Yep I have done it. :) It was super fun and I still have some marbles left. My microwave kiln helped me to learn how much I loved glass fusing so moving to a standard kiln soon. I had friends give me their beer bottles... esp. the blue ones but brown was nice too. I would smash those and fuse them. The blue was my favorite and made some pretty cabochons. - Heidi
thanks for the great information! can the microwave kilns work with small glass molds? what would you suggest for starting materials if I want to make 'precision' shapes? I want to make clear glass prisms without a lot of guesswork. could I use sand?
If you can find a ceramic mold that will not bust in the MWK I am sure it will work. All the molds I have made and tried failed. I have not tried a commercial ceramic mold yet.
Thank you for the valuable video. Thumbs up and sub :) Mike, can you tell me where you bought such a large ceramic insert? What are its internal dimensions? I'm looking for something to burn the glaze on a mug. I was thinking about doing it myself, but I don't know exactly what mortar I would need to use to make something similar myself and adjust the size to my needs. I was thinking about using vermiculite as a grain in the mortar, but I don't know if it's a good idea. Greetings from Poland :)
If I understand what you are asking, I can only say there is not ceramic insert. The bottom of the kiln is simply a raised part of the bottom. Stepped up sorta. Hope this helps.
How do you keep the marbles from running off the little kiln platform? Can you use a dab of glue or some sort of vaseline to keep them in a design you want?
Actually I cheat. I grind a flat spot on each marble with my diamond lap grinder. What you suggest might work or super glue, but the marble may move around when the vasiline or glue burns off.
very nice !! , i have an idea ( sorry for my english ) is it possible to make very fine powder of glass and after that put the fine glass powder in a ceramic or plaster mold and melting it in the microwave ? what do you thing about it ? thanks joël
Do not use plaster for glass or ceramic clay firing. The plaster will not take the heat. It is possible to use frit (crushed glass) and fire it in a small ceramic mold in the microwave kiln, but I have not had very good luck due to the fact that it is not possible to control the heat to the kiln. Do not try it with a mold that is valuable to you.
What videois the suncatcher? I tried finding it and can't. Everyone I found for the suncatcher is using an oven. I have a large microwave kiln and would love to do that suncatcher. Thanks for your video.
You will have to use your kiln if you want to fuse marble and "squiggles" into sun catchers with fewer problems. I think the squiggles came from Michaels or Hobby Lobby. You will have to do a little experimenting when you try this. You can do a full fuse glass schedule or simply try a tack fuse schedule. Go to www.slumpys.com and get the schedules off their site. do not be disappointed if you get cracks and such in some. You have to consider that you are working with unknown glass COE and sometimes it will not be compatible. If I get time I will do another video on who to make these suncatchers.
Help please I am new at this so I put a glass marble in my kiln but it has exploded with a large bit stuck On the side of my kiln please how do I remove it .
The only way is to carefully pry it off. Hopefully it will not take any or much of the graphite (black lining) off. Use a butter knife or something with a flat blade and seeif you can get a purchase on the underside of the glass and genly pry it off. Let me know how it turns out.
Thank you Capt Mike. Keep posting. you inspire. I only have 1 microwave kiln currently. Gonna try placing pieces in vermiculite (like beads) to anneal....so I can keep cooking (glass) you are such an inspiration.
I grind a flat spot on mine, but I realise that everyone does not have a lap grinder. Try using a little glue on the bottom of the marbles. The glue will burn off.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE VIDEO HELPED A LOT JUST STARTED YESTERDAY AND LOVE IT WAS WONDERING IF THE BIGGER MARBLES WOULD BE OK SO YOUR INFO has helped wish I could get the other shapes of glass you had but not seen them in U.K. ,as I only have a limited amount of glass at the moment using marbles as I have loads gives me some play time , another question I would like to ask you is I am thinking of getting a glass fussing kiln can you suggest a good one to get as getting confused as lots on the market not a very big one but bigger than 20cm x20 cm ,thank you again for your help capt mike
Jackki, 20cmx20cm would not be a very big kiln, less that 8"x8" in US terms. I am assuming you want one that would run off household current. The rule of thumb is to go as large as you can afford. One that will open from the top or bottom is preferable for glass work as is one with a top element. As you get further into glass work you will find your pieces will demand more and more space. Olympic sells good low voltage kilns as do Paragon and JenKen. Try advertising for a good "used" glass kiln and see what pops up. Let me know what you decide on.
