What is a "cold seal"?

monarae · #1 2006-09-23, 11:26am

I am about to make an off mandrel pendant and the tutorial says use a cold seal. I think I get it but don't really know.

My pendant is moretti and I don't have boro for a punty but I have BE.

Can someone tell me how to make a cold seal?

Thanks,

Mona

Mr. Smiley · #2 2006-09-23, 11:48am

Let the piece you want to seal to cool. Then heat the tip of a rod... same color is good. Touch the tip to the piece while the rod is hot and the piece is not. They will stick and you can hold the piece for a while with the rod. When you are ready, you should be able to just tap the rod and it will come right off. It's really just a high stress tack, that lets you remove it when you're ready to. It takes a little practice, but you'll be a pro in no time. I suggest practicing with two rods, instead of a piece you are working on.

monarae · #3 2006-09-23, 7:24pm

Thanks Brent.

I didn't want to wait for an answer, so I went with my instincts. I almost got it right.

I made my piece with Moretti and used the Bullseye as a punty. I slightly heated both and stuck them together. A couple times a little of the moretti came off with the punty, but it wasn't a big deal.

You should have heard me scream for joy the first time I tapped the punty and it just popped right off. How exciting and encouraging that was.

Well, I had fun making my pendants and it encouraged me to try some leaves but I didn't like them. It lead to discovering a new way to do implosions on the mandrel. Can't wait till it all comes out of the kiln.

Thanks again, now I know how to do it right.

Mona

Bunyip · #4 2006-09-23, 8:44pm

You might as well just use your effetre glass for your punty. IIRC, there is no advantage to using a bullseye punty, and a good chance of leaving some incompatible glass behind and potentially cracking your piece. The reason you use a boro punty with soft glass is so that your punty doesn't overheat and droop.

Maybe wiser and more knowledgable people have some more input on this?

JavaGirlBT · #5 2006-09-24, 7:03am

It's all about the difference in heat, so Bunyip is right - it doesn't matter which glass is used for a punty. Make sure the punty is a little warmer than the pendant and when you tap it, it'll pop right off.

evolvingBeau · #6 2006-09-24, 10:04pm

Here's my two cents..
I recommend using moretti with moretti for small pendants.
There is a little trick that will really improve your success.
Heat and marver (roll on a graphite paddle or pad) the tip of your punty rod to make it slightly pointed, then heat the very tip of the point to soften it a little, then gently tap the tip flat by holding it vertically/perpendicular to the graphite pad or paddle. (always only heat the tip, to avoid thermally shock/stress to the rod).
Gently heat the bottom of the piece/pendant with a very quick intense heat to BARELY soften the surface, then warm the tip of the punty, but not to a softening point. Bring them together on center. Turning while doing this may or may not help you find the true center. You don't want to overheat the piece or stab into it, but just kiss them together and hold until the glass sets.
The reason for doing it this way is because it assures that the punty will hold strong until you are ready to crack it off, and when you do, it will always break at the seal, without taking a chunk out of the piece or leaving a chunk of rod stuck to it.
The punty scar will be very minimal and will fire polish with a quick flash.
Always gently pre-heat your tweezers if you are using them to grab the loop of your pendants to put in the kiln or fiber blanket.
As always practice is paramount..
Beau

monarae · #7 2006-09-25, 9:14am

Thanks everyone for responding and for the advise.

Here are the pix of the results. I just noticed that my first pendant has the loop in the wrong direction!

They were fun to make and turned out pretty good for a first timer and 6 month newbie! I especially like the flowers; unfortunately the pix don't do their dimensionality justice.

Mona