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alexm
2005-12-13, 1:51pm
I’ve had several requests for a tutorial on blowing shards, so here it is. I have to first apologize for the quality of the photos. My friend took two digital cards worth of photos of me, but when I was transferring the pictures from the card to my computer the second time, my computer crashed and wiped out the second set. I chose the best pictures from the first set we did, but I have to warn you, some of them are blurry. I think they get my meaning across though.


To blow shards you’ll need a hollow stainless steel mandrel with a ¼” interior diameter. I use clear glass for blowing the shards. I think clear glass adds a luminous glow to the shards that opaque glass does not. Here is your chance to use up any scummy, bubbly or scratched clear glass. You will also need some frits. I use powdered or #00 frit and #1 frits.

I have played with making shards for a week now and did some research, but I am by no means as expert at this. Any glass blowers reading this will probably snicker.

It is important to avoid having “blowouts” when blowing glass. A blowout is just what it sounds like, you blow a hole through the glass. The reason you want to avoid this is that when a blowout happens, it spews a gazzilion tiny shards of almost microscopic sized glass particles in the air. You don’t want to breathe these in or get them in your eyes. The good news is that once you get it, blowing glass shards is easy to do and you won’t have any blowouts.

Start by applying a doughnut of glass to the end of the mandrel just as if you were laying down a footprint on a regular mandrel. You don't want any bead release, just a naked mandrel. You want the glass to be flush with the tip of the tube, but not going over the edge and obstructing the end of tube. It should look like a skinny doughnut bead.


I am showing three rather fuzzy pictures here, but I think you’ll get the idea.

alexm
2005-12-13, 1:52pm
Now start applying more glass to the side of the doughnut, making sure that you keep the center open. You will soon have a tube of glass. Keep the center open until you have nearly used up the entire rod of glass, then seal the opening and add an extra dab of glass to the top. This is important because you will want to have a bubble of air in the center of the ball of glass you are creating. You won’t be able to blow anything but blowouts if you don’t have that bubble of air in the center.

alexm
2005-12-13, 1:53pm
Slowly get the whole gob of glass molten. You don’t want to heat too fast because you will collapse the bubble of air inside the glass. Once you’ve collapsed the bubble you will have to start all over again. This is a picture of the bubble of air inside the molten glob of glass. You want to get the glob of glass hot enough to round up and smooth out, but not so hot that it’s runny.

alexm
2005-12-13, 1:54pm
Let the glass cool down a bit. We are now ready to apply color to the glass. At this point you will be keeping the glass surface hot enough to apply frits and hot enough to melt the frits into the surface of the glass, but not hot enough to make the glob unmanageable or to collapse the bubble or air. I usually roll the glass into powdered frit or #00 frit 2 or 3 times, melting it in smooth in between. Then I roll it once in #1 or #2 frit and again melt it smooth.

alexm
2005-12-13, 1:55pm
I’m now ready to blow it out. Heat the gob of glass in the flame until you have it molten, but not runny molten. The object here is to have the glass evenly hot and soft enough to blow, but not so hot that it’s out of control. A bright orange glow seems to be idea for me.

Take the glass out of the flame, take a deep breath and blow. It helps to blow downwards a little bit and to rotate the mandrel until the glass is cool enough that it doesn’t sag. You want steady, even pressure from your lungs, you don’t want to blast the air as hard as you can or else you’ll have the dreaded blowout. It will take moderate pressure from your lungs. Often the first time I do this nothing seems to happen, but I think what happens is that the air bubble inside expands a little bit without me noticing anything from the outside. Place the glass in the flame again and rewarm to a nice orange glow. Try blowing again. It often takes me two blows to blow it big enough. Remember, you want steady pressure, not a hard blustering blow. You should see the glass start to expand. Keep up steady, even pressure until it no longer expands.

