Is it that easy to melt brass in the flame?? (just about destroyed new tool)

[Lisi]

I got some of those cute Microshapers from Maria (Whimsicalities) and was using the very sharp tipped one to rake some stringer on a bead. After I dipped the tool end in water and went back to raking, it steamed and crackle popped a little and then the bead looked like it had a bubble of something trapped in it. When the tool cooled down I looked at it and the sharp tip is 'cauliflowered'.

D***! Is my torch that darn hot??! How do I expect to rake glass and water cool the tips in between each rake then?? Would I be better off with SS dental tools??

:( I ruined my brand new tool...

[lavendar420]

I don't think its supposed to go in the flame! Stainless either... as far as I know, titanium is the only tool material that's a-ok with the flame.

[Lisi]

Then how do you get the little glass bits off the tip? I've always put them back in the flame and then dipped the tip in water for the 'ssssst' to pop the glass off. That's what I was doing. Are you supposed to rake out of the flame? The glass cools to rapidly to do that, and I end up dragging the bead off the mandrel.

I'm going to need something that will hold up in the flame...what about tungsten?? I know it's brittle, but hopefully melt-proof.

[squid]

I wouldn't rake with brass - rake with tungsten - it will hold up in the flame. Brass is for shaping - and I rake out of the flame actually, never in it. I try to not get my tool hot enough so that the glass sticks.

[squid]

tungsten is very very very flame proof

[Lisi]

tungsten is very very very flame proof

Thanks! That's what I need because I like to work very hot and fast. Should have been a boro girl...

[MaryBeth]

You need to rake out of the flame. Let your bead cool slightly then hit the area that you want to rake with the hottest part of your flame. This should heat the part that you want to rake while leaving the glass beneath it cool.
Then take your bead out of the flame and rake.

Basically you want a cool core bead and a hot skin to rake. It's a technique that does take some practice but it is well worth it to learn how to do it;-)

[Judi_B]

I ruined the tip of a brass pointy tool that way too :(
Stainless steel works fine though. You can put it into the flame and then into water to clean the glass off. I learned that from a Kate Fowle video. She demos raking with the bead in the flame and the stainless steel rake just above the flame, raking as the bead comes up out of the flame and cleaning off the pick in water each time. As Mary Beth said, you start with the bead fairly cool so that only the surface get hot enough to rake.

[evilglass]

Stainless steel is safe for it...though my tools eventually die. Yeah, I know out of the flame, out of the flame, but blech. I'll replace my butter knife someday, LOL.

[IF-Designs]

I usually rake with a glass stringer if I need to rake something that needs to be super hot and gooey to rake other wise I rake outside the flame when I heat it up...I use beeswax on my tools too so they dont stick.