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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips |
2013-12-03, 9:59am
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Apr 12, 2007
Location: Ohio
Posts: 164
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Graphite or Brass?
With all the different tools out there, I am interested in knowing your preferences. Do you prefer brass bead rollers or graphite bead rollers and why? Wondering if the material the roller is made of makes it easier to roll the glass. Maybe because one material will hold heat longer than the other. A poll would have been great for this but I am not sure how you guys do that.
Karen
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2013-12-03, 11:08am
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da General
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Join Date: Oct 05, 2006
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 13,002
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Brass "grabs" the glass so I prefer graphite for beadrollers (I only have two however and almost never use them) and marble mold (the Infinite Marble Mold that I use all the time).
Some people do prefer brass and many wax their brass tools.
It's really a personal preference.
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Hayley
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2013-12-03, 12:23pm
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CatTickler Extraordinaire
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Join Date: Nov 12, 2008
Location: Warner Robins, Georgia
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I have read here that brass is preferred to strike 104 rainbow glasses (double helix, etc) Personally I use brass and graphite tools and beeswax them both;p
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2013-12-03, 12:25pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Sep 01, 2007
Location: Greenville, SC
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For glass that devitrifies, brass all the way. The cooler the better.
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2013-12-03, 5:25pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Mar 29, 2009
Location: Northern VA
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I prefer graphite bead rollers for the same reason as Haley.
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2013-12-03, 9:21pm
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Member
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Join Date: Jul 20, 2008
Location: Port Angeles, WA
Posts: 77
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What is the purpose of waxing the tools? How is the wax applied and how often?
Thanks,
Roger
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2013-12-03, 11:29pm
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TJ
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Join Date: Nov 27, 2011
Location: Calgary, Alberta Canada
Posts: 129
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I second that question... what does the wax provide?
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2013-12-04, 12:26am
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I'm meeeeelting
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Join Date: May 27, 2007
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 2,236
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Brass is good for getting colors to strike, such as iris orange, because it sucks the heat out of the glass more rapidly. I think brass and graphite both have their place. Wax on a tool will allow the glass to slide more. Kind of like waxing skis.
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2013-12-04, 7:47am
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Senior Member
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When I first started using raku frit, I had some graphite and brass tools I experimented with.
I couldn't get the raku to strike on brass but I could on graphite, the trick is to turn slowly.
(Disclaimer: This isn't meant as a plug, just and explanation of one of the reasons I went the route of making graphite tools and not brass.)
-Donna
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2013-12-04, 9:18am
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CatTickler Extraordinaire
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Like Artsyuno said, waxing helps the glass to slide. I apply right before and during use of the tool. Once the tool is hot, i just poke it into my beeswax puck. Don't wax tweezers though, it kind of defeats the purpose. I keep doing it on accident! ;p
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2013-12-04, 9:32am
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da General
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Join Date: Oct 05, 2006
Location: San Francisco
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pickledkitty
I have read here that brass is preferred to strike 104 rainbow glasses (double helix, etc) Personally I use brass and graphite tools and beeswax them both;p
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I never have trouble striking silver glass and I don't use brass... I don't use raku however.
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Hayley
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2013-12-04, 9:44pm
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offically down under
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Join Date: Dec 22, 2005
Location: Sydney, Australia
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A certain bead maker swears that graphite is dirty. But, I have had WAY more problems with brass causing tiny little bubbles -especially on clear encasing.
For me, I only use brass to shift glass or in presses. To get a good clean shape, I use graphite.
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Tammy
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2013-12-04, 10:08pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Dec 17, 2011
Location: Virginia
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What is the "Infinite Marble Mold" and why do you use it? Lydia
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2013-12-04, 10:19pm
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da General
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Join Date: Oct 05, 2006
Location: San Francisco
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Quote:
Originally Posted by glass butterfly
What is the "Infinite Marble Mold" and why do you use it? Lydia
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Best marble mold ever made - I use it to shape all my spherical beads:
http://frittsartglass.com/marbles/molds/
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Hayley
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2013-12-05, 1:09am
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Senior Member
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hayley
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I second this they are the best marble molds around, I have two for different sizes and bought a third so my wife would stop taking mine
here is a good description of them http://www.artcoinc.com/infinite_rim.php
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Morgan
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2013-12-05, 4:47am
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one day at a time
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Where do you buy the beeswax? I've never used it for anything so I was wondering if it is all the same or if some brands are better for this purpose.
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2013-12-05, 10:26am
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Phill
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Join Date: Mar 21, 2009
Location: Winnebago, MN
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From what I have read here on LE, graphite can cause some glass to go muddy. I forget which ones or which thread I found that in.
My little bit of research on graphite turned up various qualities of it from right out of the ground to super high quality stuff that is made by vapor deposition. I take it the range covers uses from making homemade smelting pots to carbon arc electrodes to science equipment. I have read that new graphite should be washed with soap and water and towel dried. If it will leave a mark on your hands it will leave traces on your work.
I read that brass can be a little more "graby" and this lends it to moving the molten glass around. Also brass sucks the heat out of the glass and this can kick start crystal formation in some of the silver glasses like raku and such that leads to the wonderful color changes.
Glass that goes muddy with graphite can be worked with brass instead.
I think the bees wax runs a spectrum as well from food quality down to stuff that has twigs in it. For glass work I would go with the least expensive I could find. I would even look up local bee keepers as a source.
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2013-12-05, 10:50am
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da General
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Join Date: Oct 05, 2006
Location: San Francisco
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tammydownunder
A certain bead maker swears that graphite is dirty.
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There are various quality of graphite. The Infinite Rim Marble Mold utilizes the highest quality. Trust me, John Kobuki's marbles did not suffer from dirty graphite because of the graphite IRMM he uses.
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Hayley
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2013-12-05, 4:18pm
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CatTickler Extraordinaire
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I got the cuts of beeswax mixed with honey from when it is harvested, and cleaned and strained it myself to get a block of pure beeswax. It smells lovely when melted and burned. I just found this other thread doing a search for something completely different, but it has good information on brass/graphite:
http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=152246
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2013-12-05, 7:31pm
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Phill
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Join Date: Mar 21, 2009
Location: Winnebago, MN
Posts: 2,489
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Don't they use bees wax for toilet ring seals? Good lord, how cheap can I get eh?
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2013-12-06, 1:53am
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Naysayer
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Join Date: Sep 22, 2009
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I make lip balm so I always have bees wax on hand. So I'm thinking some hobby place like micheals or hobby lobby would even have bees wax for candles.
I just drop a little sliver in, roll hot glass on it to melt it, then it's good to go for a very long time. I've done my rollers from perlenpresse once ever.
For raku or other striking, I say brass, it's colder, and imo that's what kicks in the striking (fast temp. change). If I have a trouble bead I lay it or roll it on a brass marver and bam, colors start lol.
I like both, I'm not partial. I tend to look more at price tbh.
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