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Jelveh Designs - Glass Beads Torched One-by-One

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Go Back   Lampwork Etc. > Library > Tips, Techniques, and Questions

Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips

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  #121  
Old 2007-06-10, 12:38pm
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Lisa Lisa is offline
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Default mystery glass

Is it a bump when you find something old and want to bring it forward? I came across this thread when searching for a way to straighten my mandrels, and have been LOL for a while.

I've done most of these, and have also learned to label all my glass -- especially the odd lots -- I am now down to the last 6 inches of this great purple glass I can't identify. I know it's Bullseye, and Breezy has helped me narrow it down, but we're still guessing on it.

Thanks for starting this thread!
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  #122  
Old 2007-06-10, 3:52pm
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Usually, the thing you smell burning is you. Can't tell you how many times I've caught a whiff of my sleeves burning!

Label your frit containers. I made a great pendant a few days ago using COE 104 and COE 33 frit, thinking it was COE 104. Into the kiln in one piece, out of the kiln in many shards.

If your studio is in the basement (or somewhere else that is farther away from the rest of your family), take a freaking walkie talkie, cell phone, baby monitor, SOMETHING! I spend each evening yelling irrelevant answers up the stairs from the basement. Usually, I don't hear the questions right. It's maddening!
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  #123  
Old 2007-06-10, 6:08pm
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Come up with lots of stories for the scars and wounds received while working.

A burn on your inner arm will hurt for weeks. (And so do the burns anywhere else! lol)

Things burn...sweats...gym shoe soles...skin...fingernails...

The stringer part of stringers cool lots faster then the blobs on the ends. Those can take minutes more!

You can use mandrels when annealing beads in the kiln...but don't use mandrels when doing a pot melt for fusing. They bend at 1600 degrees...and when you pull the mess out of the kiln (using the big gloves, of course) and accidentally kick it, shoes will melt.
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  #124  
Old 2007-06-10, 6:48pm
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marvers heat up FAST. I've often tried brushing that little bit of bead release or glass crumb off of it with my hand after having JUST USED it.

When dunking a bead, if it doesn't break apart right after being dunked, don't bring it out to look at it... It'll spit glass at you.

Don't pick up a glass rod, Stick it in the flame, notice that the rod is dusty, bring it out and try to wipe it off.

Sit in a chair with WHEELS! Makes it much easier to avoid flying glass.

Took me forever to stop jumping at the "ticking" sound my kiln makes.
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  #125  
Old 2007-06-10, 9:17pm
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1) Don't grab you graphite marble mold after you have used it a couple of times, it gets really hot.
2) Don't be to lazy to put your contact lenses in and decide to wear your magnification visor instead. You loose your depth perception and stick your arm in the flame not once but twice.
3) Make sure you always lay you hot glass rods in the same direction, they take a while to cool down and can really hurt when you pick them up.
4) The metal on the outside of your kiln get hot, be careful when you reach around the kiln to close the window.

Always ice a burn as soon as it happens. the faster you cool it down the faster the skin will stop burning. The heat trapped in the skin still causes damage until it cools off.

I laughed at many of the stories, it is so good to hear that we all have done the same things.

Gloria
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  #126  
Old 2007-06-10, 9:32pm
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Here's a good one - I just now realized I did this - last week bought a bunch of that pretty raku rod - burned the poopy out of it for the last few days and it just WON'T change like the tutorials on here say it will. Uh huh. That's cause I bought 107 YELLOW instead of 108 ORANGE. Luckily, I did buy a kilo or lb. or whatever (big honking container) of 108 frit. Sigh. Anyone want some cheap 107?
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  #127  
Old 2007-06-10, 9:33pm
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If torching in a baseball cap make sure you know the proximity of the bill of the hat and the flame at all times.

Never scratch bead release off of a hot bead with acrylic nails on. You'll get a stringer you can't use.
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  #128  
Old 2007-06-10, 9:44pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mopnglo View Post
If torching in a baseball cap make sure you know the proximity of the bill of the hat and the flame at all times.
I wear mine backwards, or a skull cap.