These two pictures show a blown bubble and the broken shards. Notice that one side of the bubble is very thin while the other side of the bubble is much more solid. This happens sometimes and I think it’s due to inconsistent thickness of glass, so it’s important to wind the glass on as evenly as possible. Still, I managed to avoid a blowout this time. I had a picture of a much better bubble, but of course the computer crash ate that one.

alexm
2005-12-13, 1:56pm
Congratulations, you’ve done it. I use a large coffee can to break the glass bubble off the mandrel and into shards. MAKE SURE YOU ARE WEARING SAFETY GLASSES TO BREAK THE BUBBLE TO PROTECT YOUR EYES FROM FLYING GLASS. I use another hollow mandrel to break the bubble off the mandrel. Dunk the mandrel into a glass of water to shock off any remaining glass.

NOTE: If you get a blowout near the end of the mandrel and it looks like a flap of glass blew off, it’s because you let the air bubble collapse.

Applying the Shards to Beads

I had several great photos of applying the shards to beads, but they died in the computer crash. I’ll paint a word picture instead. It’s pretty easy. I hold the shard to the bead and move both of them into the edge of the flame. The shard will start to melt and turn orange and that’s when you want to apply GENTLE pressure to stick it to the bead. Don’t stay in one place too long, just keep moving. When you are done wrapping the shard around the bead, you can go back and clean it up a little if you wish. I heat any part of the shard that stick up too much and gently mash it down with my brass shaping tool. I bathe the entire bead in the flame to make sure that it evenly warm and then pop it into the kiln.


Ok, I’m done! Go forth and make shards!

Gelly
2005-12-13, 2:21pm
Thanks Alex! I'll have to try it w/clear and then decorate... here is my first attempt... it's a pretty uneven "bubble" but it didn't blowout!! Now, I just gotta smash it. \\:D/


10886

flamemoth
2005-12-13, 2:34pm
Great pics Alex, I'm excited to give this a go again. Maybe I'll be successful this time :)
Thanks!

minxglass
2005-12-13, 3:57pm
FABULOUS tut Alex! Thanks sooo MUCH for taking the time to show us, with pictures! Gotta try this tonight!
Thanks again!
Barb

Rose Leslie
2005-12-13, 5:21pm
Thank you for the tutorial on the shards. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I will though. Thanks so much again.

Lynn Larson
2005-12-14, 8:54am
Absolutely wonderful Alex!! I can't wait to try it. Thank you!!

SuzFromOz
2005-12-14, 8:56am
Thanks Alex - awesome tute, very clear and easy to follow. As I have only heard this technique described in writing, I was never sure I had visualised it correctly - now I know.

GreatBeadsOfFire
2005-12-14, 9:32am
Thanks Alex...you are so sweet to put so much work into it! Great tutorial! I can't wait to try it tonight.

8298

SuzyQ
2005-12-14, 9:33am
The pictures make it! Thanks so much for taking the time to do this.

softbleu
2005-12-14, 10:14am
Great tutorial, Alex. I really needed this because I have been really wanting to try it.

I have a question: If you end up with a shard that is a little big, do you think it would look ok if I cut it with some round blade cutters to make it into smaller pieces? Have you ever done this or do you just smash it with the other mandrel?

boheme'
2005-12-14, 10:28am
Alex thank you so much for doing this. The pictures and your descriptions make it look so easy. Can't wait to try it this weekend. Have a super day.

alexm
2005-12-14, 10:35am
Great tutorial, Alex. I really needed this because I have been really wanting to try it.

I have a question: If you end up with a shard that is a little big, do you think it would look ok if I cut it with some round blade cutters to make it into smaller pieces? Have you ever done this or do you just smash it with the other mandrel?

