Encased Striped Cane Tutorial

[BonfireBeads]

Encased Striped Cane (used mainly for vines and flowers):

For this cane I used nile green (p214), dark grass green (T024) and some intense black (T066) stringer that is pulled to slightly less than 1mm. Your rods of green should be no less than 6 inches long so you have enough to work with.

Start by preheating your nile green rod in the flame. You do not want it to glow. You are just getting it ready for adding the transparent green. While it is preheating, start to make a small gather (around 8mm or so) with the transparent green. You will then stripe the transparent across the nile green. I always start at the end of the nile rod and push the gather down the rod about 3/4 of an inch. If you go much farther than 3/4", the gather gets a little large to work with. Continue the striping until you have all of the nile green covered. You don't have to worry about the very tip of the rod yet.


http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/bonfirebeads/DSC01534.jpg http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/bonfirebeads/DSC01536.jpg

[BonfireBeads]

Smoosh out any air you may have trapped when encasing the rod and get it as uniform as you can. I use my BBQ mashers for this step. Once you have completed that step, it is time to add the intense black stringer. (You can use regular black if you don't have intense...it will have a bit of a purplish hue when it is pulled. Or, if you are using Vetrofond instead of Moretti, it will just be a lighter shade of black) Work on the underneath side of the flame and apply the stringer from where your transparent green starts to the end of the rod. I usually apply 5-9 stripes.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/bonfirebeads/DSC01538.jpg http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/bonfirebeads/DSC01544.jpg

[BonfireBeads]

After you have completed adding your stripes it is time for you to punty up. I always use the same kind of glass I am working with as my punty. Some people use boro or metal chopsticks as punties, but I have found that I am too lazy to look for anything that isn't right under my nose. In addition to being convenient, there is no fear of the glass breaking off during a crucial moment of twisting or a bit of your boro mixing with your other glass and contaminating it. It just seems to work better for me. It is also a great way to get rid of some of the scummy clear you might have lying around. So, get the end of your punty glowing and push it into the end of your cane. Make sure to cover the entire end with the punty. Catch all of your stringer and don't leave any of the nile green showing so it will all pull evenly.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/bonfirebeads/DSC01546.jpg http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/bonfirebeads/DSC01547.jpg

[BonfireBeads]

Now you are ready to heat it all up until it kind of puckers a bit in the center. Don't forget to heat all sides of your gather evenly so you can get a nice pull on it. When it is glowing evenly take it out of the flame and wait a couple of seconds to let a bit of a skin form. Then slowly start to pull. If you have heated the edges too much and it seems a bit uncontrollable to you, blow on the spots where it is puntied up to stiffen the glass up a bit.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/bonfirebeads/DSC01549.jpg http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/bonfirebeads/DSC01550.jpg

When the glass starts to get harder to pull...pull faster! It takes a bit of practice, but it really isn't any harder than pulling regular stringer. When you have it the desired length and thickness, dip your needle nose pliers in water and pick the spot you want to chill to cut your stringer. Wiggle the pliers just a bit and the glass will snap off clean. That's all there is to it. (I really should have cleaned up my bench before my hubby took these pics!)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/bonfirebeads/DSC01552.jpg

[Janine]

Thank you, Angie! I am going to go try it!

[CorriDawn]

thanks Angie. I normally put the black under the encasing.