I have to wear the hat so I don't singe my hair....
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  #129  
Old 2007-06-10, 10:07pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NLC Beads View Post
I wear mine backwards, or a skull cap.

I have to wear the hat so I don't singe my hair....
LOL I'm good now. I don't have a bill on my torching hat anymore. Of course the incident that caused me to lose my bill also caused me to lose half of an eyebrow too.
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  #130  
Old 2007-06-10, 11:47pm
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If you work in your "studio" AKA garage in Texas in the summer time and have fans running to prevent heatstroke...don't point the fan directly at your torching area. Makes it really hard to keep the beadies hot while you are working and the torch flame flickers all over the place. Couldn't figure out what the BLEEP was wrong with my torch because the flame wouldn't stay steady!! DUH!!!

So now the fan's are either aimed at the high parts of the room to circulate the hot air out of the room, or I have one that I have blowing on my legs that keeps me pretty cool.

Oh and yeah...the whole low cut shirt thing...not a good idea. I have been however known to torch in my bathing suit and a mesh tanktop when it has been really hot.
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  #131  
Old 2007-06-11, 9:47am
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I'm all new in the world of glass and I've learned this:

Do not - DO NOT! grap the end of a rod to check if it's hot
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  #132  
Old 2007-06-11, 1:31pm
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store your pink stringers and your white stringers on opposite side of your work area!! Pink eyeballs just aren't the same!!

Don't bump your hot bead off yor arm on the way to the kiln

keep your window shut if there is a draft, burt hair is so smelly!! Not to mention ugly

be careful where you place open frit containers and your cz's or they end up all over the floor when bumped by your arm reaching for a rod or tool!!
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  #133  
Old 2007-06-11, 2:08pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gwood View Post
Always ice a burn as soon as it happens. the faster you cool it down the faster the skin will stop burning. The heat trapped in the skin still causes damage until it cools off.
Always COOL a burn as soon as it happens, but don't put ice directly on the burn or you can damage the tissue further. Put the burned place in cold water ASAP -- before aloe, before anything. I think ice in the water might be OK, but not right on the burn.
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  #134  
Old 2007-06-11, 3:07pm
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"Usually, the thing you smell burning is you"
~hellomoonglow--that would make a GREAT siggy line!!
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  #135  
Old 2007-06-11, 3:52pm
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Don't flame cut your stringer off the rod while holding the tweezer at the bottom and the connected end of the stringer/rod at the top unless you want the stringer to swing down and land on your hand. After making that mistake, don't do the same thing another three or four times (before finally buying nippers).

Quote:
Took me forever to stop jumping at the "ticking" sound my kiln makes.
I jump every time I light my torch.

Last edited by artsyuno; 2007-06-11 at 7:13pm.
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  #136  
Old 2007-06-11, 6:07pm
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Thanks for clarifying I should have said cool it down ASAP under cold water or iced water. You don't want to rub the blister off the longer it stays the less chance of infection.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Emily View Post
Always COOL a burn as soon as it happens, but don't put ice directly on the burn or you can damage the tissue further. Put the burned place in cold water ASAP -- before aloe, before anything. I think ice in the water might be OK, but not right on the burn.
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  #137  
Old 2007-06-12, 3:25am
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OK, here's mine.

Don't try to scratch that itch on your face with the hand that's holding stringer you've just used.

Don't wear nylon hiking pants while at the torch.

If bead release comes off the mandrel and falls on the marver, brush it off(not with your hand) before marvering your bead some more.

And from the early early days, if a bead cools and doesn't look good, don't try to put it back in the flame and fix it. Just let it be ugly.

