Bullseye Glass

What is Bullseye glass?

Bullseye is coloured glass that's manufactured for use in art and architecture. All of our glasses can be used for stained glass and mosaic work, and most are tested-compatible for fusing and other methods of forming glass within a kiln.

What can I do with Bullseye glass?

The sky's the limit. Most of our customers work in fusing, kiln-forming, kiln-casting, torch-working, and stained glass. But plenty of others use our glass to add colour to their gardens, concrete surfaces and other places where permanent decorative materials are desired. Take a look at our product line and let your imagination go wild.

Bullseye is widely recognized for its sophisticated palette of harmonious colours. Most styles are available in two thicknesses: double-rolled 3 mm sheets and Thin 2 mm sheets. Due to the handcrafted nature of the product, all sheets have at least one rolled edge.

While Bullseye strives for consistent colours, our glass is a handmade product and colours may vary slightly between production runs (and from images in the catalogue). Some colours may change slightly upon repeated firing or with extensive heatwork. We recommend that you test samples of glass using the same firing cycles and processes to be used in finished pieces. Bullseye glasses are formulated for fired colour. Unfired glass colour may vary.

Bullseye produces many glasses that appear pale or even colourless in their cold form but “strike” or mature to a target colour when fired to the right temperature.

Compatibility

Bullseye glasses are well known for reliable compatibility. But it's important to understand the conditions of our factory testing, especially if you intend to fire glass under unusual conditions.

At Bullseye, glasses known to be fairly stable are tested by firing to a top temperature of 1500°F (815°C) and soaking for 15 minutes before annealing. Once cooled, these tests are viewed for stress through polarized light and graded accordingly. We fire glasses known to be less stable three times to make sure they'll perform well under multiple firing conditions, such as those used to fuse and slump a plate.

If you are using a heat process that involves an extra-high temperature or an unusually long firing time, we recommend that you test the glass yourself, under the conditions specific to your project. For example, if you want to include flame-worked elements in a kiln-formed project, remember that flame-work takes glass to temperatures exceeding the compatibility tests we do at the factory and that some glasses are more sensitive to extensive work in the flame. Therefore, it will be important not to overwork your glass during flame-working and to test the flame-worked components for compatibility using the full range of kiln-forming processes planned for the finished project.

Also note: Some processes that may not appear to exceed the parameters of the compatibility test actually do. For example, holding some glasses for long times at temperatures around 1400°F (760°C), which is in the devitrification range, can cause the glass to change dramatically.

Many artists (Klaus Moje, for example) are able to push Bullseye glass to high temperatures for long times with exceptionally good results, but their success is insured by testing. No manufacturer can guarantee glass to perform as expected under all imaginable working conditions. Testing is a wise practice with whatever glass you use.

Information courtesy of www.bullseyeglass.com