Silver Foil and Wire Lentil Tutorial

[MaryBeth]

This is a no pictures tut except for the final beads - but I think you can get the idea.

Edited to say: you can also use clear or a light transparent for your base. Since transparents are a little stiffer it is harder to get enough heat into the foil covered bead without burning off the silver.



1. Start with a barrel of ivory as long as the lentil one size smaller than your finished piece will be.

2. Roll this in silver foil (I like the foil I bought from Val). Burnish the silver onto your ivory barrel very well.

3. Heat this very gently - do not melt the foil in! Roll in frit. Heat the frit very gently so that it just starts to melt. Roll in frit again. Again melt so the frit just adheres - don't melt your silver foil!

4. Heat a tiny spot on your bead to glowing. Attach the end of your silver wire there and wrap it around your bead. Flame cut the silver wire and flash through the flame to tack it to the bead --- remember don't melt your silver foil!!

5. Use a Moretti clear stringer to encase your bead (case right over your lumpy frit and raised silver wire). I use the around the world method. Start at one end and keep wrapping your string around the bead. Push down while you are doing this and make sure that each wrap is pushed up against the previous one. And of course - don't melt your silver foil!!

6. Press your bead in your lentil mold (the next size up from the one that you measured your original ivory barrel in). Flame polish out any mold marks and clean up the ends if necessary. Repress if necessary. Run your flame over the bead between the bead holes on both sides and let the heat sink in. This will prevent any cracking that might be caused by too rapid cooling at the thinner spots. Put the bead right into the kiln. (Did you melt your silver in - no - good!!!)

Sample Beads I made this way:

3564

4046

14153

[Slaterville]

Wonderful Tut Mary Beth, but by the end all my silver would be melted in! LOL

[chrisdd]

Thanks so much! I've wondered how you made these beads.

[Laurie L]

Great tut but how the heck are you not melting in your foil ????? Where in the flame are you working the bead and is your flame modified ( turned down ??).

Awsome beads by the way.

[MaryBeth]

Great tut but how the heck are you not melting in your foil ????? Where in the flame are you working the bead and is your flame modified ( turned down ??).

Awsome beads by the way.

I am working in the upper third of the flame. One thing that probably helps me is my torch set-up. I use a Minor that is running on natural gas and an oxycon. Sometimes I use two oxycons but never for this technique - one is perfect. In short my torch is probably less hot than if you are running your torch on propane. Try turning down your propane a bit if this is the case.

Thanks for the compliments!

Mary Beth

[hulagirl]

Simply DIVINE! I can't wait to try these beads....Maybe I'll get a chance tomorrow...Haven't made beads in a month--No time!

[Robinj]

Oh Mary Beth -- I'm been LOVING your stuff lately! That silver & ruby set is very cool!

I work on a mini cc and have been making lentils with silver wire and bits of foil -- where I want to keep it as wire & foil (similar to Mary Beth's beads). Initially, I was heating my whole bead to glowing and melting the silver.

I've learned to really concentrate on heating just the outer layer (which is really what you're trying to melt/shape anyway) so the heat doesn't travel through to melt the silver -- because the encasing layer "insulates" it. If it starts to heat up too much, I just move it out of the flame and let it cool a bit. You don't have to initially get everything as melted and "finished" as you normally do because you're going to press and firepolish it anyway.

[laurellanestudios]

I've never used pieces of silver. Is the gauge important? Can it be scraps of headpins?

Thanks,
Kathy

[sassy]

Thanks for the tut. I will definitely save this one to try.

[fireworm]

Thanks so much for sharing! :) I love your beads.

[DawnT]

Thanks Mary Beth! I've always loved these beads of yours but I'm scared to try it!

[chrisdd]

I've never used pieces of silver. Is the gauge important? Can it be scraps of headpins?

Thanks,
Kathy

You have to use .999 silver, rather than sterling, which is .925

[Sharon Abood]

Thank you for the tut. I will give it a try this weekend.