Nice thread.
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  #138  
Old 2007-06-12, 8:03am
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Don't keep your pile of frit to dip into right below your torch. All your bead release crumbs will fall into it when your bead release breaks.
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  #139  
Old 2007-06-12, 8:19am
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These are great! As a newbie I have made so many mistakes that are just stupid. It is comforting to find out that I am not alone!
Beth
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  #140  
Old 2007-06-12, 8:37am
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Never scratch your nose with a stringer, period. If it's hot, you'll burn yourself. If it's not hot, you'll cut yourself. I did this when I was demonstrating and had blood running down my face. Nice presentation to the public!
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  #141  
Old 2007-06-12, 12:46pm
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When I recently just started I didnt realize that you annealed the beads while still on the mandrel..I had a hell of a time getting my fuglys off the mandrel.
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  #142  
Old 2007-06-12, 3:28pm
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Thank you to the person who started this thread. I am a newbie and I have done some of these things but learned not to do soooo many more!! the only problem is with my brain in the state that it usually is in I hope I remember them!!!
Debi
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  #143  
Old 2007-06-12, 5:53pm
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Ok Ok I'll admit I kept a small cup of alcohol cotton ball "near" my rods to clean them before I used them. I had a rod pop and the shardes flew right into the cup, making pretty blue flames! I now wipe all my rods then start to make beads.
Have to agree on the thigh statement!! LOL!!
and yes the glass is hot even if you just waved it in the flame.

great thread lot of laughs
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  #144  
Old 2007-06-13, 3:50am
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Some things I have learned

Cats won't drink the quench water if you put a dollop of vinegar in it.

just made stringers are still hot.

carpet tiles are made of pig hair and smell just like burning human hair, resulting in you being sure it's YOU that is smouldering.

Don't lick your graphite paddle to make the silver foil stick to it when you have already used it to marver a bead.
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  #145  
Old 2007-06-13, 7:24am
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you licked your graphite paddle?????????????????ow my gawd! THat is even more funny then the story about someone using pancake batter as beadrelease lol
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  #146  
Old 2007-06-13, 6:12pm
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Funny stuff here! So why should I be any different? I like to achieve irregular shapes for my big holed beads so I dip mandrels over and over and get the insides wonky (usually the outsides too) but once when I was rushing to finish a set I thought it would be no problem to flame dry a really deep coated mandrel.

Have you ever put a potato in the microwave without poking it first? KaBooM! Damn thing blew up and smoked. All the water was trying to get out in a not so good way and a big hurry. I guess it won.

Now I only air dry those babies.
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  #147  
Old 2007-06-13, 6:45pm
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If you think CZ's are pretty in beads... And go to a bead show and find some small emeralds for cheap, figuring they'll be gorgeous...
You'll learn that 1. the color fries out and 2. when encased they blow up the entire side of the bead...

The mantra when Sheryll and I make beads together is a combination of "OW! Glass is hot!" and "Whoops, sorry!" as we pop shocky glass at each other...
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  #148  
Old 2007-06-13, 7:44pm
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Thanks for a very entertaining hour - I have just finished reading this thread, and have been laughing myself silly. Yes, I have done many of these things, and thanks to you all I now know lots of things not to do. The good thing is that we never stop learning - just hope it isn't too painful!
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  #149  
Old 2007-06-13, 7:48pm
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Default Sometimes we never learn...

Never, ever pick up a fresh-from-the-torch marble that falls in your lap. Stand up!

Never, ever let a hot marble that falls on the floor just sit there. When your pants catch on fire, don't be so surprised.

Never, and I mean never, unload oxygen tanks in the rain without gloves. Having a finger that looks like a lollipop may be entertaining to some children, but not to a lampworker.

Never wonder if the end of a freshly cut rod is sharp. It is.

Be safe, ya'll. And, yes, I've been at this longer than a couple of months.

Dave
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  #150  
Old 2007-06-15, 12:55pm
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Here is one that I learned the other day...when you dip your hollow mandrel in bead release, blow on the other end of the mandrel to get the blob of bead release out of the center. Otherwise the mandrel gets super heated and the heat works quickly to your hand...not the mention that you just can blow a hollow when the darn thing is clogged.

Don't torch after taking pain meds. I did and burned the last 1/2" of my finger pretty badly. Oh, and don't pop the blister...let it heal on it's own.
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