Ladyhoss67
2006-04-11, 12:04pm
I won the lampwork source challenge. You are supposed to post a tutorial on what you entered. I know it took a while but I finally got it done.
So here we go. If there are any mistakes or problems let me know and I will try to fix it the best I can. This is the first time I've done this so I'm hoping to get it right the first time.;)
Materials and tools needed
1 rod of morretti black
raku frit
2 2 mm purple transparent stringer
1 2 mm light grass green transparent stringer
1 1 mm black stringer
1 1 mm white stringer
1 1/16 mandrel dipped in release and dried
long tweezers
razor tool
small flat paddle shaper (I use a small dental tool)
brass tool (I use Corina's magic wand)
Steps
1. Put out your frit so it's ready for you when you come to that step.
2. Using the black rod wind on a round bead about the size of a nickel. This will be the seahorse's belly.
23454
3. Get it centered, let it cool just slightly, but before it's totally stiff let it droop just a little down and towards the bottom end of the mandrel. It will look like a lopsided chocolate kiss. Now he has a belly side and a back side.
23455
4. At the pointed end of his body wind on a small thin barrel. This will be his neck.
23456
5. Add a little extra glass at the top of the neck, melt in and slightly tip your mandrel top down and let the neck droop down just a little on the same side as the belly.
23457
6. Keeping him warm, get a a dime size gather on the tip of the black rod.
23458
7. Warm the tip of the neck and place the hot gather on the neck. This will be his head. Keep the ball(head) pointed up until it cools.
23459
8. Add a small dot on each side of head for his jaws bones.
23460
23461
9. Keep him warm while getting another gather hot on the end of the black rod. This will be his nose. Warm the tip of his head and place the gather on.
23464
10. Immediately turn him downwards and pull the nose down and out. Burn off at about 1/2".
23465
11. This is what he will look like.
23466
12 . Heat up the dots that will be his jaws and slightly flatten with your small paddle shaper.
23467
13. Keep him warm while gathering another ball on your black rod. This will be his tail. Warm his "butt" and place the gather on.
23468
14. Hang the tail down so it will droop a little.
23469
15. Get a second gather hot on the black rod and add it to his tail. Melt in and let it droop down. Make sure to keep his body warm in between steps.
23470
16. Now get his whole tail hot but not soupy. Touch the tip of his tail with the black rod and pull his tail down until you get it to about the right thickness that you want. It doesn't matter if it's too long. The top of his tail should be about the thickness of a pencil.
23471
17. Burn the tail off at about 2 1/2' long or how ever long you want it to be. Give him a good heat bath. Make sure to keep his nose warm. It's thin and will pop off easily.
23472
18. Heat up one side of your seahorse and lay him in the pile of frit.
23473
19. Bring him back into the flame and heat up the frit so it will not pop off.
23474
20. Keep heating up parts of his body and touching it in the frit until he has frit everywhere you want it to be. Remember to keep the tail and nose warm while doing this.
23475
21. Now slowly start melting in the frit. Be careful not to lose his shape by getting him too hot. Use your paddle shaper to keep his nose and tail straight.
23476
23477
22. After melting in the frit, if the raku has dark brown spots, I heat up that spot and touch or lightly rub it with my brass tool. This will help turn it the nice colors raku is known for. I do it this way because you can't super heat the raku to get the pretty colors or you will lose your shape.
23479
23. Now you will need to pull his tail to a nice pointed end. Heat up the end of his tail at the length you want and pinch off the extra glass. Pull as you pinch to give him a nice small tip on the end of his tail.
23480
24. Take a minute to heat him all over real good. Pick which side of him you like the best. This will be his front side.
25. Now with the side you want to be the front towards you, very carefully heat just the tip of his tail and curl it with your tweezers towards his belly, just a little. Let it cool until stiff.
23481
26. Heat just ABOVE the curl being carefully NOT to heat the curl. Slowly curl the tail a little more. Make sure you curl the tail in front of the mandrel without touching it on the side you want to be the front.
23482
27. Keep curling the tail until it almost touches the belly. Let the tail cool down and stiffen, then give him a good heat bath. Make sure not to heat the tail too much so it doesn't touch the mandrel.
23483
28. Now with your purple transparent stringer start applying a small thin line from the top middle of his head, across the mandrel, down the middle of his back where the "backbone" should be, following his back all the way down and around the spirals of his tail.
