Spectrum asked me to author a second "Technical Bulletin" on the System 96 line of Tested Compatible products. There wasn’t an obvious next topic to cover, because, from a technical stand point, System 96 glass is truly "fuser friendly" –– meaning that it fires really nice, is easy to cut and has a beautiful surface without the use of an overglaze product.

The single most common question I get asked about the glass is this: "Why do I have to pay more? It’s just Spectrum, right?" Well, yes and no. They’re both products made by Spectrum Glass Company, but from a fuser’s perspective, they’re as different as night and day. It’s like asking why a Cadillac costs more than an Oldsmobile even though they are both GM products. When you compare apples to apples, that being the price of System 96 versus other high grade fusing products, you’ll find the price is actually very desirable. Let me explain.

When Spectrum designed its System 96 products, it set out to formulate a glass that has all of the characteristics needed to make it a great fusing glass. They studied how the glass behaves in the kiln and talked with kiln workers in their plant and around the world. Then they took each quality –– smooth surface, stable colors, a resistance to devitrification, cutability, and so on, and addressed them head-on. To meet the needs of the marketplace, they found that they had to basically design a new type of glass system. This system builds upon all that they had learned with their stained glass production, yet it required some expensive modifications. These costs are reflected in the price of the System 96 products.

System 96 glass is made on furnaces designed to handle shorter runs. Shorter runs cost more to produce. For years, the Spectrum stained glass line has been a price point leader, in part because they were able to make long production runs. That is not the case with the System 96. The market has yet to require the quantity of fusible glass needed to justify long runs. The shorter runs give us more color choices and variety, but they add to the cost of the end product.

The System 96 raw materials are considerably more expensive. The chemistry that produces great stained glass had to be adjusted the meet the demands of kilncrafters. The special ingredients that make s96 a kiln-friendly product just plain cost more. This added expense has been softened a bit by the efficiency of the Spectrum production techniques, but there remains a very real increase in the cost of making an ideal fusing glass.

All of the companies that sell compatible fusing glass go through a stringent testing system to assure that the customer can trust that these types of glass will produce good results. Spectrum uses the Reynolds Interface Compatibility Test (R.I.C.T) to assure that their glass is indeed compatible with other products in the System 96 line. This means someone has to actually pull sheets of glass and cut off sections, fuse them against a control clear and read the results under polarized filters to assure that they are indeed compatible. At Spectrum, the process involves both a preliminary quick-fire test and then a primary long-fire test. Then, the process continues. Every glass is subjected to three separate 1500° follow-up firings, then checked for devit, color shift, opacification or changes in compatibility. The glass receives a unique classification, sheet labels and inventory treatment. All of these operations take added time and they cost money. Assuring a compatible product is an expensive proposition. Yet it is still a lot less expensive than you or I having to do all that work ourselves.

Just imagine if you had to buy a bunch of glass, take it home and test each sheet yourself. I am gladly willing to pay a few cents extra to let them do that for me, and besides, this way I’m not stuck with the glass that didn’t make the grade –– they are. We pay a few pennies for that, too.

So, all in all, it’s a bargain. We’re now able to get just possibly the best fusing glass ever produced for the lowest price ever seen. Personally, I’m pretty happy about that.

If you have specific questions about the technical aspects of fusing with System 96, start with the Fusing & Slumping section of the Spectrum web site: Spectrumglass.com. You’ll find an excellent "Common Questions" section linked to a "System 96 Troubleshooter," where specific problems are stated and solutions suggested. It’s a great reference. Try the bulletin board at the Spectrum-sponsored Warmglass.com, too. It’s an ongoing exchange of ideas and technical suggestions on kilncrafting of all types. Still can’t solve your problem? Email the details of your situation to the Hot-Glass techs at Spectrum, and they’ll do what they can to help: hotglass@spectrumglass.com.

Until next time, keep those kilns warm,

Gil Reynolds