Sorry--another encasing question

[terryl]

Okay, I thought I was a halfway decent at encasing, but I usually encase transparents. I am trying to encase a long tube bead of white. I have tried my normal method of stripe encasing, but when the clear is melted in I can see "rows" in the pastel base where the clear was applied next to each other. This is hard to describe. I never noticed this before on anything else I have ever done. I thought well your encasing glass is too hot so I waited a few seconds before applying the glass....better but I can still see the stripes there and the encasing glass didn't slide all the way down the bead. I thought okay apparently your base bead is too hot......waited until I was scared and then waited longer.......still I can see where these clear stripes were applied. Any ideas? What is the best way to encase a a white or pastel long tube bead with clear? I can't seem to move on to anything else until I can resolve this and it seems so basic I am almost afraid to ask about this problem.

Terryl

[m**2]

There is no simple answer to your problem.

Pastels are very soft and melt very easily.

On smaller beads, you can get a large enough gather of clear to encase the entire bead in one wrap.

On larger or longer beads, you need to have the base as cool as possible when you add the clear. You may need to allow the pastel base to cool between applications of the encasement.

Some lampworkers find this easier to do using transparent stringers since less heat is required.

Once the transparent glass has been applied, heat only the outside of the glass... just enough to allow the outside to flow. If you soften the pastel, the stiffer transparent glass will tend to imprint the pastel glass (the "stripes" you have seen before).

Simply, the objective is to put the clear on without softening the underlying pastel.

Probably the best advice I can give is to be patient. And of course, practice.

[Olimpia]

Awww don't be afraid to ask! There's wonderful people here that can help!
I on the other hand, can't, I get those lines too!
I am not sure how to get rid of them either. So I'll wait here with you and see what the pro's say! :lol:

[shawnette]

I use the stripe method and it does take practice. You have to let the base bead cool until it's solid, but still hot. Make a good size gather of clear, molten. Swipe the length of the bead. Get another good sized, molten gather of clear and swipe the length, going the opposite direction of the 1st swipe. Make sure your second swipe overlaps the first and the glass is molten because the 2 swipes have to fuse together, preventing the stripes. (The stripes come from the base bead 'leaking' into the encasement layer.

(Clear as mud?)

[terryl]

I use the stripe method and it does take practice. You have to let the base bead cool until it's solid, but still hot. Make a good size gather of clear, molten. Swipe the length of the bead. Get another good sized, molten gather of clear and swipe the length, going the opposite direction of the 1st swipe. Make sure your second swipe overlaps the first and the glass is molten because the 2 swipes have to fuse together, preventing the stripes. (The stripes come from the base bead 'leaking' into the encasement layer.

(Clear as mud?)



Maybe this is what I am doing wrong. I have been putting the stripes right along side each other. I am gonna try this. Thanks for the input.

[KEW]

You need to make sure that the 'next' encasing stripe covers part of the first. And it kind of means squishing out air bubbles as you work it. The stripes of encasing should not lay next to each other but a little bit OVER each other.

[klcbeads]

Overlapping is verry important or you're gonna get a kind of vertabrae bead, which is another way cool effect to try in the future.

[Moth]

I use the method that Kimberly describes for long narrow beads. It was so much quicker for me once I got the hang of it.

You need to watch some Japanese artists torch for a while. You will consider encasing in a whole new light.

[truegem]

Try a different clear...diamond clear is good. CIM is too. I had the same problem and it cleared up using either of these two.
Even though I overlapped and rocked the rod while encasing, I would still have the problem you're describing, until I tried a different clear.

[glassactcc]

I use the spiral method on all of my encasing. You have to make sure that the bead is really solid with no chance for movement when encasing. Get the clear very hot and start your encasement. When encasing, heat only the clear where the rod is bending while going on to the base bead. You don't want any heat on the bead itself. If you don't think you can make it through the whole wrap at once, stop and heat your bead again and continue. You don't want your bead to crack. The encasing method really doesn't matter, it's keeping the base bead very solid and the clear very soft.