23484
23486
29. Go back up to the top of his head and run another strip of the purple stringer, this time going on the other side of the mandrel, meeting up with the first line of purple on the back of his neck.
23487
30. Heat him all over real good. Take your tweezers and start heating the purple stringer (his mane) on his head and pinch with the tweezers. Do this all the way down his back and around his tail. Be careful not to pinch his body. You only want to pinch the purple stringer. Be careful not to heat the tail so much the it starts touching the mandrel.
23488
23489
31. Keep him warm while you heat a gather on your purple stringer about the size of a big pea. This will be his dorsal fin. Apply this gather to the middle of his back right on top on the purple line of "mane".
23490
32. While still hot pinch right in the middle then once on each side.
23491
23492
33. Now with your white stringer apply a very small dot on each side of his head for his eyes. Melt in just a little bit leaving them slightly raised Be careful not to melt his nose. Make sure to keep the rest of his body warm.
23493
34. Now apply a small dot of light grass green on top of each white dot. Melt in just enough to give his eye a nice smooth round look. Give him a good heat bath.
23494
35. Take your very thin black stringer and heat just the tip. Place a very small black dot on the middle of each eye. Melt the black dot in totaly,being careful not to melt the eye it's self too much.
23495
36. Heat up the end of the purple transparent stringer, heat the nose. Touch the tip of his nose with the stringer and pull his nose out just a little to make it nice and smooth and straight.
23496
37. Burn his nose off at the length you want it to be, about 1/2".
23497
38. Give his whole body a good heat bath. Heat just the tip of his nose and point it towards you. With your razor tool touch the end of his nose and push just ever so lightly to give him a little mouth.
23498
39. With you purple transparent stringer heat a small gather and apply it to his head at the back of his jaw on his neck. Do this on both sides of his head. These are his little ear fins.
23499
40. Take your tweezers, heat the purple dot and pinch to make his little ear fin. Do this on both sides.
23500
41. Heat him all over and check to make sure you didn't melt his "mane" in too much anywhere. If needed reheat and repinch his mane with your tweezers.
23501
42. Heat him all over and put him in your hot kiln and anneal properly
23502
43. There you go. Here are a few pics of some that I have made. GOOD LUCK!!
23503
So here we go. If there are any mistakes or problems let me know and I will try to fix it the best I can. This is the first time I've done this so I'm hoping to get it right the first time.;)
Materials and tools needed
1 rod of morretti black
raku frit
2 2 mm purple transparent stringer
1 2 mm light grass green transparent stringer
1 1 mm black stringer
1 1 mm white stringer
1 1/16 mandrel dipped in release and dried
long tweezers
razor tool
small flat paddle shaper (I use a small dental tool)
brass tool (I use Corina's magic wand)
Steps
1. Put out your frit so it's ready for you when you come to that step.
2. Using the black rod wind on a round bead about the size of a nickel. This will be the seahorse's belly.
23454
3. Get it centered, let it cool just slightly, but before it's totally stiff let it droop just a little down and towards the bottom end of the mandrel. It will look like a lopsided chocolate kiss. Now he has a belly side and a back side.
23455
4. At the pointed end of his body wind on a small thin barrel. This will be his neck.
23456
5. Add a little extra glass at the top of the neck, melt in and slightly tip your mandrel top down and let the neck droop down just a little on the same side as the belly.
23457
6. Keeping him warm, get a a dime size gather on the tip of the black rod.
23458
7. Warm the tip of the neck and place the hot gather on the neck. This will be his head. Keep the ball(head) pointed up until it cools.
23459
8. Add a small dot on each side of head for his jaws bones.
23460
23461
9. Keep him warm while getting another gather hot on the end of the black rod. This will be his nose. Warm the tip of his head and place the gather on.
23464
10. Immediately turn him downwards and pull the nose down and out. Burn off at about 1/2".
23465
11. This is what he will look like.
23466
12 . Heat up the dots that will be his jaws and slightly flatten with your small paddle shaper.
23467
13. Keep him warm while gathering another ball on your black rod. This will be his tail. Warm his "butt" and place the gather on.
23468
14. Hang the tail down so it will droop a little.
23469
15. Get a second gather hot on the black rod and add it to his tail. Melt in and let it droop down. Make sure to keep his body warm in between steps.