The largest MWK I know of is the ones I use. Look here: www.amazon.com/s?k=microwave+kiln&crid=1O016T6XZGEZI&sprefix=microwave+kiln%2Caps%2C101&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
Great info as usual Mike, thanks 💙 I was wondering after watching the video, would it help with the annealing process to have a regular oven pre-heated to it's highest temp and when the piece is done switch it immediately from microwave to oven. Then slowly decrease the temperature, maybe even wrap it in a fiber "blanket" then straight into the oven? I'm not sure if the blanket would keep the oven heat from it though and be counter productive, maybe use it afterwards, when the oven has reached 250-200 (or lowest setting), then wrap it. Something like that anyway, really new to this and haven't gotten too brave. I'm still testing different glasses to see what I like and what I can design. One other question, I've seen a few people who seem to put metal in their microwave kilns (one guy used it as a foundry) to add bails, insets, and other decorative bits. Is that safe to do? Thanks again 💙
I have never tried to extend the heating process to include annealing. If you have a way to check the temps and when they drop to, say 900 degrees F you might be able to put the kiln in an oven and slow down the heat loss. I do not know what 400+ degrees in the oven would do to the kiln though. Usually, small pieces like jewelry do not need to be annealed. Just zap the glass to where you want it and let it cool slowly (Do not keep opening the kiln to look at the piece). As far as metal in the microwave, it will not hurt anything, maybe just pop and sizzle a little. The problem would be with the metal in the glass. I have successfully fused copper inside of glass, so it might work.
Ah, I see what you mean. Oven temps are just not up to the task (though mine gets up to 650°F in its cleaning mode), plus I didn't think about the kiln itself. Well, it was a thought but the "blanket" might help at least to help it cool down slower. If I get brave enough, I'll try the metal and let you know, good to know copper works though, thanks
@@lauracarey6440 That's the one big problem with microwave kilns. It is difficult to control the melt. What I would do is start with a 3 minute zap and check it every 3 minutes. When the piece starts to glow red let it cool and check the edges. You might need to do less time or more. Let me know how it turns out for you.
I would say no. Glass does not react too well with the microwaves. You could always try, but If I had to guess, if the marble got hot it would crack open
@@CaptMike yeah thanks for your reply man, i decided there we're too many unknowns for it to be safe to try & opted for the oven method instead, the things wife's get us to do uh? 🙄
I am assuming you mean a microwave oven/kiln. If you mean a conventional oven the answer is no. In a microwave kiln it usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes for marbles to melt into a round pendant about 1/4 inch thick.
I find that on an average, about 12 minutes will melt glass (assuming your microwave is on high) I usually chaeck every 3 to 4 minutes. I hope this helps.
Hi Teresa, any of the major brands are OK. Look for "free Shipping" deals! I have two Olympic. 1 Jen Ken, a L&L and a small Paragon test kiln. All of them work fine. I find the most important thing is the digital controller. It makes life so much easier.
Ron it sounds good and I would give it a try. Here is what I would do. Either grind a flat spot on the marble so it will not roll or just slump it and then place it on a piece of 90, 96 and float glass and fire that and see what happens. You might have to do this a couple of times to make sure of compatibility. Also, sometimes the cracks may not appear until some time later. Let me know how you come out.
This was one of my first videos. Sorry you found it incomplete. However, using a microwave kiln I find that around 15 minutes does the trick. I usually zap the marbles in 3 minute incriments, checking in between zaps to check on the progress. Marbles are usually of an unknown COE, so do not mix marbles from different batches and expect perfect results. There will always be failures. Good luck!
Not sure of the temps. I just zap the marbles until they melt however I want themusually from 1200 to 1500 F. Usually around 10 to 15 minutes. Your microwave oven may heat differently than mine.
