public demonstration

Cornbread · #1 2011-02-24, 10:14pm

question. which bear is best? jk (for you "the office" fans out there)

ok but really. im thinking of doing a public demo in april. I want to make some pendants and maybe some small simple sculptures. After I'm done i want them to be displayed. I don't want them to shatter from cooling too quickly and if i put them in the fiber blanket I feel like i lose that pizazz of wow!

The best I can come up with is putting the pieces on a hot plate. is this hot enough? is it too hot or so hot it will put a divot in my pieces? what have you seen/heard done before when having a kiln isn't reasonable?

for what it's worth, i wont be selling anything i make until it's been annealed later. also the show is outdoors

Bunyip · #2 2011-02-25, 6:05am

I'd suggest making some "practice" pieces, but as long as the pieces you make aren't too thick you're probably going to be fine. One of the nice things about boro. That doesn't guarantee they won't explode when you re-heat them, of course. I would however, suggest laying them on TOP of a piece of fiber blanket.

I've made 3/4" thick solid pieces with a mold and left them on a big hunk of graphite I keep on my table and they usually self destruct because the graphite sucks the heat right out of them. The same pieces usually survive if I put them on a piece of fiber blanket rather than graphite and I can't imagine a better way to ensure the glass is stressed to the max than to mold it... I did find that sometimes they didn't survive re-heating in the kiln though, so I just turn the kiln on and pop 'em in while working now.

deb tarry · #3 2011-02-25, 9:31am

I have made small hearts nothing bigger than half inch to 3/4 inch long with no cracking issues also small marbles. The neat thing about marbles is that if they break in half it gives everyone a chance to see how the colors layer up inside the glass. People love that.

J.Meader · #4 2011-02-25, 10:27am

I don't think you are going to have a hot plate hot enought to put divots in your pieces. Also if you work your pieces so that you do not have to go back and reheat an area you can make rather large, er long pieces that most likely will not crack on you when you are done. I used to have a video from (damm memory) one of the italian masters, he makes good sized human figures out of soft glass and he works from one side to the other and never goes back to where he has worked. This way he can make figures out of soft glass that are 6 - 12 " tall without them shattering. They later go into a kiln but the point is that they can be made and not shatter. If you can work in this manner you can make some impressive pieces and sit them out to show and cool. I would put them on a fiber blanket to slow the cooling though.

PamS · #5 2011-02-25, 11:28am

When I do demos I have several finished examples of the things I'm making. People love to pick them up and it makes for good show n tell and a better appreciation of how things are made - especially implosions (how did she get that flower in the glass like that?). I also only demo things I'm good at doing, and things that typically take 1/2 hour or less to make. I have my kiln with me and just put the finished ones in as usual. Be sure to have a bunch of finished stuff with pricetags on and your receipt book at the ready too. Demos are really fun.

glasskat2010 · #6 2011-02-25, 8:43pm

Have you thought about flame annealing? If you're just doing smaller pieces, you could do that. Just hold your finished piece in the "cooler" part of the flame and let it slowly cool down. The fiber blanket sound like a good idea too. Just as a precaution, I would have a "CAUTION: HOT" sign somewhere near the pieces you do AT the demo, that way you don't get sued because people got burned.
Good luck with your demo. I hope everything works out.
Glasskat

sean.m · #7 2011-02-26, 6:49am

Quote:

Originally Posted by J.Meader

I don't think you are going to have a hot plate hot enought to put divots in your pieces. Also if you work your pieces so that you do not have to go back and reheat an area you can make rather large, er long pieces that most likely will not crack on you when you are done. I used to have a video from (damm memory) one of the italian masters, he makes good sized human figures out of soft glass and he works from one side to the other and never goes back to where he has worked. This way he can make figures out of soft glass that are 6 - 12 " tall without them shattering. They later go into a kiln but the point is that they can be made and not shatter. If you can work in this manner you can make some impressive pieces and sit them out to show and cool. I would put them on a fiber blanket to slow the cooling though.

Lucio Bubacco?

Cosmo · #8 2011-02-26, 6:57am

First of all... black bear

Second... I do a lot of demonstrations. What I do is take a few finished pieces and have them on display, then make the same kind of piece for my demo. That way people can see what the finished product is going to be as well as what goes into it.

As for the hot plate thing, I would be worried that the piece would be too hot when you placed it on the hot plate and would cause all kinds of problems.

And, one more question...

Will there ever be a boy born that can swim as fast as a shark?

That one is for the real Office fans...

Cornbread · #9 2011-02-26, 11:34am

thanks for the responses everyone..this has really opened up my eyes...i like the premade pieces ideas and and re-making them. also, i think the fiber blanket and flame annealing may be my best bet.

Are there some boro colors i should avoid because they may hurt some people's eyes? I think i read somewhere cobalt is a tough color without glasses? Should i even worry with this?

I'll have a plexi glass shield set up to block wind and stuff. fire prevention chief said to have everything caution taped off. I don't think people touching it will be an issue, but ill still have signs up.

is insurance an issue? i have not called around to find out what my options are but i have asked the event host to look in to it for me as far as the building owner goes.

i guess im not an office fan because i don't recall the sharkboy quote. haha

menty666 · #10 2011-02-26, 1:12pm

black flares really brightly, cobalt can too, but the black's worse IMO

J.Meader · #11 2011-02-26, 1:53pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by sean.m

Lucio Bubacco?

Yes that is the one, I sure miss that video...went with the ex, so it was worth it seeing it go

Cosmo · #12 2011-02-26, 4:18pm

It is my understanding that at the distance the viewers will be from you, there isn't any danger from the IR light coming off the glass. I'm not an expert though. I believe it was Mike from Aura Lens that told me that. I do have a couple spare pairs of didymiums that I take with me to demos for onlookers to use just so they can see through the flame.

I'd talk to the venue about insurance. If you need it, a lot of insurance companies will write one-day or weekend policies for something like this.

As for that Office quote, it's from the original "The Office" - the British version...