Tungsten Marble Holders?

[Hels]

I wasn't sure where to put this, so I put it here. I've been making marbles lately, and I think I drop 80% of them on the floor! Every marblemaker I have talked to has dropped their marbles at least occassionally.

Most people polish their final punty mark by raising their expensive marble molds into the edge of the flame... RIGHT into the oxygen blast (oxygen is what distroys or weakens graphite). In time, your marble mold will fall apart or flake, losing the integrity of the mold.

So the last time my marble went flying, I wondered... why doesn't anyone make tungsten marble holders? All that's required is a tweezer/plier bottom, with 2 looped pieces of tungsten attached to it. I'm sure the manufacturer of tungsten would be willing to make 2 pieces of 3/32" tungsten bars with loops if you can purchase them in quantity.

I've been bugging Dawn of Tradebears in chat about this, but I thought I'd ask here how many people would be interested in a gripper that could actually go IN the flame... marbles, vessels, sculptures, that last little leaf, pendants, repair work... who can't use a set of tongs that can go IN the fire itself?

I'd buy that in a heartbeat, and I would think most people who ever wanted to do marbles, off mandrel or solid rod work would too.

What do you think? Is there a market for this to justify a toolmaker to make it? I was thinking of making them myself, and tape them to plier handles, you can buy small tungsten rods... I just don't know how to bend the loop at the end. A professionally made set would be much much nicer...

[glamgalglass]

I would probably try them. I like new tools and make plenty of marbles.

[Ekkie]

I would probably buy them even though I don't make marbles yet. They could be used for holding pendants, implosions, etc - useful for any off-mandrel work.

I have the tungsten tweezers from Malcolm at Artco and they are wonderful - I can't imagine what I did without them. (They can't hold marbles of course.)

Jenn

[artwhim]

Helen, have you tried using a pair of looped hemostats? They are very inexpensive and come in a couple different lengths.

I make marbles and prefer to polish the punty mark with the marble in a marble mold. I find that if I angle the torch more horizontal to the table and use a tight flame it isn't too hard to hit just the punty mark. I use two marble molds, one is the infinite rim which is wonderful in every way for shaping and rounding, the other is an inexpensive 6 in 1. I use the inexpensive one to knock off into and then repunty and it is also the one I use for a final punty polish. I then use looped hemostats to transfer the marble to the kiln. I think I paid around $30 for the inexpensive one. If it finally falls apart in a few years from putting it in the flame I won't feel bad, because the process works very well for me. Honestly I've not noticed any damage at all so far.

Tungsten tends to be brittle. The advantage of using it on tweezers or picks is it can be heated hot enough to drive a hole through the hot glass. I have accidently snapped a pick off before by putting pressure on it from an angle. I'm not sure how sturdy it would be when force is put on it in the holding motion of the pliers. Plus the area of the marble being held should not be put in the flame otherwise the glass will mark and the tungsten could leave that yellow poo behind it is known for.

Just my 2 cents.

[Hels]

Hi Kathy:). Thanks, that's good info, and I hadn't thought about the 'brittle' aspect of tungsten. Hrm.

I do the same, I have an infinite marble mold now, and use my old cruddy one for punty removal. Where I run into problems is, sometimes the punty leaves too big a blob, and I have to get that off. I can't hold the marble and also pull off the punty mark. Doing it with either tweezers or another punty sends the marble flying 50% of the time:P.

My solution has been cutting off the excess punty with glass scissors. This sends molten glass flying all over the place... the table, my face, other glass, the propane tank (j/k). I could use my grabbers, but I'm not cooking my $44 grabbers (so why did I buy them? I dunno... ).

Just thought there might be a better way. Looped hemostats sound good... I need to find some of those... haven't seen them anywhere.

[artwhim]

The more you practice, the better your cold seals will be and you will be less likely to have a blob left behind. I had that problem often when I started making them too. Every now and then I will still have one that is a problem. What I do is repunty to the other side and clean up the bad punty mark by tearing away the excess glass with another clear rod. Just make sure you don't overheat the new punty where it is attached and it should release cleaner than the other did. Never be afraid to punty back up if something isn't right, often it's the only efficient way to fix a problem. As the marble gets closer to being "done" you end up using less overall heat and that helps the punties used later in the process to release cleaner than the ones used in the beginning shaping phase. At least that's how it seems to work for me.

Several different vendors sell the looped hemostats. I think mine may have come from Arrow Springs, but I've seen them listed other places. I like the 9"(longer ones) because I'm less likely to burn myself when placing the marble in the kiln.

You've learned a lot in a short time. I love how you aren't afraid to jump in and try something!

[Hels]

Thanks Kathy:). Glass has not been 'inate' for me, it's come at a pretty hefty effort and time spent burning up gasses and glasses continuously. But that's what makes it fun. I'll look for looped hemostats!

[artwhim]

Here's a link to the ones at Arrow Springs:

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[Tobias]

Looped hemostats for me almost ensures that I drop my marble, great for a pendant, couldn't live without them there. As for the marbles so far the best thing for me is just a stainless tong...I don't have much problem cleaning up the punty unless i've attached it wrong...tight flame buzzing around the mark not directly on it <creates a flat spot or dent if you blast directly on it>and not all at once is the way to do it.

[lavendar420]

I wouldn't necessarily want to use tungsten hemos to clean up punty marks, but my tungsten tweezers are my most used tool & I'd probably buy other random tools made of tungsten as well.

[paintingwithglass]

Helen...in time you will get better at your punties. It is all about practice right now. I do not think I would purchase tungsten marble holders....but if someone said that they are the bomb and a must have tool then I probably would. :lol:

I agree about the tungsten tweezers. I purchased some after John Kobuki's class last month. Love them!!!