Striped floral cane TUTORIAL

[Dasi]

I received some graphite optic molds and I love them.

These new molds make floral cane a breeze.
Here is a quicky tutorial of how to do it!!
I must thank Nancy Faibisy for the quicky pictures she took for me. She stopped by to pick up some glass and I talked her into taking these picture.

To begin, I pick the colors I want to use. I use an opaque base with a transparent coating.

I heat the base color white and get a large blob ready to drop into the mold and get a good impression. I really like the graphite molds because you can keep dipping and re-dipping the glass into the graphite and it will not stick or get stuck….
Sometimes I will re-melt the glass and re-dip to get the perfect shape to work with.
62438

This part is optional! It gives you more definition if you need it for petals. I take a dark color and put 2mm stringer stripes into the groves of the mold. I use a dark transparent or opaque.
62439

I take a transparent and fill in the grove again with the transparent glass. Be careful not to over melt the pressed shape so you do not loose definition. I do not worry about covering the top of the petal area.
6244162452

Now I go around again and cover all the tops of the petal parts. 62450

Time to go around again and go back into the indented part and fill in the glass so that the shape has now become round.
6245362442

Here is where a Loren Stump class comes in handy!!!! I highly recommend classes with him!!! They are worth every penny!

I do a murinni cap. I put clear on the top of the floral cane.
62443

Now heat it and put your punty into the clear so that it is dead center and straight.
62444

Burn off the original rod of glass.
62445

Cap the area you just burned off with clear and apply a punty to the other end.

62454

Now heat the cane evenly making sure to not loose control and loose your shape. Heat the mass and take it out of the flame to allow the heat to sink into the center. Now heat some more.

61835

When it is all hot and ready to pull, go slowly at first and speed up as the glass hardens.

62447

I usually run out of arm length so I am glad I am flat chested…..LOL DO NOT TRY THIS WITH BIG ………
I drop one end down and let it keep dropping until it gets to my feet. Then I hold the punty between my feet and pull some more…….
I wish I could claim I thought of this myself….but good old Loren did this once and I had to try it….

6244862449

I hope you have fun creating floral cane with these wonderful new graphite molds designed by hillsidegardensartstudio and machined by Weaverind. Here is a link to them…

http://cgi.ebay.com/Optic-Mold-Graphite-Lampwork-Glass-Bead-8-Point-7-8_W0QQitemZ320092164797QQcategoryZ3101QQtcZphotoQQ cmdZViewItem

[Ruth Nichols]

Great tutorial Heather! Thanks for pointing out and mentioning my tools!

[Curly Irish Girl]

Great Tut, Heather! I make petal cane pretty much the same way....the only difference is that my initial mold is a quick and easy home made tool.....it's a base block of cherry that has holes drilled in a circle and 1/16 mandrels cut & bent outward as the groove guides. It's fashioned after the tools I've used with glass blowing.....I soak it in water before I use it just like with hot glass.

[danelady]

Kewl Tut Heather!

[Dasi]

wHAT i LIKE MOST ABOUT THE GRAPHITE MOLDS IS THE PRICE....

[villa design]

Great tutorial Heather! I have to try that. :)

[glassymom]

Very cool, thanks for showing this!!!
Sue

[fritobsessed]

Dag nabbit - they're all gone :(

Great tut by the way!

[MaryBeth]

Dag nabbit - they're all gone :(

Great tut by the way!

There's plenty left here:

http://stores.ebay.com/WeaverInd_Optic-Molds_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ7QQftidZ2QQtZkm


Thanks for the tut, Heather!

[Rachel]

wonderful. I have been thinking about trying these. Thanks so much for the insipration and the links. I had no idea where to buy them.

great tutorial.

[Raven Wylder]

Great Tutorial, Heather! Will have to add that to my ebay list.

[ltsexpressions]

Great tut Heather! I so admire your beads and your heart is generous as well!

I actually ordered one of the 8 petal molds Saturday or so, and am hoping it's here soon! Maybe I'll get to make some cane Thursday night! (have to work late 2night and 2morrow night, bummer...)

[Humble newbie]

Great tut. Can you show us something with one of the petals you made?
Thanks!

[busy_beads]

fantastic tut!! I love the hint about using your feet to hold the punty!!

elise

[collectiblesbyrose]

Great tut....thanks! Now, how do you make a flower petal with this? Do you slice off pieces? Or use it as stringer to make the flower?

[villa design]

Today I pulled cane using the mold but unfortunately ran out of time to use them! Didn't try the feet method but had a friend help me. :) Gonna hafta to play with the new cane next time.

[Dasi]

I am on it today. I will get time to torch and make some petals with the cane and take a few pictures of the finished cane.

This past weekend was my sons Bar Mitzvah and we had 60 out of town guests plus hundreds of locals... Lots of parties and food. I am an idiot and did most of the cooking all week. I am glad I have l lots of friends who came to help me pull it all off. I am not the fancy caterer type....LOL.

Anyway off to the torch!!!

[Marie C]

REALLY GREAT TUTORIAL!!! Thanks! I'm going to try the foot method, for pulling.

