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Jelveh Designs - Glass Beads Torched One-by-One

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Boro Room -- For Boro-related tips, techniques, and questions.

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  #1  
Old 2010-02-02, 8:34am
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Default "dirty" pendant holes

I have been working on drop pendants from Brents dvd, the problem is that my holes are dirty looking. I think it's from the tungen reemer, what am I doing wrong and can I clean them out? Should I dremel the holes. I would like them to be "smooth" like the rest of the piece if possible. Thanks
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Old 2010-02-02, 10:17am
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I have the same problem and don't have the answer

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  #3  
Old 2010-02-02, 10:52am
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I had the same problem when I first started making pendants. Make sure to keep your tungsten pick clean and don't get it TOO TOO hot. At some point you CAN get the tungsten hot enough to cause it to flake and dirty your holes.
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Old 2010-02-02, 12:03pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SleepyCreekGlass View Post
Make sure to keep your tungsten pick clean and don't get it TOO TOO hot.
and remember that the object is to use the tungsten pick to raise the temp of the glass with out either the pick or the glass becoming over heated.
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Old 2010-02-02, 1:34pm
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You can burn off the fume that the tungsten leaves behind if you get it too hot.

But, you don't want to see any fume at all. If you are fuming the tungsten, you are getting it too hot. Not to mention that the fumes are pretty toxic...
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Old 2010-02-02, 1:53pm
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I love using the handy andy tweezers first and then finishing the hole off with the tungsten pick. I don't know if it is always practical even when you have them to use them but I love them!
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Old 2010-02-02, 2:51pm
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here is what I'm talking about if you can see it.
I know the fume part but i am not doing that i don't believe as i have before and just burned it off, but this stuff seems to getting on all my stuff and have to grind it off but I don't want to do that.

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Old 2010-02-02, 4:30pm
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AcidFly - the loop that you used above can be made a different way. Before making your pendant, make the loop! Pull a stringer of the color you want for the loop as thick as you want the loop to be and then gently form the loop out of your stringer - form the whole loop, and then attach a punty to the top of it and remove it from the stringer. You now have your loop with a handle on it. No tungsten!!! I make several loops like this, and then as I make each pendant I attach each loop.
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Old 2010-02-02, 5:12pm
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Thanks yes this is what I was doing !!! I did some pendants today and didn't crank the the heat on the tungsten pick.
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Old 2010-02-03, 7:53am
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I spoke to soon, my holes are cleaner but there is still come crud. I will try to work the pick cooler and see what happens today . Another problems is when I remove the working rod ie: white base rod, nomatter how low I go into the color I still have a white spot on the top. I have been patching it with color but is there a better way?
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Old 2010-02-03, 8:08am
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Handy Andy 's (tungsten opposing tweezers) are really nice to use for hole and loop making. Worth the money, as they have saved me alot of time and trouble.
After spending lots of time perfecting making my loops from scratch...and still getting tungsten slag on the glass at times(without heating the pick), I tried Handy Andy tweezers, and prefer them to shaping a loop.

Here is the link:
http://www.galacticglass.net/site/in...d=33&Itemid=45

Good Luck,
Chris
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  #12  
Old 2010-02-03, 9:43am
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I have those and use them first,, as per Brents video then the pick and then the remer. Should I skip the pick step?
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Old 2010-02-03, 2:04pm
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If you're using the handy andy's, you should have a hole - no need to heat tungsten to drill. If you have a small enough reamer open 'er right up, or heat only the glass and use the pick to open it up.
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  #14  
Old 2010-02-03, 5:11pm
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I do exactly what Chris said -- I used to heat the tungsten and poke it through, but now I use the tweezers to pinch a hole. Move the tweezers around while pinching and you should hear a "crunch" as the loop cools. That way you know when you are through the hole. Then slightly heat the glass loop with a narrow flame and open it up with the pick.

