off Mandrel Starfish Tutorial request

[glassmom]

I have seen some lovely off mandrel starfish. Anyone have a tutorial they would be willing to share? [-o<
thanks
teresa

[AnnDK]

Oh! I'm going to watch this thread.... I'd like to get a tip or two (or 10) too

;) Ann

[Marjo]

I'm watching too. I live near the ocean and I know people around here would love starfish. Anyone? [-o<[-o<[-o<

[glassmom]

Hi: Still hoping someone has something they would share. Being a "visual" person, am having difficulty trying to figure them out. Anyone out there wanting to share to us newbies? Thanks.:waving:
Teresa

[HensleyArtglass]

tried it out over last week and the beggining of this one i'll post how i do em tommorow

[glassmom]

Thank you.We look forward to what you are willing to share.
Teresa

[HensleyArtglass]

K here goes couldn't get access to a camera like I wanted but I'll give it a try anyway.

1. Get a good sized rod of the color or clear you want to be the base of the starfish and fuse it on one (or both for a shorter rod of color) side(s) with clear for a handle/handles

2. Make 5 or more equal (or as close as you can get) gathers of the rod with tapered ends so they look kinda like rounded off diamonds connected at the long ends.

3. Heat half of each gather and flatten half of each leg. You can do this individually or all at once.

4. Pull the leftmost or rightmost leg off the series of legs and attach it to the series to make roughly a v shape with the one you detached it to

5. A) Attach a punty to the tip of the leg which is now on the end of the series and pull the v of legs off so that one is off to the side. B) Now pull off another leg by attaching it to the other side of the v you pulled off to make a \|/ shape

6. Pull the last two apart and attach them to the bottom to make a 5 pointed star just make sure all the legs are flat on the same side what you want being the bottom. Now that you have a basic starfish shape you can elongate each leg and curve it to give them some character I recommend doing this at the same time you add the top color in the next step.

* If you like what you have and don't want to add anything else or just want to keep it simple you can stop after just elongating and curving and skip step #7

7. Decorate the top with random sized dots and melt them in about halfway then flip it over and put a few dots of a different color on the bottom these will be suckers so I put a few on each are an maybe a couple around the center. Heat each of these dots on the bottom and press them with a small tungsten pick or something of the like to make them into a sucker shape. sometimes I even decorate the bottom of the legs with frit before putting the suckers on

8. Finally, decide which leg you want to be on the top and make the very end of it into a loop or attach it to a bead if thats what you like to do. If you want to just have a sculptural starfish just dont make a loop and make it slightly bigger lol. Fire polish anything you need to and throw it in the kiln. If you make them small enough you can just put them on a hot plate or in some fiber or vermiculite.

**For some really fun sculptural fun make eight legs or eight legs and two tentacles(legs with ovaled ends and suckers only on one flattened end of the oval part) and attach a head for an octopus of sqiud respectively. Do this before decorating and/or elongating. Then fuse it to some seaweed(green ribbon cane made wavy), mount it to something after kilning, or just bend the legs to where they make it stand alone.

Whew! There goes hope it all makes sense tell me if you have any questions. Post pics of what you guys end up making plz. I'll try and get pitures to add to this soon.


Sincerely,
Austin Hensley

[Hels]

Austin, I didn't quite understand the instructions, but I wanted to let you know that you totally inspired me to try a starfish, and I made a really nice one because of it :). Thanks!!!

[PaulaD]

Ooooh I've got to try this!!

Paula

[abeadgal]

If you ever want to take a great class try Stephanie Sersich .... she makes awesome starfish and she's a fabulous teacher. Check it out at www.sssbeads.com
Good Luck with the starfish...they are great fun.
Kristi

[Kaleidoglass]

Oooh, ooooh, i would love to see pictures of the steps. I kinda know what's going on in the instructions but would love to have it clarified with pics.

[voic]

I found a great starfish tutorial along with pics over at the Melting Pot. Here it is:

http://www.thegldg.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16013

[Marjo]

Wow great tut, Medicated Meltdown. Thanks for posting the link, voic.

[Cosmo]

Here are the ones I used to do:

http://www.cosmoglassworks.com/images/IMG_9199.jpg

How I do them is to take 5 clear rods and coat about 1" of the end of them in the color you want to use. Melt the color in and ball up the end.

Use gravity to stretch the gather out into a leg shape. Clear rod up, color at the bottom. Gentle heat will elongate it.

Take two of the gathers and attach them together at the thickest part. There is no actual "body" of the starfish. By attaching the gathers together you are making the body.

Remove the clear rod from one leg and shape it.

Repeat with the other 3 legs. You will now have a starfish with 4 finished legs and one still attached to the clear rod.

