Wow keith, I dont know of any forums here on GW that deal with that. Im part of another glass forum but its mainly mosaics. I do know that bullseye glass has some technical forums that are excellent. Ive looked at them and was very impressed with the knowledge. That might be a good jumping off point. also, here is a blog that deals with all sorts of glass, lampworking etc and you might find some links and info there. Good luck and sorry we couldnt do more for you.

Here is a link that might be useful: blog

http://stainedglassville.com/glassforum/index.php

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?board=360.0

You might have better luck there, I find this forum focuses more on mosaic

I have fused glass with copper in it but my kiln goes through the annealing process automatically when I use one of the preprogrammed settings. I have never had a problem with using the copper with the glass though because it cools at the same rate as the glass naturally.