No shmutz! Fire polish your loop and you are done.
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Old 2010-02-03, 6:21pm
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I did make pendants with just the handy andy's and the remer today and they looked much cleaner,, we'll see tomorrow when I open up the kiln. Thanks everyone.
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Old 2010-02-04, 9:06am
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That white spot might be better if when you melt to separate go slow, and just before you are going to pull apart don't pull allow the glass to retract on it's own. Also work in the cooler higher part of the flame. Hope that makes sense.
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Old 2010-02-04, 7:02pm
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I will give it a try thanks
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Old 2010-02-05, 12:53am
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i tried brents drop pendant the other day and I didn't get any crap in my holes...I was suprised to because I don't have a graphite reamer and I was having to use an artists graphite pencil - you know the ones that just have the graphite without the wood on it? Anyway I kept setting it on fire when it touched the glass but it did the job!
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Old 2010-02-08, 7:31am
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Another note is....

After using the Handy Andys, and if i need to open the hole a bit, I then reduce my flame to a pinpoint and heat the loop just around the hole until it is a dull to medium orange (sometimes less). Then I use the tungsten pick or my pointed brass rod to carefully push in the hole and push against the side (while gently twisting or rotating the hande of the pick/rod in a large circle)

I noticed that the black seemed to show up when I was forcefully picking/twisting against the inside of a loop at the same time the glass had cooled and was becoming solid. My guess was that the glass was being scratched and the black deposit could be oxidation from the pick.

Good Luck,
Chris
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  #20  
Old 2010-02-10, 5:38am
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Sand your tungsten and get it back to good metal... and yes, the key is to get it glowing without fuming it. Too much heat turns it into tungsten oxide which is a crusty yellow substance. Very toxic to breathe... if you have a soft glow in the glass you're trying to pierce, you just need the pick to be glowing, not raging hot. It should move with out much effort. With practice, you'll find your sweet spots. I use a little sanding sponge thingy to clean my pick every once in a while. Maintaining a clean tungsten pick is essential to getting clean holes.
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Old 2010-02-10, 6:21am
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Brent also had a good tip to just practice making loops of the end of a clear rod.
Flame adjustment, flame size and where you hold the tungsten and glass in relation to the flame can all help that pick work smoothly. You're looking to feed the heat to the pick, but at a controlled rate. The tungsten can only transfer the heat to the glass so fast, so you need to find that pace in order to avoid overheating it.
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Old 2010-02-10, 7:27am
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thanks I will sand my pick and see what happens after that.
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Old 2010-02-10, 2:19pm
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How come everyone wants to play with handy-andys and silly-sallies and stuff instead of just making a loop and sticking it onto the pendant?
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Old 2010-02-10, 8:37pm
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LOL! I stink at making loops! Handy-andys do all the work, all you do is pinch, twist, re-heat and ream! Or just flame polish if you're using a jump ring.
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  #25  
Old 2010-02-11, 9:13am
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I guess I'm pretty good at making loops. I stink at making the hole a little bigger after using the handy-andys. To each his own - go with your strengths.
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Old 2010-02-17, 1:58am
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don't just heat the very tip of the pick. heat it to sub-fuming temp and then heat more further up the tungsten. the heat will transfer to the point w/o the scuzzy fume. i can usually pierce the bail with 3-4 pushes. then i manipulate the opening to the desired size (with the tungsten). when it's a little larger than i want, i heat evenly, then i use mashers to straighten my loop perfectly. i use the mashers to hold the bail while i polish the punty-scar.
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Old 2010-02-18, 8:11am
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I have a brass tube attached with wire to my rod rack. I leave it sticking out off the far end of the rack. when im ready to loop I turn the rack so that the brass rod is sticking out facing me parallel to the floor. I attach loop rod to top of pendant let that set up, then use wide outer fire to soften wide section then quickly go to brass rod and pull feed loop rod around brass tube. at the end i touch the feed loop down to the back of the pendant and burn rod off. then i use flame to seal base of loop on. if nec i use graphite rod to make hole an even round.

with my old torch, major with premix top fire. i used to use the tip of the top fire to wind loops around, boy do i miss that! so fast and easy. i keep meaning to attach the brass tube to my torch or marver so its closer, but i havent yet.
ro
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Old 2010-02-20, 7:34am
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Nice to hear from you, Ro. That makes two lampworkers out of a few thousand that do not use handy-andys to make loops (and don't have to worry about tungsten fumes and residue)
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