Diana, sorry you did not like the video. It was one of my first ones. Where do you think I went wrong? It is simply about melting a few marbles in a microwave kiln. Not much to think about there.
I love it! 💗 I love stained glass and this kind of gives me that feel! ☺👍
Captain Mike wearing a Batman belt!!! Love it as much as the information on this video 😀
I Love my super hero belt buckles and those of you who take time to watch my videos!
Yep I have done it. :) It was super fun and I still have some marbles left. My microwave kiln helped me to learn how much I loved glass fusing so moving to a standard kiln soon. I had friends give me their beer bottles... esp. the blue ones but brown was nice too. I would smash those and fuse them. The blue was my favorite and made some pretty cabochons. - Heidi
What rating is your microwave kiln (e.g. 1100W)? At WHAT POWER and FOR HOW LONG did you melt the marbles? Thanks for very interesting video!
Yes I'd like to know also. I too have a 1100 MW.
thanks for the great information! can the microwave kilns work with small glass molds? what would you suggest for starting materials if I want to make 'precision' shapes? I want to make clear glass prisms without a lot of guesswork. could I use sand?
If you can find a ceramic mold that will not bust in the MWK I am sure it will work. All the molds I have made and tried failed. I have not tried a commercial ceramic mold yet.
Thank you for the valuable video. Thumbs up and sub :) Mike, can you tell me where you bought such a large ceramic insert? What are its internal dimensions? I'm looking for something to burn the glaze on a mug. I was thinking about doing it myself, but I don't know exactly what mortar I would need to use to make something similar myself and adjust the size to my needs. I was thinking about using vermiculite as a grain in the mortar, but I don't know if it's a good idea. Greetings from Poland :)
If I understand what you are asking, I can only say there is not ceramic insert. The bottom of the kiln is simply a raised part of the bottom. Stepped up sorta. Hope this helps.
How do you keep the marbles from running off the little kiln platform? Can you use a dab of glue or some sort of vaseline to keep them in a design you want?
Actually I cheat. I grind a flat spot on each marble with my diamond lap grinder. What you suggest might work or super glue, but the marble may move around when the vasiline or glue burns off.
The flattened marbles are called “cabochons”
very nice !! , i have an idea ( sorry for my english ) is it possible to make very fine powder of glass and after that put the fine glass powder in a ceramic or plaster mold and melting it in the microwave ? what do you thing about it ? thanks joël
Do not use plaster for glass or ceramic clay firing. The plaster will not take the heat. It is possible to use frit (crushed glass) and fire it in a small ceramic mold in the microwave kiln, but I have not had very good luck due to the fact that it is not possible to control the heat to the kiln. Do not try it with a mold that is valuable to you.
What videois the suncatcher? I tried finding it and can't. Everyone I found for the suncatcher is using an oven. I have a large microwave kiln and would love to do that suncatcher. Thanks for your video.
You will have to use your kiln if you want to fuse marble and "squiggles" into sun catchers with fewer problems. I think the squiggles came from Michaels or Hobby Lobby. You will have to do a little experimenting when you try this. You can do a full fuse glass schedule or simply try a tack fuse schedule. Go to www.slumpys.com and get the schedules off their site. do not be disappointed if you get cracks and such in some. You have to consider that you are working with unknown glass COE and sometimes it will not be compatible. If I get time I will do another video on who to make these suncatchers.
Help please I am new at this so I put a glass marble in my kiln but it has exploded with a large bit stuck
On the side of my kiln please how do I remove it .
The only way is to carefully pry it off. Hopefully it will not take any or much of the graphite (black lining) off. Use a butter knife or something with a flat blade and seeif you can get a purchase on the underside of the glass and genly pry it off. Let me know how it turns out.
Thank you 😊 Beautiful 🥰
Thank you Capt Mike. Keep posting. you inspire.
I only have 1 microwave kiln currently. Gonna try placing pieces in vermiculite (like beads) to anneal....so I can keep cooking (glass) you are such an inspiration.
