Lasers, Sand Blasters, and Kilns!

NYC Resistor and Urban Glass have joined forces to bring you some tech inspired crafty creativity. The class is scheduled for Sunday, January 18th at 10am.

Resistor’s new cutting laser will be put to use to etch designs in glass through a masking tape resist. Amazingly, the masking tape holds up well against 60 psi of flying sand. Maybe we should all make masking tape ponchos for next year’s Burning Man.

The designs are taken to Urban Glass to sand blast the etch a little deeper to accommodate enamel.

Then, enamel is painted into the sand blasted recesses.

The lasered masking tape is removed, and the glass is ready for firing overnight with a long ramp up and a long cool down cycle.

The fired pieces will look very similar to this. The enamels don’t change color much in firing unlike some ceramic glazes.

Taprats, an iterative design tool, was used to simulate an Islamic tile pattern. The lower half pattern is the negative of the upper half.

We’re also experimenting with halftoned images. More images to come!

This is the first in a series of exploratory classes combining the creative power of two great Brooklyn spaces. Come join us on Sunday. The class sign-up is here.