I haven't the foggiest idea. I don't think it would work because the shards are curved and because they're pretty thin. I would think they would break if you tried to do it that way, but who am I to say no? Try it and let us know. Just be careful, they're SHARP!

coyotesfamily
2005-12-14, 12:05pm
hmmm now that I have my hollow mandrel (thanks alex :D ) I am going to go and try this...it looks like something that i could easily screw up LOL

so if I blow out it is possible to start over or what would i do?

alexm
2005-12-14, 12:09pm
hmmm now that I have my hollow mandrel (thanks alex :D ) I am going to go and try this...it looks like something that i could easily screw up LOL

so if I blow out it is possible to start over or what would i do?

It depends. Sometimes parts of it are usable, but most of the time it's just best to whack off all the glass and start over again.

lilypond bead designs
2005-12-14, 3:43pm
Thanks Alex! But i have to tell you I made shards the first time I tried to blow a vessel!LOL It popped and scared me to death! I haven't revisited the hollow tube again but I will now!

GreatBeadsOfFire
2005-12-14, 4:47pm
Great tutorial, Alex. I really needed this because I have been really wanting to try it.

I have a question: If you end up with a shard that is a little big, do you think it would look ok if I cut it with some round blade cutters to make it into smaller pieces? Have you ever done this or do you just smash it with the other mandrel?

Christy, after the blown piece cooled, I just banged on it with my brass marver until they broke into smaller pieces. :-D Fun...I like breaking things! LOL

JCHerrellGlass
2005-12-15, 9:56am
Thanks, Alex! Awesome tutorial!

Toozygoot
2005-12-15, 11:41am
Thank you ALex for the great tut and awesome pics! I just got my Tink mandrel and as soon as the garage warms up again I will give this a try!
YOu put a lot of work into this!

pat

Anne Ricketts
2005-12-15, 1:32pm
I just got done with another set of shard beads. I tried them before when Jen put up her tutorial and this one is a great one also Alex! I finally got some thinner shards so I hope the set turns out! It looked very organic-y going in the kiln so hope they look good coming out! :lol:

Gayle_Herring
2005-12-15, 5:32pm
Thank you, Alex, for the great tutorial. It's so good that you are willing to share your time and knowledge. =D> =D>

Anne Ricketts
2005-12-15, 8:29pm
Hey can we post pics on this thread? I don't want to step on any toes so if not that's fine too!

alexm
2005-12-16, 10:54pm
Hey can we post pics on this thread? I don't want to step on any toes so if not that's fine too!

I'd love to see your work, please post your pictures!

Sue H-K
2005-12-16, 11:05pm
How fun was that!!! I finally had some time to go out and blow shards (sucessfully in the first try thanks to Alex and Jen Geldard) I almost hated to break my big bubble as it was really nice and symmetrical. If I'd had some hot fingers I would have somehow gotten it off the mandrel and made a christmas ornament...anyway, I've a "sharded heart" in the kiln right now and I can't wait to see it in the morning!

Anne Ricketts
2005-12-17, 5:25am
Ok Alex, thanks! For those of you that missed the showcases these are a couple of sets and a couple of focals made with shards. :biggrin:

dla
2005-12-17, 6:01am
Great beads Anne ! Ok, now i want to try this again ! First couple of times for me were more than just blow outs ! They were fly aways ! lol !

Anne Ricketts
2005-12-17, 6:20am
Thank ya ma'am! These are very addicting!! LOL!

alexm
2005-12-17, 10:33am
Anne, those are really nice, great job!

About making Christmas ornaments, I'm going to experiment with using the hollow mandrel dipped in bead release. As long as don't get it too thin it should work, don't you think? Oh wait, it won't fit in my small kiln, dang! I'll have to think about it. Maybe I could rent some time at a studio where they have larger kilns. Those of you who have larger kilns and want to try it, please post pictures here.

GreatBeadsOfFire
2005-12-17, 10:51am
Here is one that I did. Hopefully I'll have time to try some more later today. Thanks again, Alex!

11212

alexm
2005-12-17, 11:44am
Here is one that I did. Hopefully I'll have time to try some more later today. Thanks again, Alex!

11212

I love the choice of colors, great job!

GreatBeadsOfFire
2005-12-17, 12:01pm
I love the choice of colors, great job!

