|
| Boro Room -- For Boro-related tips, techniques, and questions. |
2007-10-16, 8:02am
|
 |
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jun 27, 2005
Location: Wellington, CO
Posts: 1,091
|
|
Implosion help!
Ok so this seems like a really silly question to me but then I thought maybe I'm missing some little trick so I'm asking anyway.
I seem to be having a hard time keeping the top of the clear glass hot enough for the implosion to implode in the middle. I always end up with a flattened part in the center of my pendants and I'm pretty sure it's just that the glass isn't hot enough but no matter how much I concentrate on keeping it hot I still end up with that flattened center. Can anyone offer me any tips on what I'm doing wrong?
__________________
Dawn
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
|
2007-10-16, 8:10am
|
 |
ManBearPig
|
|
Join Date: Jun 28, 2005
Location: Roanoke, VA
Posts: 8,540
|
|
I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Can you post a pic of what you are talking about?
I'm thinking it may be just that you need to hold your glass at a different angle, but I'd need to see it to say for sure.
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
•
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
•
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
•
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
|
2007-10-16, 8:28am
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jun 27, 2005
Location: Wellington, CO
Posts: 1,091
|
|
Ok hopefully this will help. My implosions go out and not up. So in the center of the implosion there is a flat part.
__________________
Dawn
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
|
2007-10-16, 8:32am
|
 |
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jun 14, 2005
Location: The Rocky Coast State!
Posts: 6,620
|
|
(Edited to add: ugh! You posted the picture after I started typing this! Gonna leave it anyway. Sue)
Not sure how you're holding it but if you aim it at about a 45 degree angle and just let the flame hit the outside edge of the gather, it will implode. Think of it as aiming the flame at the tread ONLY side of a tire, tilted into the flame at an angle.
You don't want to heat the whole gather, only the outside edge. The glass will melt and gravity will help it drop down and cave into the center of the glass. I watch the center of the caved in section (middle of the gather on the bottom side?) and when I see it's getting smaller, flatten the gather slightly, not a lot and then go back to melting on the edge again. Repeat til you have just a small center of glass at the middle of you implosion.
I'm sure others can word it much better but I hope this helps a little. Does it make any sense at all?
Sue
__________________
Sue Walsh
The past is history,
The future is a mystery
and the present is a gift.
|
2007-10-16, 8:33am
|
|
ManBearPig
|
|
Join Date: Jun 28, 2005
Location: Roanoke, VA
Posts: 8,540
|
|
Ahh. Gotcha.
Heat the clear less and press VERY gently when imploding. If you look at where the clear rod joins the maria (gather of glass the implosion is made from) you don't want there to be a concave area where they join. If it goes concave, you are pressing too hard. Pressing down like that forces all the color out to the side instead of letting it stand up.
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
•
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
•
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
•
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
|
2007-10-16, 12:11pm
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jun 27, 2005
Location: Wellington, CO
Posts: 1,091
|
|
OK I think I've figured out what I'm doing wrong. It's not when I make the implosion but rather when I add the backing and melt it in that my implosion is getting squished. So Chad, any tips on melting in the backing without squishing my pendant? I use the method in your tutorial of making a maria in the backing color and sticking the two together. Then I have to work it out to the edges and melt it thinner.
__________________
Dawn
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
|
2007-10-16, 12:41pm
|
|
ManBearPig
|
|
Join Date: Jun 28, 2005
Location: Roanoke, VA
Posts: 8,540
|
|
Well, having taught pendants many many times, I'm still tempted to say that you are pressing too hard when imploding, as that is a pretty common occurrence. But if it looks good after you are done imploding, then it could be the way you are applying the background.
When you are putting the back on, gather it up in a ball. Then, stick it to the back of the pendant. Focus your heat on the background color only, then flatten. Only heat the glass you want to move. If you are happy with the implosion, don't heat it any more. Once you have the back on there, use heat to melt it smooth. If you use a tool to flatten it, only do it gently.
One trick that Julian showed me (juln on here) is to take a pair of mashers, heat a ball of your background color, and then flatten it into a disc. Then lay that disc onto the back of your pendant and melt it in.
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
•
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
•
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
•
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
|
2007-10-16, 12:57pm
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jun 27, 2005
Location: Wellington, CO
Posts: 1,091
|
|
Ok thanks Sue and Chad for the tips!
__________________
Dawn
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
|
2007-10-17, 3:13am
|
 |
boro color bender
|
|
Join Date: Jun 06, 2005
Location: The Oregon coast!
Posts: 10,039
|
|
I back with fine frit or powder... it's much easier for me to just dip it in a few times and melt it in. Onyx fine frit is my favorite. 
You may have been right the first guess you had. Not getting the whole gather hot enough can cause this flat sort of squished look. The whole gather needs to be molten enough to move together. Also not squishing too hard as Chad has explained. It's all gotta flow and every step has to be done right... just keep trying. It's still very pretty as it is. 
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
"Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley
|
2007-10-17, 6:48am
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jun 27, 2005
Location: Wellington, CO
Posts: 1,091
|
|
Ooh thanks Brent! I like the idea of backing with frit.
Yesterday I made a pendant and I was watching carefully to what I was doing. The whole time my implosion is being made I kept my gather hot and hershey kiss shaped so there was plenty of glass above to implode too. Then i noticed that when I put the backing on what happens is the bottom gets so hot while I'm trying to melt it in and the top glass gets cold that the pendant sort of flattens out because I use my marver to push the glass to the edge of the pendant. So I must be pushing to hard on the backing while I melt it in.
My other issue is that no matter how securely I think my bead bail is now they are breaking off when I drop them. I think I'm implosion challenged!
__________________
Dawn
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
|
2007-10-17, 12:00pm
|
 |
Member
|
|
Join Date: Nov 21, 2005
Posts: 40
|
|
Don't Drop Them!
__________________
Michal Ann
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
|
2007-10-17, 12:03pm
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jun 27, 2005
Location: Wellington, CO
Posts: 1,091
|
|
HAHAHAHA!
__________________
Dawn
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 6:50pm.
|
