can split entirely in a second and catapult its sharp broken edges into your hand…this is likely how that student sliced open her hand. The glass makes all kinds of weird noises as it’s being cored, all of which makes a person skittish during the actual coring process, so this is not for the faint-at-heart!
Using a drill press to core glass necessitates violating several key rules of shop class:
- Never put your hands near the blade. Well, you have to steady the glass block until the drill bit takes hold and starts cutting the glass, which means YOUR HAND IS NEAR THE BLADE. Luckily, the diamond grit on the coring bit feels a bit like a cat’s tongue when it’s in motion, so I don’t really think this is the dangerous part.
- Never use water with electrical tools. Again, you gotta break this rule because water is the lubricant needed for the drill bits to cut through the glass. You need water, and lots of it.
- Protect your hands and eyes at all times. Actually, this one you SHOULD adhere to. I wear gloves and eye goggles when coring and coldworking glass. Glass is sharp, and if you don’t wear gloves the very least you’ll experience are a thousand papercut-type wounds on your fingers.
So…now that you know what I’ve been through this week, and you see how BEAUTIFUL these FOXY HOOPS are, you’ll totally agree that these puppies are well worth the $50 price tag I’m giving them. 8-) Happy Thursday!
meow!
Really nice earrings Kerri. Next time you come by the studio I’ll show you how we clamp down the glass to avoid much of the trouble you mention above. Also, if you must mix electrical equipment and water it is important to make sure you are plugged into a “ground fault interrupt” (GFC) outlet (like the ones in bathrooms and kitchens).
Great blog – keep it up
Paul