Thanks Alex! :biggrin:

Anne Ricketts
2005-12-17, 8:24pm
Gina that is so pretty! Good job!

softbleu
2005-12-17, 9:06pm
Christy, after the blown piece cooled, I just banged on it with my brass marver until they broke into smaller pieces. :-D Fun...I like breaking things! LOL


I made some today using the glass you sent me and some frit just like Alex's instructions. Worked really well. I have had some glassblowing classes and so once I got back into the swing of things it worked really well. I tried cutting with the round wheel but it broke into too small a pieces. I used your technique of just banging the crud out of it and it worked great. I will post pics in the gallery tomorrow.

Thanks again to both you and Alex. :)

Christy

GreatBeadsOfFire
2005-12-18, 1:43am
Gina that is so pretty! Good job!

Thanks Anne! By the way, it was so nice to meet you live and in person at Molly's!

GreatBeadsOfFire
2005-12-18, 1:45am
I made some today using the glass you sent me and some frit just like Alex's instructions. Worked really well. I have had some glassblowing classes and so once I got back into the swing of things it worked really well. I tried cutting with the round wheel but it broke into too small a pieces. I used your technique of just banging the crud out of it and it worked great. I will post pics in the gallery tomorrow.

Thanks again to both you and Alex. :)

Christy

I'm glad you had fun with the glass! You'll have to post pictures of the shard beads here, as well as, in the gallery.

Thanks again, Alex for a fantastic tutorial!

Mr. Smiley
2005-12-18, 2:18am
Awesome job Alex. here's a little video my friend did. I was just showing one of my friends how to do it at her home studio. My friend Jason shot this without me knowing at first. Hopefully this will help people as well. http://s36.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0G9SQ9D4EBJNE0I4DEEZEB7ITP

Shards are so much fun to do, but I keep burning my fingers trying to direct them... I know better than to grab the little suckers after they're too short, but sometimes I can't help myself. I just want it to go over there! Then there's a loud "Ouch!" :lol: :love:

Over the Moon
2005-12-18, 6:27am
Hey Brent! Bummer - I can't get the link to work...says something about it being broken (?!?) Is there another way to access it? Thanks - have a great day...Val

Mr. Smiley
2005-12-18, 1:07pm
Fixed it. :D Sorry about that!

softbleu
2005-12-18, 1:11pm
Here is a couple I made after reading the tutorial from Alex.

GreatBeadsOfFire
2005-12-18, 1:12pm
OMG, Smiley dude! That is so COOL! Awesome video!

GreatBeadsOfFire
2005-12-18, 1:13pm
Here is a couple I made after reading the tutorial from Alex.

Christy those are beautiful! Way to go!

alexm
2005-12-18, 1:59pm
Brent, that's a great video on blowing and using shards. Thanks for posting the link in this thread.


Christy, those look great! I'm going to have to play with twisting the edges of the shards as you did.

Jamn!
2005-12-28, 12:13pm
The link isn't working for the video. ;(

PaulaD
2005-12-29, 6:50pm
I tried this a few times last night and all I got was cellophane...Which is betterthatn the last time I tried it!! hehe. Great Tutorial though!
Paula

alexm
2005-12-30, 10:46am
I tried this a few times last night and all I got was cellophane...Which is betterthatn the last time I tried it!! hehe. Great Tutorial though!
Paula

The glass was either too hot or you blew too hard, or you had a thin spot. Try again, you'll get the hang of it eventually. BTW, the thicker pieces of celophane are often usable.

PaulaD
2005-12-30, 12:39pm
I think all three!! I'll try again today!! Paula

barbbbeads
2005-12-30, 8:13pm
Pretty beads shown with this process. I'm doing o.k. with the blowing process in trying to make miniture bottles, so I think I will take some that are mis-shapen and break them into shards to make beads. I've become stagnant lately in ideas for new bead designs, so maybe this will open up some creativity ideas in my brain! Thanks everyone for sharing.