Before I try this, how would I keep the marbles from rolling around on the paper and base?
I grind a flat spot on mine, but I realise that everyone does not have a lap grinder. Try using a little glue on the bottom of the marbles. The glue will burn off.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE VIDEO HELPED A LOT JUST STARTED YESTERDAY AND LOVE IT WAS WONDERING IF THE BIGGER MARBLES WOULD BE OK SO YOUR INFO has helped wish I could get the other shapes of glass you had but not seen them in U.K. ,as I only have a limited amount of glass at the moment using marbles as I have loads gives me some play time , another question I would like to ask you is I am thinking of getting a glass fussing kiln can you suggest a good one to get as getting confused as lots on the market not a very big one but bigger than 20cm x20 cm ,thank you again for your help capt mike
Jackki, 20cmx20cm would not be a very big kiln, less that 8"x8" in US terms. I am assuming you want one that would run off household current. The rule of thumb is to go as large as you can afford. One that will open from the top or bottom is preferable for glass work as is one with a top element. As you get further into glass work you will find your pieces will demand more and more space. Olympic sells good low voltage kilns as do Paragon and JenKen. Try advertising for a good "used" glass kiln and see what pops up. Let me know what you decide on.
Hi! can you please tell me where can I buy a so big kiln? thank you!
The largest MWK I know of is the ones I use. Look here: www.amazon.com/s?k=microwave+kiln&crid=1O016T6XZGEZI&sprefix=microwave+kiln%2Caps%2C101&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
Great info as usual Mike, thanks 💙 I was wondering after watching the video, would it help with the annealing process to have a regular oven pre-heated to it's highest temp and when the piece is done switch it immediately from microwave to oven. Then slowly decrease the temperature, maybe even wrap it in a fiber "blanket" then straight into the oven? I'm not sure if the blanket would keep the oven heat from it though and be counter productive, maybe use it afterwards, when the oven has reached 250-200 (or lowest setting), then wrap it. Something like that anyway, really new to this and haven't gotten too brave. I'm still testing different glasses to see what I like and what I can design. One other question, I've seen a few people who seem to put metal in their microwave kilns (one guy used it as a foundry) to add bails, insets, and other decorative bits. Is that safe to do? Thanks again 💙
I have never tried to extend the heating process to include annealing. If you have a way to check the temps and when they drop to, say 900 degrees F you might be able to put the kiln in an oven and slow down the heat loss. I do not know what 400+ degrees in the oven would do to the kiln though. Usually, small pieces like jewelry do not need to be annealed. Just zap the glass to where you want it and let it cool slowly (Do not keep opening the kiln to look at the piece). As far as metal in the microwave, it will not hurt anything, maybe just pop and sizzle a little. The problem would be with the metal in the glass. I have successfully fused copper inside of glass, so it might work.
Ah, I see what you mean. Oven temps are just not up to the task (though mine gets up to 650°F in its cleaning mode), plus I didn't think about the kiln itself. Well, it was a thought but the "blanket" might help at least to help it cool down slower. If I get brave enough, I'll try the metal and let you know, good to know copper works though, thanks
Hi
Can you melt the little murrini glass pieces?
They are tiny....how much time would you think they would take?
They will melt just fine. It will take about 10 to 15 minutes in 3 minute intervals (check each time) At least that works for me.
Capt Mike can you just melt so it just softens the edges...if you know what I mean?
I’m excited to try.
@@lauracarey6440 That's the one big problem with microwave kilns. It is difficult to control the melt. What I would do is start with a 3 minute zap and check it every 3 minutes. When the piece starts to glow red let it cool and check the edges. You might need to do less time or more. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Can you heat marbles in the microwave without a kiln enough to create a fried marble cracked effect.
I would say no. Glass does not react too well with the microwaves. You could always try, but If I had to guess, if the marble got hot it would crack open
@@CaptMike yeah thanks for your reply man, i decided there we're too many unknowns for it to be safe to try & opted for the oven method instead, the things wife's get us to do uh? 🙄
Can we melt beads in the microwave
I have not tried, but I dont see why you couldnt, assuming the wirtes and all would fit inside.
