Making Fused Dichroic Glass Jewelry

Dichroic glass sheet is cut into small pieces and a collage is designed using the different solid colors and patterns of the material. After each pendant is designed, a small piece of clear glass is carefully placed over the top of each collage creating a sandwich of the material which will cause a 3-D optic affect when the glass is melted together.

The designs are created directly on the kiln shelf, inside the kiln before it is turned on. This allows us to make the layout exactly how we want it, without moving it, before the glass is fused together. When all the pendants are designed, the lid is closed and the kiln is ready to be fired.

A computer controls the temperature and it slowly rises to 1500-degrees. Once the glass has fully fused, the kiln is turned off and the glass is cooled to room temperature. After the pieces have completely cooled, they are ground, shaped and polished, one at a time, on a glass beveling machine, creating unique geometric designs. The pieces are then wrapped with fine silver bezel, creating a silhouette of the glass shape.

Then each piece is removed and set aside while the fine silver is soldered onto sterling sheet. The sterling sheet is then cut to match the silhouette of the glass shape, filed, buffed and polished into its final design. When the silver work is totally completed, the glass is then permanently set in place, completing each pendant.