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

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  #1  
Old 2012-08-26, 7:07pm
pretties pretties is offline
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Where is the best place to get marble molds (I have to get 1.25 through 2"), marble holders (for hot marbles when you are finishing the punty mark) graphite pad. I also have to get annealing beads for test pieces. I just got my new Scorpion set up and I have to get some tools to work a little bigger. Thanks!
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  #2  
Old 2012-08-26, 7:47pm
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are you talking boro? cos pretty much any soft glass marble bigger than 1/2" will crack even in annealing beads

i bought my moulds from Arrow springs
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  #3  
Old 2012-08-26, 7:57pm
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the infinite rim mold by drew fritts is the best marble mold out there,they come in a varitey of sizes.
check out ARTCO Malcolm will take care of you
http://www.artcoinc.com/infinite_rim.php
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#C-151
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Old 2012-08-26, 8:07pm
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Thanks! Deb, Yes the bubble are for cooling Boro practice marbles. I don't want to have my kiln on all day because I am just learning to do implosion marbles, I just took a weeklong class with John Kobuki. I found a 4 in 1 from 1.25 to 2" at Sundance Art Glass for a great price. Morgan, yes John did recommend those infinite rim molds... I am not ready to spend that much yet... I just got my Scorpion and between that and glass... And tools I have spent $1500 on glass working stuff in the past few weeks. Money well spent because I love melting glass. The Scorpion is awesome!
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Old 2012-08-26, 8:57pm
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what I found starting out with the cheaper marble molds was if you polish them up they work better, terri cloth does a nice job, you can also use a little fine sand paper to soften the edges of the rim then polish with the terri cloth. as far a marble grabers go in drew fritts book he show how to make simple ones with a lenth of stainles welding rod or some folks have used wire coat hanger. also the hemostats with the eyeloops on the ends work great too
Wow a week with JK that must have been fantastic.
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  #6  
Old 2012-08-26, 9:19pm
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I just knock the marble off into the hot mold and use it to polish the punty mark. Havent lost one yet this way. Grabbers can temp shock the marble or leave scratches.
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Old 2012-08-26, 11:00pm
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If you want to get that professional polish on your marble molds use 000 or 0000 steel wool followed by newspaper or brown bag paper. Wash carefully and be careful of the edges.
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  #8  
Old 2012-08-27, 8:05am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cheng076 View Post
If you want to get that professional polish on your marble molds use 000 or 0000 steel wool followed by newspaper or brown bag paper. Wash carefully and be careful of the edges.
"... be careful of the edges."

Do you mean be careful not to sand them down / round them off?

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Old 2012-08-27, 2:13pm
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Both actually. The edges should be crisp but ever so slightly round; not knife edge. It's hard to describe; maybe equal to the roundness of a paperclip wire or less. The edges are the critical part of a marble mold. One almost never uses the spherical lower portion except to get the initial gross roundness. Then all finish rounding is done with the edges of various size 'holes'. Infinite rims are another animal. The sloping sides can be thought of as an infinite set of 'rims' and the glass will. at times, be down in the mold.
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  #10  
Old 2012-08-27, 2:24pm
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Devardi Glass has some single hole marvers in the ten dollar range.

Single Hole Graphite Marble Marvers.
http://www.devardiglass.com/Marvers.htm

Have not tried this brand so have no input on quality, etc.
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  #11  
Old 2012-08-27, 4:03pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LarryC View Post
I just knock the marble off into the hot mold and use it to polish the punty mark. Havent lost one yet this way. Grabbers can temp shock the marble or leave scratches.
^^ This. Also I've had great success with soft glass marbles in the 1.25" range and vermiculite. Make a deep hole, drop it in and cover it up. Wait several hours and start to dig it out. If it's too hot to touch cover it back up. Batch anneal at a later time. A sphere is one of the strongest shapes.
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  #12  
Old 2012-08-29, 9:41am
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Thanks everyone!!!!! The grabbers are more for safety in case one gets dropped and I can pick it up easily. The molds at Devardi are the best price I have seen. I had already got the 4 hole mold from Sundance for $61 or so. Yes I knock off the final punty and polish on the mold too.
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  #13  
Old 2012-08-29, 3:25pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cheng076 View Post
Both actually. The edges should be crisp but ever so slightly round; not knife edge. (etc.)
Thank you. I have several marble molds that I will be using once I get started melting and this is great info to know. Your description is perfect.

-BEP
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