[Laurie L]

I am working in the upper third of the flame. One thing that probably helps me is my torch set-up. I use a Minor that is running on natural gas and an oxycon. Sometimes I use two oxycons but never for this technique - one is perfect. In short my torch is probably less hot than if you are running your torch on propane. Try turning down your propane a bit if this is the case.

Thanks for the compliments!

Mary Beth
Yes I am running a minor with propane and oxy con. I have turned it down but still seem to burn off the foil.....I guess its something I will havew to keep PPP'ing. LOL But thanks, maybe I should turn it down some more.

[MaryBeth]

Laurie - try adjusting your flame until your candles are about 1/4" and your flame is narrower - not bushy.

[Toni L.]

Thanks MaryBeth!! Those bead are all fantastic!! I'm going to have to get some silver wire and give it a try!
8)
toni

[sleekbeads]

Where do you get the silver .999 wire???
Joanna

[MaryBeth]

Where do you get the silver .999 wire???
Joanna

Lots of places carry it but I purchased mine from Rio Grande - I purchased 5 ounces of 26 gauge on a big spool about 2 years ago and I still have a lot left! I think it cost me about $40.00 at the time. As soon as silver prices take a nose dive I am going to get some more:koolaid:

[sleekbeads]

THANKS for the info.... if an when silver prices do take a dive, please keep me in mind... I'd be willing to go in on an order with you.
Joanna

[raindance]

What would happen if someone used Sterling Silver on a bead?
Does it get really ugly?

I don't have a bead press...but I have the right silver wire my
sweet hubby got for me.But I need the foil...I just have leaf right
now. I'll bet this would be really pretty...even without the press.
I'm going to try it when I get some foil!

[amberbryant1]

I wish I had a press, silver wire, frit and the skill to do this! Wow those beads are beatiful! Thanks for the effort and time to share this!

[Laurie L]

Laurie - try adjusting your flame until your candles are about 1/4" and your flame is narrower - not bushy.


Ahhhh okay that makes more sense.....going to try it !!!! Thanks so much. Sometimes its hard to know how much to turn down or turn up the flame. When I have it turned down really low I am always scared that I wont have enough heat for the bead. CRACK...... LOL.

These beads are just TDF Marybeth.

[adovbs]

What would happen if someone used Sterling Silver on a bead? Does it get really ugly?

YUP. IF you can even get it to stick... ;-)

[valerie_folly]

Thanks for the tut, those are gorgeous beads! Valerie

[beachbeads]

What would happen if someone used Sterling Silver on a bead?
Does it get really ugly?

I don't have a bead press...but I have the right silver wire my
sweet hubby got for me.But I need the foil...I just have leaf right
now. I'll bet this would be really pretty...even without the press.
I'm going to try it when I get some foil!
sterling turns black.

[playswithfire104]

Would this work on a HH? Anyne try it on a HH?

[MaryBeth]

I did work with Silver Foil when I had a HH. It will work best if you work a little further out in the flame and take your time:wave:

[wendbill]

Do you have problems with cracking due to the silver content? I made a few this weekend (batch annealed afterwards) 24 hours later and I've just had 4 crack on me in the last half an hour... I'm assuming it's the silver wire because I don't have problems with silver foil on it's own. I think my silver was 33 gauge or something (the finer the wire the higher the number isn't it?

[J. Savina]

Mary Beth, Thank you for sharing this wonderful tutorial with us.

I know it can be hard not to melt your silver in. What I do after I burnish the silver is put another piece of foil over some frit that I spread on the marver. When I heat up the bead to pick up the frit, I get an extra layer of foil. Your beads are absolutely beautiful!!! You're da Bestest!http://smilies.sofrayt.com/fsc/thumbs-up.gif
J.

[Marie C]

J, would you please give a little more instruction on what you said, about after you burnish the silver you put another piece of foil over some frit that you spread on a marver? I don't understand. You do the initial foil, then burnish, then more foil, then frit?

Thanks! Marie

[MaryBeth]

Hi Marie,
What is do is make the base bead, then roll it over the foil. Burnish the foil in well. Roll the bead in frit. Wrap with silver wire if desired. Case the bead in clear (or the transparent of your choice).

