Using, not making, twisted cane & murrini slices

[The Giddy Kitten]

I'm very new, busy with ppp, and have learned -- thanks to forums full of tuts and people willing to help, like this one (thank you!) -- how to make a nice twisted cane and murrini, which I've also cut. I "get" how to stick murrini slices onto a bead and how to use cane... in theory. But I'm doing SOMETHING wrong, because I'm getting a lot of distortion when I try to melt these cool accents flat. I'm trying to work cool and melt slowly. ???

Any tips or pointers you can offer?

Thanks in advance; you guys rock!

-- Shelli

PS I asked this on another forum as well cause I want to poll ALL the great lampworking minds in the world on this. :)

[dogmaw]

Are you putting a dot of clear over your murrini? That will help with your distortion. And you really do need to heat things in without heating up the center of your bead. That takes PPP. Good luck! :D

[The Giddy Kitten]

Jo (that's my middle name!), thanks for the tip about spot encasing. I'll try that!

[JanMD]

Try making an indentation in the base bead first (using a pick and wiggling it around a tad to enlarge the hole), in which to nest the murrini chip. Press the chip into the soft indentation, push in the edges with a palatte knife, and then cap it with a dot of clear. Between the stable walls of the indentation and the protection of the clear cap, your murrini slice ought to be able to withstand quite a bit of shaping.

So you don't stick it "onto" -- rather you stick it into the base bead. Makes sense?

If you try it, take a pic and show us how it worked!

JanMD