Punty up to one of the legs opposite the clear rod and remove the final clear rod. Attach a loop behind one of the legs, add the little dots on top of the legs for decoration if you want, remove the punty, flame polish, and stick into the kiln.



I don't make these any more. I made 30 for a custom order (the customer posted on here looking for someone to make them). She didn't like them after she got them and sent them back, and I had to refund her money to her. I then smashed them into little bits with a hammer.

Anyone want to buy some tiny starfish bits?

[Celtic Echo Designs]

The customer didn't like those????:shock::wtf::flip:

They're beautiful!!

~Triscia

[Cosmo]

She said that since there is a groove where the legs join together, they looked "low quality".

[FlameFilly]

I don't make these any more. I made 30 for a custom order (the customer posted on here looking for someone to make them). She didn't like them after she got them and sent them back, and I had to refund her money to her. I then smashed them into little bits with a hammer.

That sucks. For custom orders there should be no return policy. People don't understand how much work goes into making these pieces! I wish you didn't smash them though, they would've found good homes sooner or later I'm sure. They are gorgeous.

She said that since there is a groove where the legs join together, they looked "low quality"

That is just a line of s**t. Some people are just cranks and like to screw people around. Sorry that happened to you :(

[playswithfire104]

She said that since there is a groove where the legs join together, they looked "low quality".



Give me a break!

You could have sold them I'm sure. Oh well now you have 'Starfish frit'.

[Cosmo]

That sucks. For custom orders there should be no return policy. People don't understand how much work goes into making these pieces! I wish you didn't smash them though, they would've found good homes sooner or later I'm sure. They are gorgeous.



That is just a line of s**t. Some people are just cranks and like to screw people around. Sorry that happened to you :(

Well, I'm one of the people that believes the customer is always right I guess. With the way the internet works, all it takes is one angry customer to ruin someone's reputation, and I didn't want to take that chance.

I probably shouldn't have smashed them, but at the time it sure did make me feel better...

[voic]

Those were beautiful man! damn...

[PaulaD]

Chad that is too bad. They are pretty and I am sure would have sold on ebay. Paula

[Cosmo]

Chad that is too bad. They are pretty and I am sure would have sold on ebay. Paula

NOTHING sells on Ebay. I have sold less than 1% of the stuff I've listed on Ebay. If I want to sell it, I have to give it away. Those starfish retail for $30. I would have been lucky to get $10 for them on Ebay. I tried some on Etsy before I got this order and didn't sell a single one.

[RuskinDesigns]

Another way to make starfish is this:

Heat up a gather of glass and smash it like a maria. Cut it five times all the way to the rod (I use a 6mm rod) then heat up each lobe and using a 3-4mm punty with a small tip on it - grab the back of the lobe and pull. Grabbing the back helps ease out some of the fullness so that they don't look too much like flowers.

Ignore that ugly POS on top :)
115015

[susanlambert]

I took a class with Stephanie. She demos the starfish, but makes it clear it's a signature bead for her. I've wanted to make some but felt uncomfortable with it, so it's nice to see other starfish here. I like them and think it would be fun to have a starfish and shell necklace.

[Cosmo]

I took a class with Stephanie. She demos the starfish, but makes it clear it's a signature bead for her. I've wanted to make some but felt uncomfortable with it, so it's nice to see other starfish here. I like them and think it would be fun to have a starfish and shell necklace.

If someone shows you how to do something, you have the right to do it...

[Kaleidoglass]

wow, these are all great.
BTW, Chad, they were beautiful. But they are now in glass starfish heaven!

[susanlambert]

Cosmo... I figure when you pay for a class and are taught something that yes, you should be able to do it. Guess I'll practice some starfish :-)

[HensleyArtglass]

Well I'll have to rewrite it and get some pics for you sorry for any confusion.

[sharyl]

Chad wonderful starfish. I understand the smashing bit.

Jodie I was kinda liking the POS at the top I was studying it before the starfish.

ok off to see if I can make some of these.

[Heather/Ericaceae]

Chad, what bad taste your customer had! I love your extremely HIGH-quality starfish. Hopefully you'll be able to enjoy them again someday! I personally like the grooves - they add dimensionality.

I make these guys too, in soft glass, using the same flattened-fritted-gather-cut-into-five-"petals" technique that Jodie described, except I do it lollypop style, not maria-style. This technique also creates major groovage. I pre-shape the "petals" into rough points using micro-masher tweezers bent into a 45% angle (my favorite tool!), then pull them into slightly twisted points (the slight pinwheel twist at the tip helps hide my inevitable assymetry!) The "petal" attached to the punty becomes the loop-point. I just call them "stars" - customers interpret them as they like.

