James Smircich
2006-09-11, 11:37am
Friends,
I received this question from a novice beadmaker who needed help getting a better round bead from a disk, al la the Smircich method as presented in my first video.
Here is the question:
I have been following your video instruction to make a basic bead by first laying on a small bead and then winding on glass on top of it and melting it down. I come out with a beautiful bead shape - there is something very organic and balanced about it - but it is always a donut shape and no matter how long I apply heat, it does not go to round. I would like to use your method for this rather than other techniques, but I am missing something here. Suggestions?
My reply:
When the disk melts down far enough to soften the little bead at the center, you must NOT let the mass fall off center as it begins to move left and right along the mandrel. Having just said that, let me say now that this is where most novices begin to go wrong. I have found that most novices are a bit too timid with the heat at this very moment. This will retard the spreading of the bead. Most novices will lift the bead from the flame for a moment and then return to continue heating. They do this many times and get poor results because the cooled bead doesn't have a loose enough viscosity to move out along the mandrel and the glass remains as a donut or bagel shape. Your statement says that "no matter how long I apply heat, it does not go to round". I suspect that you are not heating the bead hot enough, i.e. to a full yellow heat.
Here is what I suggest you try on a few practice beads (ones where you can allow yourself to maybe get the bead hotter than you have been getting it, even if that means that you may lose control of the bead completely). When the bead loosens at the center and begins to spread along the mandrel, take note of where you are in the flame in relation to the head of the torch. You may be somewhere between one and three inches from the "cones" of the flame at the head of the torch. You should be about two inches from the "cones" for proper melting. Begin reading the color of the heat as the bead begins to spread. It will soon show a bright yellow color of heat and be very loose. NOW move the bead outward within the flame until you are about three inches from the "cones". Watch the COLOR of the heat within the bead drop a little bit from FULL YELLOW to LOW YELLOW. Along with this change of color, you will notice that the viscosity will change a little bit also. When you do this, you are using the cooler part of the flame to get control of the very loose glass. NOW move back toward the torch and see that the color will again brighten to a full yellow. It is this full yellow color/viscosity that will allow your glass to move far enough to form the full bead shape beyond the donut/bagel shape. Moving outward in the flame allows you to gain control of the hot glass without retarding it by removing it from the flame. Do a dozen PRACTICE beads and try to control the glass at a hotter yellow each time. You will find your own place in the flame for making a perfect round bead by observing the color of the heat and only moving outward within the flame for a moment to keep control and then returning to a hotter yellow color to let the glass to move far enough to complete its shape.-----
Send me your questions and I'll try to answer them for you and all of the readers here at lampworketc.com. Tell your friends about this posting. SMIRCICH
I received this question from a novice beadmaker who needed help getting a better round bead from a disk, al la the Smircich method as presented in my first video.
Here is the question:
I have been following your video instruction to make a basic bead by first laying on a small bead and then winding on glass on top of it and melting it down. I come out with a beautiful bead shape - there is something very organic and balanced about it - but it is always a donut shape and no matter how long I apply heat, it does not go to round. I would like to use your method for this rather than other techniques, but I am missing something here. Suggestions?
My reply:
When the disk melts down far enough to soften the little bead at the center, you must NOT let the mass fall off center as it begins to move left and right along the mandrel. Having just said that, let me say now that this is where most novices begin to go wrong. I have found that most novices are a bit too timid with the heat at this very moment. This will retard the spreading of the bead. Most novices will lift the bead from the flame for a moment and then return to continue heating. They do this many times and get poor results because the cooled bead doesn't have a loose enough viscosity to move out along the mandrel and the glass remains as a donut or bagel shape. Your statement says that "no matter how long I apply heat, it does not go to round". I suspect that you are not heating the bead hot enough, i.e. to a full yellow heat.
Here is what I suggest you try on a few practice beads (ones where you can allow yourself to maybe get the bead hotter than you have been getting it, even if that means that you may lose control of the bead completely). When the bead loosens at the center and begins to spread along the mandrel, take note of where you are in the flame in relation to the head of the torch. You may be somewhere between one and three inches from the "cones" of the flame at the head of the torch. You should be about two inches from the "cones" for proper melting. Begin reading the color of the heat as the bead begins to spread. It will soon show a bright yellow color of heat and be very loose. NOW move the bead outward within the flame until you are about three inches from the "cones". Watch the COLOR of the heat within the bead drop a little bit from FULL YELLOW to LOW YELLOW. Along with this change of color, you will notice that the viscosity will change a little bit also. When you do this, you are using the cooler part of the flame to get control of the very loose glass. NOW move back toward the torch and see that the color will again brighten to a full yellow. It is this full yellow color/viscosity that will allow your glass to move far enough to form the full bead shape beyond the donut/bagel shape. Moving outward in the flame allows you to gain control of the hot glass without retarding it by removing it from the flame. Do a dozen PRACTICE beads and try to control the glass at a hotter yellow each time. You will find your own place in the flame for making a perfect round bead by observing the color of the heat and only moving outward within the flame for a moment to keep control and then returning to a hotter yellow color to let the glass to move far enough to complete its shape.-----
Send me your questions and I'll try to answer them for you and all of the readers here at lampworketc.com. Tell your friends about this posting. SMIRCICH