I only use one layer of foil on these and it goes on the bead prior to applying the frit.

Hope this helps!:grin:

[J. Savina]

The way I do this is by using 2 pieces of foil. One to cover the base and one to lay over the frit that I spread on a marver plate. When you gently heat the bead after applying the first piece of foil (burnished), then you'll pick up the foil and frit on the marver by rolling both at the same time. Gently heat again, as Mary Beth said and pick up more frit.
I'm so inspired to make these beads again after seeing Mary Beths pictures of her beautiful works of art.
J.

J, would you please give a little more instruction on what you said, about after you burnish the silver you put another piece of foil over some frit that you spread on a marver? I don't understand. You do the initial foil, then burnish, then more foil, then frit?

Thanks! Marie

[wendbill]

Any advice on the cracking?

[Mustang Dawn]

Any advice on the cracking?

What size frit are you using and how much are you applying to your bead base. Too much frit will crack a bead.

Dawn

[HONEYBUNNY72_99]

What gauge wire do you use?Is it Sterling or Fine silver?How do you remove the firescale after they are done?
Sorry for all the questions LOL!I am kinda new at this:)
Tina

[MaryBeth]

I use 28 gauge .999 fine silver wire. There is no firescale when you use fine silver.

As far as to the cracking - check your annealing schedule. I had to work with this process for a while to eliminate all cracking. Make sure the bead goes into the kiln glowing. Hold for at least an hour at 960 (I use 970). My ramp down is very slow - 60 degrees per hour until I get to 700 degrees. All of these things will help to insure that your bead will not crack. Also, remember that colors that do like like to be cased will not do well as base beads with this technique either (warm colors like red, orange, yellow and coral).

[wendbill]

I was using a variety of transparent blues and moretti clear. I didn't actually use frit since I didn't have any in the shades I wanted for the beads. I used 104 COE only. I also batch annealed them about a couple of hours after I made them. The four that cracked, cracked about 24 hours after I annealed them. No sign of cracking in the other 12 though. Now it's 3 or 4 days later.

I'm beginning to wonder if one of the glasses I used (since I used 4 or 5) in the four that cracked was incompatible. One particular shade I used, I was using stubs from about 3 different suppliers.

[MaryBeth]

I also batch annealed them about a couple of hours after I made them. The four that cracked, cracked about 24 hours after I annealed them.


Here's your problem. Beads with silver really need to be put directly into the kiln. They cooled down too fast initially and probably developed stress cracks prior to being annealed.

[Mustang Dawn]

Yep, you have several factors going on causing your beads to crack. The silver and the batch annealing. Pressed beads like to go directly into the kiln.

[wendbill]

OK. Well I'll try again once I buy some more fine silver wire.

I've been admiring Mary Beth's beads since I first saw them.

[Dragonfly Queen]

Very pretty Mary Beth. thank you for sharing. Just one more thing to practice on. :)

[Lizzydee]

thanks so much for sharing!

[Lyssa]

I'm going to try this today and will report back with pictures.

[MaryBeth]

Everyone is welcome and thanks for the compliments.

I'd love to see them, Lyssa!

[Lyssa]

Two beads are in the kiln right now. I need new glasses so it only takes two beads to tire my eyes out to the point where I need to stop. :(

I forgot to put the wire on in the first bead so I made both without the wire. Also, my encasing was a lot thicker than it should have been so I overshot my lentil press size by quite a bit. I just made two square tab-type shapes. I need to get more lentil press sizes. :^)

I don't have any commercial clear stringer so I just pulled my own from the one sample rod of the new Uroborus clear I got. (It's REALLY nice, NO bubbly scum, but I could tell I need to clean the glass better before I start.) I was trying really hard to pull thick stringer so I ended up pulling 2.5 and 3 mm stringer. I've never been able to do that, I must have REALLY wanted it today. Or maybe it is a property of the Uro clear.