Forgive the bad photo quality, it's just from my inventory pics. :)

[Heather/Ericaceae]

I am such a loser, I need visuals. Can anybody show this step by step, or on a video? I would so love that. CC2

Okay, here's my best Paint-style tutorial!

Step one:
118670
Make a big gather. Make it in one colour, many colours, fritted - it's up to you. Then, squish it into a lollipop. I like to use lentil-style mashers but flat works too.

Step two:
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Cut the gather into five "petals" using steel scissors. I usually start with the centred cut at the tip of the lollipop, then do the two cuts on either side of the glass handle, then the final two between those. If you don't get perfect fifths, don't worry - you can pull off excess glass in later steps.

Step three:
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Use a small paddle or, for faster results, a star masher, to shape the "petals" into rough points. Also shape the fins on either side of the glass handle.

Step four:
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Punty onto one of the two points furthest from the handle. Go ahead and do a hot seal, since this join needs to be pretty secure!

Step five:
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Make a loop by heating, stretching and looping the glass from the tip of the original handle-rod around to the back of the top star point. Once you've tacked the lop onto the back, flame-cut the connection point and free the original handle. (From this step on it will be used as a cold-seal punty to pull out the star points)

Step six:
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(This image is a side view) Melt in the loop "tail" left from the handle and ream out the loop hole until it is a good size. Remember that the loop should stay *behind* the point, not at the top (if you want it to be "invisible".)
Now, heat the *front* of the looped point deeply and evenly. Warm the tip of your point-pulling punty slightly, then blow on the tip and barely touch it to the point just below the tip, on the front. Pull this out to a point and curve it slightly like a pinwheel. Blow on the connection point - if your cold seal was successful, it should just wiggle off. If necessary, you can nip it off, or as a last resort, flame-cut it off. Don't struggle with it or you can lose your current handle punty!

Step seven:
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Pull and curve the other three points that don't have a punty. You can attach your cold-seal right at the tip of these ones because you don't have a loop to hide. This is the stage at which you would pull off excess glass if you have one or two extra-big points.

Step eight:
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Flash your entire star in the flame to even out the heat. Warm a hook-shaped dental pick in the flame and insert it into the loop. Heat the connection point of the punty and try to stretch it out and curve the tip in one step. If this doesn't work you can remove the dental pick, attach another punty very delicately and fix your final tip, then re-insert the dental pick and release the final punty). Now get your finished star into the kiln, fast! You'll probably lose lots of them to cracking in the beginning, if you're working in soft glass (I know I did)! Good luck!

[sdbq1977]

Wow! Thanks for the incredible tutorial! I can't wait to try it. :)

Lisa

[Carmen Isaacs]

Heather great tutorial!

[jaci]

heather you make my all time favorite stars so I am glad that you have posted here!

[jaci]

especially the one in your avatar!!!

[PaulaD]

Heather it is really nice of you to share your technique. Thanks. Paula

[Heather/Ericaceae]

especially the one in your avatar!!!

Thanks for the comments everyone - appreciation makes it worthwhile to spend the time making tutorials! I'd love to see photos of results if anyone tries this!

Jaci - my avatar star was actually made on-mandrel, which I find harder in a lot of ways! The hole goes through the two horizintal "arms". But the colour combo is cobalt, silver leaf and rubino. :)

[tmerrill]

Hello everyone, love the tutorial! I am a newbie and I was wondering about the term 'cold seal' Iam guessing you don't heat up the punty to attach it. Would I be correct?
Teresa from Hansville

[Heather/Ericaceae]

Hello everyone, love the tutorial! I am a newbie and I was wondering about the term 'cold seal' Iam guessing you don't heat up the punty to attach it. Would I be correct?
Teresa from Hansville

It's a term I learned here on LE from Cosmo and Smiley, I think... You're definitely on the right track with your guess, except that you do have to heat up the punty a *tiny* bit. Then blow on it to cool it down. The bit you want to attach it to for stretching out (or as a *very* temporary handle) should be soft-hot but not glowing-hot. Touch them gently until you see them press together, then pull back a touch. If your timing is right, you should be able to gently snap off the punty once the other side cools down, or after blowing on the seal. It's very handy for all kinds of things!

[tmerrill]

Thank-you Heather-I'll give this a whirl!
Teresa from Hansville

[LampworkbyLori]

omg this thread is old but awesome!

[cc2]

This is awesome, thank you so much for the photos, I would never have gotten it otherwise. Trying this for sure!

[FishBulb]

Hey, what a cool tutorial! Thank you so much (if you're still here!)

[Robinj]

How did I miss the original post? This is wonderful -- thank you for sharing!

[Roo Blaty]

Lori, I'm glad you found and bumped this old thread. I don't see some of the photos tho...
also couldn't access the tut but I may need to join to do that.???