Retticello on HH?

[SuzFromOz]

Hi everyone,

last time I did a big glass order, I bought lots of little extras (shippng from US costs me a mint, so i was stocking up). One of the little extras I sprang for was 2 rods of retticello. Well, when I got them, they were MUCH thicker than I expected. I sort of though they'd be like thick stringer, not full rods. Anyway, I assume that they are hard to use without distorting the design, and that you must make sure you dont pull back when applying them? My query is that I use a HH, and while I can do a lot of things on it, heating glass quickly (especially with clear) is not one of them - I am worried I wont be able to heat the rod enough to apply without distorting the design. Any hints? Is it possible, or should I hang on to them until I get to use a bigger torch (I am unlikely to ave my own minor any time soon, but have a friends I am going to play on)

Suzanne

[orodrago]

Hey Suz,
Im on a HH too, and I havent tried Reticello, but Id have a go - nothing ventured nothing gained, and who knows, you might get something totally cool even if its not what you were after....

Course, if I had a friend with a hotter torch, Id be over there pestering them! :-D

Let us know how you go!

Cheers,
Lavender

[cghipp]

Can you heat the rod up, pull some "thick stringer" like you wanted, and try that?

Courtney

[SuzFromOz]

Thanks guys. My problem is that retticello has a complex design of stripes within the glass (think dna strands) and is also REALLY expensive per rod, so I dont want to waste it by just 'giving it a go' - cant afford to, and I think I would distort it by pulling stringer too. Anybody out there actually used it?? Particularly on a HH?

Suzanne

[luke gardner]

Are you sure you don't mean filigree?

[Heather/Ericaceae]

If you've already gotten the hang of pulling twisted stringers, you should be able to pull the retticello down as long as you twist it in the same direction while you're pulling. If you've got a whole rod or two, then heating a reasonably-sized gather and attempting a twisted pull shouldn't be *too* much of a waste, even if your first few attempts don't turn out perfectly... Give it a try! If you're nervous, practice pulling twisties from transparents first for a while to build up your confidence. (Try four white stripes on the surface of clear, twisted tightly - looks like netting!) You can do it! :)
-Heather

[cghipp]

How about this: nip off a small piece, punty it up onto two rods and pull it into a stringer. If you pull straight out it will straighten the reticello twists, of course, so if you don't want that you can twist while you pull, like Heather said.