MAKE RECYCLED-GLASS WIND CHIMES

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Now you're ready to fire your glass. Unlike pottery, which must be baked slowly with the temperature rising gradually, bottle glass tends to be weakened by slow heat. Therefore, turn the kiln up to "high" right away.

It'll take between two and three hours to complete this firing operation, and visual inspection—via the kiln's peephole—is the only way to tell when the load is "done". (It's best if you can see the rings on the kiln floor, since they'll be the last to flatten.)

Always remember to let the kiln cool completely before you open it. As a general rule, the cooling process takes three times as long as the firing. At that point, remove the rings and dust off as much of the whiting as possible. (I always unload and reload in one operation ... to save time.)

Once you've washed the little gems, they're ready to be strung in whatever fashion your imagination conceives. You can, for example, use two or three fused rings for the top of the wind chimes . . . or employ lengths of driftwood, branches, bamboo, etc. for this purpose. The glass circles can also be used as Christmas ornaments, and they add a distinctive touch to macrame. (I supply one woman who works the rings into glass-and-macramé lamp shades.)

I use about 120 bottles a week to make my hot-selling chimes, and I wish I could say that I'm close to running out of material. Unfortunately, there're so many litterbugs that I always have a fresh supply.

I bet there's a bunch of bottles cluttering up your neighborhood, too, just waiting for some clever recycler to turn them into tinkling wind songs . . . and cash!

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print