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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips

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  #1  
Old 2007-03-16, 7:58am
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angie angie is offline
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Default stringers for scroll work?

Do you use a normal standard stringer for scroll work or do you use thinner?

if you use thinner ones what is a good thickness to use?
I have tried really thin stringers and it goes all wrong but when melted in it would have looked good, the thicker ones are easier to control but melted in look awful

your tips please.... all you scroll experts
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  #2  
Old 2007-03-16, 8:54am
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Emily Emily is offline
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OK, how generous am I feeling today? Shall I give away my favorite sneaky trick? Yeah, sure. Somebody else will if I don't.

Encased stringer. Only works on transparents, though. Take a thick stringer of an opaque color (the 2mm pre-made size works nicely, or pull your own), case it with clear, and pull out into a size you're comfortable using. Scroll it on clear. Melt it in, and the casing disappears. Suddenly you look like you have much better stringer control than you do. A downside is that you have to do a continuous scroll. Because of the casing, you can't do joins.

Another sneaky trick (this one's in the first Cindy Jenkins book) -- ribbon cane. Make a gather and squash it into a flat paddle. Draw a stripe of a contrasting color straight down the center of the paddle, parallel with the rod. Heat the paddle, attach a punty, and pull out into a flat stringer, being careful not to twist. You should end up with a stringer with a thin line of contrasting color on it. If you apply that stringer carefully on a bead of the same color as your paddle, it can look like you applied a really, really thin line of the contrasting color. (I think Cindy credits Tom Holland with this trick.)

I think, unfortunately, that the other answers are going to be practice, practice, practice, but I'll wait to hear from people with good stringer control who don't cheat.

Trey Cornette, where are you?
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  #3  
Old 2007-03-16, 9:19am
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I like 1mm stringers for both raised and melted in. I pull them myself, commercial ones are tooooo thick. When you apply, it should be soft, keep it far away from the flame, and apply quickly so your base bead doesn't get too cold, or just stop and reheat the bead slightly and then continue applying, don't let the stringer glow or it will be too hot to control.
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  #4  
Old 2007-03-16, 10:30am
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I pull my own as well, usually around 1-2mm depending on what I am doing, if you want to leave it raised work cool enough that you don't accidentally melt bits of it flat, coz then you gotta melt the whole lot in!
Some colors have cool effects like new violet gets a dark line down the center of the stringer lines which can make it look more technically challenging but isn't LOL a couple of them do that!
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  #5  
Old 2007-03-16, 4:11pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Emily View Post
OK, how generous am I feeling today? Shall I give away my favorite sneaky trick? Yeah, sure. Somebody else will if I don't.

Encased stringer. Only works on transparents, though. Take a thick stringer of an opaque color (the 2mm pre-made size works nicely, or pull your own), case it with clear, and pull out into a size you're comfortable using. Scroll it on clear. Melt it in, and the casing disappears. Suddenly you look like you have much better stringer control than you do. A downside is that you have to do a continuous scroll. Because of the casing, you can't do joins.

Another sneaky trick (this one's in the first Cindy Jenkins book) -- ribbon cane. Make a gather and squash it into a flat paddle. Draw a stripe of a contrasting color straight down the center of the paddle, parallel with the rod. Heat the paddle, attach a punty, and pull out into a flat stringer, being careful not to twist. You should end up with a stringer with a thin line of contrasting color on it. If you apply that stringer carefully on a bead of the same color as your paddle, it can look like you applied a really, really thin line of the contrasting color. (I think Cindy credits Tom Holland with this trick.)

I think, unfortunately, that the other answers are going to be practice, practice, practice, but I'll wait to hear from people with good stringer control who don't cheat.

Trey Cornette, where are you?
Ive tried this method and YES it worked its just a pain having to encase though
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  #6  
Old 2007-03-16, 6:05pm
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If I'm doing fine scrolling, I pull my own stringer....if it's dots, I use pre-made stringer....when pulling my own, I encase the opaque or transparent with clear or a light transparent.....heat into a gather and then pull the stringer thickness I want to use.....if I want a ribbon stringer....I do the same thing to get it to the gather BUT then I squash it flat and punty up - heat but don't let the lollipop shift shape too much....pull to desired thickness.....gives that nice flat ribbon.
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  #7  
Old 2007-03-16, 6:10pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by angie View Post
Ive tried this method and YES it worked its just a pain having to encase though
If you had a Pull It tool you can make a huge one and pull it out, that way you would have enough stringer for a while!
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  #8  
Old 2007-03-16, 6:46pm
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What's a Pull It Tool?

Mallory
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  #9  
Old 2007-03-16, 7:01pm
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It's a tool that the folks at Blue Moon in Austin make -- originally called "Pull My Stringer," but I guess somebody chickened out and decided that name was a little too tacky after all. I think it's really just a holder so that you can build a big cane on a punty, stick it in the holder on your table, then pull it as you walk away. It means you can pull stringers (or cane) longer than your two arms even if you don't have a buddy around to hold the other punty and help you pull.

I couldn't use one if I had one. By the time I get more than arm's length away from my table, I'm falling over crap. Might be a nice thing to have if you make complex cane -- and have a studio you can actually walk around in.

I totally agree about the encased stringer being a PITA. It's my least favorite part of making my scribble beads -- well, OK, frying the dichro is my really least favorite part, but assuming I manage not to do that, making the stringer comes next.
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  #10  
Old 2007-03-16, 7:15pm
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Yes it is a tool that comes a pair of pyrex punties and it has a holder that once you have your cane built up, you put one of the punties in the holder and walk away with the other one. I hook mine up to my diningroom table and walk into my kitchen with it!
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