Snapping Off the Freakin' Punty - How?

[Heather/Ericaceae]

Hi! I am trying to master (or mistress, as the case may be) the arcane skills of off-mandrel pendant-making in soft glass. I'm occasionally good at imploding and shaping. I think I get the concept there. Where it all falls apart for me is creating a NICE loop and especially getting it off the dear sweet punty before my loop cracks on the pliers.

I'll summarize my steps: 1 - Make a gather on a fat clear rod, 2-Squish it into a maria, 3 - Decorate the face of the maria, 4 - Melt the maria from the edge to implode the design, 5 - Select the "top" of the pendant and attach another fairly fat punty there, 6 - Melt off the original rod and shape the pendant lens, 7 - Attach a small punty to the bottom of the pendant, 8 - Soften the top punty (making sure it has a nice smooth attachment), 9 - Stretch it slightly into a thinner section near the pendant, 10 - Melt off the top rod leaving the thinner section behind to make the loop, 11 - Soften the stretched section and shape it into a loop (fuss fuss fuss...), 12 - Cool the loop while warming your pliers, 13 - Grab the solidified loop with pliers and break off the bottom punty (always causes me trouble), 14 - Melt the punty-mark smooth, 15 - Put pendant in the kiln (in my case I stuff it into the vermiculite can).

I think my loop issues will resolve themselves with practice, but I really think I'm missing some key concept with the final punty. I don't think I'm cold-welding properly. It's always really hard to snap off. It's easier when I use chilled pliers but then I often crack-sizzle the lens surface. It always definitely takes too long to get from step 12 to 15, and my loop usually gets a small crack. Can someone please teach me the Way of the Punty???

Thank you *so* much for any advice you can give, O Punty Sages!!

-Heather

[jayglass]

When you cold seal to your pendant.... make sure the pendant is just barley glowing about to lose the orange glow....... your punty should be orange and tacky.... try marvlering the sides of the punty to cool it down.... maybe blowing on the punty a little if it is too hot.... ( this helps alot ) ....attach ... .... good luck ... the cold seal can be your best friend.... or your worst enemy.... let me know if this is working out... hope it helps !!!

ps...if your loop is gets too cold and cracks .. maybe try flashing it thru the flame to keep some heat in the loop while working somewhere else...

<J>

[meadowesky]

wow your steps sound about like mine. I usually end up dropping it on my lap while I melt the bottom punty off! LOL

[Cosmo]

I blow on my punty before I attach it. If you are having a hard time removing it, set the pendant on a marvering pad (or better - in a marble mold), grab the punty with a pair of tweezers right where the punty joins the pendant, and tap the tweezers with another pair of tweezers. That usually does it.

[Mr. Smiley]

I only do boro off mandrel, so maybe this doesn't hold true... I don't know. I always tell students "One is hot, one is not". That makes a good cold seal for me in boro. Hope it helps you softies too. :D

[Heather/Ericaceae]

Thanks for your hints! I will work on the cold seal. I think I finally got a "real" one last night (though I was just making a one-colour practice leaf). My trouble with keeping the loop warm is just the time when I am holding the loop in pliers - which can be a along time when I can't get my punty off! But I "felt" the cold seal work last night when I attached it, and it did snap cleanly off when I was ready for it! So, I think I may have made a breakthrough that will help me with a *lot* of things - more practice will tell!

Thanks again, and please feel free to add more tips if you think of 'em!

Hugs - Heather

[MikeAurelius]

Practice practice practice...and still more practice...excellent advice above.

One thing you can do to practice is to make a blob of clear (a good use for nasty bubbly glass), then attach a punty (cold seal). Work the blob a bit then try to crack off the punty. It will take some time and practice to get the technique down, but it's like riding a bike, once you learn the secret trick (and don't forget the secret handshake while you are at it) it's yours forever.

[Heather/Ericaceae]

Good idea about practicing... I have been "practicing" on implosions which is much more frustrating! I think I might try making undecorated transparent pendants so that I'm practicing the loop part too. I *will* get this! :) Thanks again! -Heather

PS - my current understanding of a "cold seal" (for people reading this who haven't come across the term yet) is that it's similar to a tack fuse. The punty is stuck to the pendant but not really fused on. When they're first put together, one side is completely solid and the other is just barely soft. That way, in theory, you should be able to just snap them apart when you're finished with the punty. It took me a while to understand the concept and I think I still may have a ways to go but I think those are the basics!

[Wonker]

Heather,

I feel your pain. I've been trying to get that technique down as well. I am grateful for the post that suggested the tweezer tapping on tweezers trick. I'd read somewhere about the shock to make it let go, but that seems like a trick that might prove useful. I'm sure others have different tricks like that that I'd love to hear.

Thanks

[Mr. Smiley]

You can also practice your loops on the end of a rod. Then remelt it and make another loop. it's all the same color and you can get really good at making loops without messing up a good pendant or wasting any glass. ;)

[Heather/Ericaceae]

Did some practicing last light and my pendants were *much* better shaped and with great loops (for me so far)! I tried the cold weld a few times and I think I have it! I marvered the punty into a cone and just barely pressed the tip onto the implosion when it was almost solid. Then when I was done it snapped right off! That single improvement removed 95% of the stress I had in making pendants! Before I had actually been fusing hot glass to hot glass and actually had to break it off - often a thick connection! No wonder glass would fly everywhere. Unfortunately my actual implosions yesterday left something to be desired, but who knows, maybe someone will love them as "abstract" pieces.

The first two pendants were made earlier this week, before this thread. Note the gargantual loop on the second one! Yikes! That one's my favorite implosion on this torch so far, though. :) The second last one is my gf's... she does very well with implosions and loops! Drives me nuts. :) The last one is from yesterday and though the implosion is kind of unreadable (I tried layers... must stop doing that until I can consistently handle basic dot implosions!) the loop is my favorite ever! The last one (not pictured - it was still cooling) was a bit of an implosion failure too (I was going for a certain concept... stay simple, Heather!!!) but the shape and loop were great too.

I made a small but vital breakthrough on my own (sort of). When I look at other people's loops, I see that the nicest ones are kind of flat or broad like ribbon. So I flattened my proto-loop extension-thingy before shaping it and it really made a difference! It's the last pendant on the right. I like the result so much better and it was much easier to shape the way I wanted. Yay! -Heather