Cheap Casting

I am finally going to get more serious about casting glass.  I have several ideas, which I won't detail here now, but stay tuned.  More in the coming weeks.  Anyway, I needed to find a way to test out some ideas without breaking the bank.  Really nice glass can cost $8 to $10 per pound - or even more.  That is just too much for me to waste learning techniques and trying different things.

One of my friends found that the local glass factory sold broken stuff for next to nothing.  I won't give the place away as I don't want the convenience and low cost to be taken away!  I think the price is under $0.10 per pound.  This glass comes in half-inch thick chunks.  I'd say that the average is from about 1" square to 3-4" pieces.  The glass is very clear, even though it is a float glass which is usually found in windows.  The nice part is that there isn't any green tint that is associated with this type of glass.  

I took my 9" ring and loaded it with about 5 pounds of the chunks.  It is in the kiln now.  I'm trying to see how well it melts and what kinds of veiling or other remnants show up.  Stay tuned for the update when it comes out of the kiln tomorrow.