Remember how to use the furnace, Experiment with different types of available glass, Work out how to determine the suitability of different types of glass. What criteria do I need to test? Work out whether I need to go down the road of creating my own glass.

I scrounged up:

• Lots of mirrored float glass,
• A 1.5m diameter hardened glass tabletop,
• Some (industrially) blown glass bottles.

I coated a stainless steel cup and bowl with kiln wash to stop the glass sticking. I sanded off the silvering from some of the mirrored float glass, crushed it up and put it in the cup. I crushed up a blown glass bottle and put it in the bowl.

I experimented with chemically removing the silvering from the back of the mirrors. I daubed a bit of chemical on the back of the mirror and put some scratches through the mirroring with a screwdriver. Things that failed:

• Acetone,
• Methyl Ethyl Ketone,
  • This one changed the colour of the grey layer slightly.
• Zinc Chloride (in soldering flux),
• Ferric Chloride,
• Sodium Hydroxide.

The silvering appears to have three layers: Grey, red and silver.