23470
16. Now get his whole tail hot but not soupy. Touch the tip of his tail with the black rod and pull his tail down until you get it to about the right thickness that you want. It doesn't matter if it's too long. The top of his tail should be about the thickness of a pencil.
23471
17. Burn the tail off at about 2 1/2' long or how ever long you want it to be. Give him a good heat bath. Make sure to keep his nose warm. It's thin and will pop off easily.
23472
18. Heat up one side of your seahorse and lay him in the pile of frit.
23473
19. Bring him back into the flame and heat up the frit so it will not pop off.
23474
20. Keep heating up parts of his body and touching it in the frit until he has frit everywhere you want it to be. Remember to keep the tail and nose warm while doing this.
23475
21. Now slowly start melting in the frit. Be careful not to lose his shape by getting him too hot. Use your paddle shaper to keep his nose and tail straight.
23476
23477
22. After melting in the frit, if the raku has dark brown spots, I heat up that spot and touch or lightly rub it with my brass tool. This will help turn it the nice colors raku is known for. I do it this way because you can't super heat the raku to get the pretty colors or you will lose your shape.
23479
23. Now you will need to pull his tail to a nice pointed end. Heat up the end of his tail at the length you want and pinch off the extra glass. Pull as you pinch to give him a nice small tip on the end of his tail.
23480
24. Take a minute to heat him all over real good. Pick which side of him you like the best. This will be his front side.
25. Now with the side you want to be the front towards you, very carefully heat just the tip of his tail and curl it with your tweezers towards his belly, just a little. Let it cool until stiff.
23481
26. Heat just ABOVE the curl being carefully NOT to heat the curl. Slowly curl the tail a little more. Make sure you curl the tail in front of the mandrel without touching it on the side you want to be the front.
23482
27. Keep curling the tail until it almost touches the belly. Let the tail cool down and stiffen, then give him a good heat bath. Make sure not to heat the tail too much so it doesn't touch the mandrel.
23483
28. Now with your purple transparent stringer start applying a small thin line from the top middle of his head, across the mandrel, down the middle of his back where the "backbone" should be, following his back all the way down and around the spirals of his tail.
23484
23486
29. Go back up to the top of his head and run another strip of the purple stringer, this time going on the other side of the mandrel, meeting up with the first line of purple on the back of his neck.
23487
30. Heat him all over real good. Take your tweezers and start heating the purple stringer (his mane) on his head and pinch with the tweezers. Do this all the way down his back and around his tail. Be careful not to pinch his body. You only want to pinch the purple stringer. Be careful not to heat the tail so much the it starts touching the mandrel.
23488
23489
31. Keep him warm while you heat a gather on your purple stringer about the size of a big pea. This will be his dorsal fin. Apply this gather to the middle of his back right on top on the purple line of "mane".
23490
32. While still hot pinch right in the middle then once on each side.
23491
23492
33. Now with your white stringer apply a very small dot on each side of his head for his eyes. Melt in just a little bit leaving them slightly raised Be careful not to melt his nose. Make sure to keep the rest of his body warm.
23493
34. Now apply a small dot of light grass green on top of each white dot. Melt in just enough to give his eye a nice smooth round look. Give him a good heat bath.
23494
35. Take your very thin black stringer and heat just the tip. Place a very small black dot on the middle of each eye. Melt the black dot in totaly,being careful not to melt the eye it's self too much.
23495
36. Heat up the end of the purple transparent stringer, heat the nose. Touch the tip of his nose with the stringer and pull his nose out just a little to make it nice and smooth and straight.
23496
37. Burn his nose off at the length you want it to be, about 1/2".
23497
38. Give his whole body a good heat bath. Heat just the tip of his nose and point it towards you. With your razor tool touch the end of his nose and push just ever so lightly to give him a little mouth.
23498
39. With you purple transparent stringer heat a small gather and apply it to his head at the back of his jaw on his neck. Do this on both sides of his head. These are his little ear fins.
23499
40. Take your tweezers, heat the purple dot and pinch to make his little ear fin. Do this on both sides.
23500
41. Heat him all over and check to make sure you didn't melt his "mane" in too much anywhere. If needed reheat and repinch his mane with your tweezers.
23501
42. Heat him all over and put him in your hot kiln and anneal properly
23502
43. There you go. Here are a few pics of some that I have made. GOOD LUCK!!
23503