It was relatively easy to keep the silver foil from melting in. I'm used to working with silver leaf, so the foil felt like it was just NEVER going to melt. It was hard to encase evenly, and since I pressed a square tab, I ended up with uneven amounts of glass on either side of the mandrel. Encasing is something I want to practice more of, but it just takes SO MUCH GLASS, and mistakes look SO BAD that they aren't even good to use as gifts, like I did with a lot of the non-encased slightly wonky beads I get when I'm practicing other types of new techniques or even when I first started lampworking 8 years ago. Since I need new glasses my eyesight is blurry up close, and that makes it hard to see how I'm laying down my encasing, and I have to fill holes in the encasing to prevent bleed-out. That's why I ended up with uneven encasing. Not a technique problem, just a vision problem.

Today I figured out that I can use the lids of the little jars I keep my frit in to hold the frit to dip the bead. It worked relatively well. Better than what I WAS using, a tiny kitchen scoop. To store my frit, I use those little sample-sized glass honey jars you get in nicer restaurants and they have metal lids, so it works well to hold the frit. Just have to fill the lid high enough so the small bead reaches the frit before you bump the mandrel on the edge of the lid.

I used gaffer glass which is not coe 104, and I dipped the frit three times before I had the amount I wanted. Hopefully the incompatibility doesn't cause problems.

I used a year-old batch of Effetre Dark Ivory as my base. It's not very curdly, but I figure that's not what the goal is. Mary Beth, can you please explain why you use ivory? Does it react with the silver or something? I keep hearing about silver and silver glass and ivory and reactive glasses but it's so hard to keep it all straight and remember what reacts with what in ways that one wants and in ways that one doesn't want. Any clues from you would be great.

Thanks for doing this tut, it's really making me think about what I'm doing and how the glasses are all working together.

[AmorphousDesigns]

Aimee, I can't wait to see your beads. Thank you for sharing your experience making these.

[MaryBeth]

I just saw that I did say to use ivory in the first post! It will work because the silver foil acts as a buffer but for most of those examples I used clear or a light transparent as my base. I'll go back and edit that.

I do have another style of bead that I use ivory for the base, silver foil, then partially wrap with a clear transparent. The effect is really pretty and it looks like you used silvered ivory without the bother of making the stringer. Let me see if I can dig up a couple of pics of those.

The beads in the first picture (the blue and violet) were done on an ivory base. I'm guessing I used ivory because it does hold the heat well, which allows you to burnish the silver in well. It also requires very little additional heat (just shoot some up the mandrels into the bead) to get the frit to stick without burning off the silver.

The green and blue beads in the second picture started out the same way as the frit beads but I just used stripes of the colored glass over the silvered ivory. Where it wasn't covered with the color you can see silvered ivory stripes. This is true also for the all blue beads and the amber colored beads.

The last photo is of frit beads using Val Cox Mood Swings frit. That one started with a clear base, then silver, then the frit, then it was encased, then I added a strip of silver which I encased again.

So - it can be done with either the ivory base or a transparent base. I've tried this technique with a black base wrapped in silver, then striped in back, then encased - but I had cracking issues with that combination. I need to try those again and see if I can work those out.

[helensharvest]

Beautiful, thanks, Mary Beth!

[Lyssa]

Okiedokie, here are the beads I made using the technique. I used Gaffer Glass frit, Abergine, Cerulean Blue x2, and Ruby Gold.

[MaryBeth]

Those are gorgeous, Lyssa! Don't you just love the way that the ruby gold looks like fire over silver. The blues are wonderful also.

[Lyssa]

I'm disappointed the ruby gold looks so brown/livery. Is that just how ruby gold looks over silver or did I overcook it? I love the cerulean though :^)

[MaryBeth]

I'm disappointed the ruby gold looks so brown/livery. Is that just how ruby gold looks over silver or did I overcook it? I love the cerulean though :^)

It's not that way everywhere! I'd say if you work it a little cooler you will be able to eliminate most of the brown spots. They are still very nice beads.

[Blooming22]

Thanks for that Mary Beth, I'm new here and just this tutorial has taught me a lot. Cant wait to try. Thanks