Fused Glass Blanks - Step 2- Firing

I prepared my blanks (I decided for a larger area to put my zentangle so I cut larger more square type canvas)

Once cut I put into my kiln - I have an AIM Kiln that I love - the smaller kilns fire up fast and I can do smaller controlled runs - which allow me to make and work faster.

I like working on a kiln shelf with just primer - although I do use fusing paper at times - but for most flat work like this I like the kiln shelf - the shelf is primed with shelf primer 4-5 coats and lasts for quite a few firings before I have to clean and re-prime.  I have spaced them sufficiently so that when they fuse (melt) they will not touch each other.

This kiln has a digital pyrometer and I fire to the 1650 - not all kilns fire at the same rate so I am a peeper - I always check my kiln when getting close to 1600 just to be sure its not overfiring.

When finished the vanilla layer has fused into the Carmel layer giving me a blank that I can now put my zentangle on .  If you over fire and get sharp edges - now is the time to grind the edges down as we will fire to the fire polish stage when firing the decal.