Switchplate slumping?

[jgraff]

I've only slumped my bad beads so far. But I'd like to take all my glass scrap and make a switchplate cover (for light switches in the house?). I've found a copper mold to make an enamelled switchplate but I haven't found a slump/fuse mold for switchplates. Does anyone have a source for them?

jgraff

[Dennis Brady]

I've only slumped my bad beads so far. But I'd like to take all my glass scrap and make a switchplate cover (for light switches in the house?). I've found a copper mold to make an enamelled switchplate but I haven't found a slump/fuse mold for switchplates. Does anyone have a source for them?

jgraff

Switch plates are flat so don't need slumping. You can make a blank by just fusing pieces of glass the desired size but you'd have to cut out the hole for the switch toggle. What you want is a mold for casting and you'll probably have to make one. Easy enough to do by just taking a regular plastic plate and pressing it into clay. Be sure to leave a wide angle on the stub for the toggle hole so you can remove the cast piece from the mold. When casting scraps, make the mold at least double the thickness you want the finished casting. Your scraps will melt down to about half the intial depth.

[jaci]

fabulous information!

[squid]

My switchplates are not flat on the back - they are concave to allow for the protrusion of the switch mechanism.

[Tink]

I was thinking the same thing, Squid.

[Tink]

Actually, I remember reading something about this recently when I bought our new Arts & Crafts covers. Here's the blurb:
NOTE: Back of switchplate is flat, not concave. Outlets and/or switches may need adjusting for switchplate to lie flat against wall.

Indicating that most ARE concave, and that flat ones might require some dinking around with the switches.

[Otter's Flame]

Perhaps a two step process? You would need two molds. The first one would be flat and a little over sized. The second one would be for the final shape to accommodate the back concave area of the plate. Do your initial fusing of your scraps into a flat sheet. The second step would be to slump it over the second mold so the edges slump down and give you a concave back once you remove the piece.

Otter