In school, we fired clay bowls, glazed and put a layer of marbles in the bowls, and fired them again to get a glass-bottom design detail
Sounds interesting. Did you get any cracks in the glass?
Yep. Fully crazed, but it still looked nice
@@SimpLeeBeth Beth, sometimes that crackle effect looks really cool!
I wonder if you could take a clay bowl that’s already fired and refire with marbles in it just long enough to melt them down?!?
@@poorsjm Yes you can and sometimes the marbles will not crack up much when they cool.. Do expect some cracking though.
What do you do with all these little glass things you make?
Some I sell, some I give away and mostly I just hoard them!
can marbles melt completely if you leave them long enough in the oven?
I am assuming you mean a microwave oven/kiln. If you mean a conventional oven the answer is no. In a microwave kiln it usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes for marbles to melt into a round pendant about 1/4 inch thick.
@@CaptMike i dont have either of those as im only 16 :(((
@@y3y364 do some research on microwave kilns. Suggest one as a gift. They are not hard to use.
Well nice but how long do you microwave them and at what point do you open it to check?
I find that on an average, about 12 minutes will melt glass (assuming your microwave is on high) I usually chaeck every 3 to 4 minutes. I hope this helps.
Capt. Mike, do you have a preferred brand of kiln? I'm getting ready to order my first one. Love your videos. Easy to understand. Thanks
Hi Teresa, any of the major brands are OK. Look for "free Shipping" deals! I have two Olympic. 1 Jen Ken, a L&L and a small Paragon test kiln. All of them work fine. I find the most important thing is the digital controller. It makes life so much easier.
@@CaptMike Thank you
Is this a regular microwave, and if so how do you do this?
It is a regular microwave. The higher the wattage the better.
What about melting 1/4" black marbles or smaller down to make eyes? What about the COE of marbles when mixing with other glass?
Ron it sounds good and I would give it a try. Here is what I would do. Either grind a flat spot on the marble so it will not roll or just slump it and then place it on a piece of 90, 96 and float glass and fire that and see what happens. You might have to do this a couple of times to make sure of compatibility. Also, sometimes the cracks may not appear until some time later. Let me know how you come out.
you didnt tell me how long, nothin
This was one of my first videos. Sorry you found it incomplete. However, using a microwave kiln I find that around 15 minutes does the trick. I usually zap the marbles in 3 minute incriments, checking in between zaps to check on the progress. Marbles are usually of an unknown COE, so do not mix marbles from different batches and expect perfect results. There will always be failures. Good luck!
Do you do that whistle when you talk on purpose? LOL just messing with you! :-) thank you for video
I guess it's a mixture of an old man trying to speak proper english with a southern dialect. Nap time and meds have something to do with it also!
Haha, you're funny thanks for video and laugh. You are great
I'm wondering what is the point?
Since you can buy already melted marbles anywhere.
Randall, it's not so much about melting one marble as melting several into shapes. Also, you have to admit that melting stuff is fun!
Which temperature ?
Not sure of the temps. I just zap the marbles until they melt however I want themusually from 1200 to 1500 F. Usually around 10 to 15 minutes. Your microwave oven may heat differently than mine.
No I haven't
does anybody know where i can get this 'ofen'. / txs in advance
Hannes, I am not sure what you are asking for. Cold you be more specific?
Owen for microwave kiln,you can get on Aliexpress...In kits with glass and all now it goes for around 50€$£
Amazon just type in microwave glass kiln.
eBay
this video went no where
Diana, sorry you did not like the video. It was one of my first ones. Where do you think I went wrong? It is simply about melting a few marbles in a microwave kiln. Not much to think about there.
Slow down, Speedy. I can barely keep up.
Good vid but you really need to speed up a bit and get to the point quicker 👍
Your right Alan, but it is hard for an old retired man to do anything but ramble on....sorry.
I love your videos Captain Mike, I think everything you say is valuable to somebody! -Lauren
@@CaptMike just found you and love listening to you x
@@nowirehangers2815 Thanks!