Warmly, Marie C

[fyrebeadz*]

I am anxious to see how you use this cane too! Show pix please!!!! BTW-the foot method works great!!!!!!!

[River Horse Studio]

great demo Heather! You insprired me and I went to their ebay site and bought some items. =D>

Hugs.. Holly

[Clingingvine]

I am the wild and crazy photographer. Heather is an amazing lampworker. She showed me the cool molds and since I am not a lampworker YET (still in training), i wondered what they were for. She showed me!! i loved watching and seeing the product. Wait till you see how she does it from there. I love visiting with Heather, it is always a learning experience. Thanks, Heather :) I have yet another cast on my foot... see you later!!! sincerely, Nancy

[swanseafarm]

Fabulous tutorial.
And I love your jeans.
:D

[Bubbyanne]

Okay, I have silently drooled over Heather's gorgeous floral beads for a long time now. She does beautiful work.
Thank you so much for sharing your cane technique. This tutorial is awesome and now I have an optic mold on the way! :happy: I love making encased floral beads and this is right up my alley. :D :wink:
I've been checking back on this thread often to see the pics Heather has mentioned she'd share.
Where are the pics?!
Patiently waiting. 16528 :lol:

[Dasi]

So sorry....life keeps getting in the way!!

I have not gotten my photo booth set up yet.
Here is a bead with the cane on it. Side 1 and 2.
6355163552

[playswithfire104]

I just got an optic mold and can't wait to play with it! Thanks sooooooooo much for sharing!

[flamemoth]

m-mmm well worth the wait..:) I love your florals Heather. I'm going to give this a try with the optic molds, thanks for the tutorial.

[Bubbyanne]

Heather, I was just teasing about the pics, having a life is a good thing.
Maybe I should get one too and stop being so impatient. LOL!
Thanks a bunch for putting the tut together and sharing it with us.

Gorgeous bead as usual!

[Dasi]

Thank you for the compliments. I really appreciate it.

I took down my photo area to clean up for all the family that converged on my home this past weekend. Now I am trying to get my different work areas put back together. The fusing on the dining room. The photo area on the air hockey table. The Jewelry assembly...... well.... all over the house.
Has your glass studio taken over your homes too????

[Emily]

I met the guy (Leon) from Weaver Industries on Saturday, and he said since Heather's tutorial they're having a hard time keeping the optic molds in stock. (But keep ordering -- I'm sure they'll keep right on making them!)

[Ruth Nichols]

Wonderful bead Heather!!!

[Ruth Nichols]

Emily... Isn't Leon a doll? How in the world did you meet him on a Saturday? LOL... that is one busy BUSY dude!

[ddossett]

Thanks for the tip on using your feet to hold one end of the pull -- sometimes I run out of arm length and it's great to have a backup plan. Nice tut!
Doug

[loribeads]

I just got one of those 8 point optic molds and I can't believe I have lived without one for so long. It makes absolutely perfect leaf and flower cane. I am so thrilled with it!!!

[Dasi]

That is why I wrote the tutorial. I love the product and I thought others would if they knew how to use it!

If you have ever used a metal optic mold, you will find the glass can stick and then you have to start over. No matter how hot the graphite gets it does not stick. Plus, the price is unbelievable! A bargain! that is not so easy to find with glass tools.

Glad you liked it- the tools so much. I did too.
here is another link to the items.
http://stores.ebay.com/WeaverInd_W0QQsspagenameZL2QQtZkm

[loribeads]

Fantastic tutorial, Heather. Awesome! 5 stars!!!

[Ruth Nichols]

Heather is a great person and wonderful teacher. Lori... can't wait to see what you do with the mold!

[tiggybubba]

I got my molds and I want to make some cane....do you have to do anything to prepare the molds ? clean them or anything or just go for it?

[Ruth Nichols]

You can clean them with mild soap and a soft cloth or stuff some waste molten glass in the cavity prior to using it for your project. Hope that helps.

[WildBird]

I have one of those and I also would like to throw in that Weaver Ind. are nicest vendors and are so helpful.
And when I was a teenager and was into macramae, I used to use my toes in front of the T.V. to hold the beginning of my creations when they would get long, BUT I NEVER THOUGHT OF USING MY FEET to pull stringer! LOL That is very cool....

WildBird

[Dasi]

This optic mold looks great!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=011&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=320119037540&rd=1&rd=1

I love their molds..

[Virginia]

I LOVE Leon's optic molds - I make multi colored twisted cane with them - pics of one below - V

[Dasi]

Really nice!

[effemess]

Bump

[beadgal]

I just found this again. LOVE it!!!

[Dasi]

wow thanks... forgot about this tutorial.... I was laughing when I saw the pictures. I finally got back into those jeans and tried them on last week! to bad they are now out of fashion.

[Sdumortier]

Very nice. Thanks.

[Katerinoula]

Gret tutorial! Thank you!!

I think I might even be adventurous enough to try it today...

[LaughnSandy]

This is a great photo tutorial, thank you!