Slumping into Stainless Steel!

Quite often I hear someone advise another fuser than you can't slump into stainless steel. They always quote the rule of thumb, "slump into ceramic; drape over stainless steel". While I agree that it can be tricky slumping over ceramic (I've had to shatter a mold before to free the glass), slumping into stainless steel can be quite successful.

Patty Gray has designed a line of products to make a fuser's life easier, including a nice stainless steel bowl mold. It produces a lovely, balanced bowl every time that looks great with or without a stand.

This weekend I finished up a piece, shown above, that was three layers fused in one of Patty's dam molds and slumped into the bowl mold. The dam mold produces a nice edge that requires little coldworking before slumping. The piece was accented with Unique Glass Color's Artisan (bubble) paints.

You can find the dam mold at most on-line glass retailers, as well as Creative Paradise (round dam mold). You can also find all of Patty's molds at my favorite wholesaler, D&L Art Glass (stainless mold).

Happy fusing!

Dana