Wendyki
2007-01-27, 10:55pm
wow I cant wait to try this :)

SadiesJewels
2007-01-28, 1:35pm
How did I miss this - I am sooo going to give this a go!

Thanks Alex M - great tutorial.

Sadie

ziggys
2008-03-17, 7:37pm
What a great tutorial! Thank you bunches for taking the time to do this. I kept wondering how people were making them.

The shards would also be great for fusing. I love the way they look in fused glass.

Do you really use a whole rod to wrap around the mandrel? Or did I misunderstand?

Jamn!
2008-03-18, 7:58am
I blew shards yesterday! :)

beadworkstudio
2008-03-24, 5:31pm
Thanks for a great tutorial, Alex!

I finally found hollow mandrels for a decent price at CR Loo ($5). I can't wait till it gets here!

beadworkstudio
2008-03-25, 3:42pm
FYI, CR Loo doesn't sell the tubing anymore. Back to hunting...

alexm
2008-05-22, 8:02am
I was told the pictures were missing from this tutorial. I have no idea where they went, I didn't remove them. I can't find the pictures in my picture archives. I had a computer crash last year and I think the original pictures were lost then. I'm going to see if I can get Corrie to recover the lost pictures on this site.

Jamn!
2008-05-22, 10:53am
Are they in your archived photos here?

effemess
2008-05-22, 11:45am
I was told the pictures were missing from this tutorial. I have no idea where they went, I didn't remove them. I can't find the pictures in my picture archives. I had a computer crash last year and I think the original pictures were lost then. I'm going to see if I can get Corrie to recover the lost pictures on this site.

Thank you - I would really love to see them

alexm
2008-05-22, 2:50pm
Are they in your archived photos here?

No, I looked, they're not there and I haven't deleted any either. It's a mystery. Still waiting for Corri to get back to me.

CorriDawn
2008-05-22, 3:16pm
No, I looked, they're not there and I haven't deleted any either. It's a mystery. Still waiting for Corri to get back to me.

If not in archived images then they were not uploaded to the site and there is no way I can get them. No pictures are deleted from the site. All images uploaded are saved so things like this do not happen. If you had them on photobucket or on your webpage or something that would explain it...

alexm
2008-05-22, 3:41pm
I'll see if I can get my friend to take some pictures next time she's over.

murf
2008-05-22, 8:34pm
a 2" marble I did some time back made from boro shards.

Deb
2008-05-22, 9:30pm
That's beautiful, Murf!

patienthand
2008-05-27, 6:34am
HI,

I may have a useful hint for folks here. I have done furnace glass, so I take that knowlege to the torch when making shards.

I start with a smaller amount of glass and get a small buble started and give it a little puff and get it rounded out with a fairly thick wall. Then I add a second layer of glass, anf follow the rest of the instructions you are already given. But I do tend to keep y mini blow pipe level or even tilted slightly up when I start to blowthe bubble so the glass does not elongate and get thin too soon.

Something the furnace folks do is, they dip the ppe into the crucible of glass, and then place thier thumb overthe end of the pipe and allow the hot air to expand and start a tiny bubbe. A mini pipe doesnt have enough volume of air for this. But if you start out with a small amount of glass on the mini pipe if by chance the bubble does collapse, you can blow and get a SMALL bubble started again. If you have a large amount of glass on the pipe, you cant. Then once they have a straight small bubble started, with a thick wall, they dip the pipe again in the glass to begin to get the volume of glass they want on the end of the blow pipe. This is also te time when you "set the neck" basically marver the neck area a bit to be sure you are on center. It will be a slightly thicker, and be cooler as you reheat and help you stay in control better.

you may find that adding glass in several stages gives you a more even wall thickness, and a more ven blow out with more useable shards

hope this helps

Candice

Michael
2008-06-20, 11:54pm
Hallo!

I also make a Shardsbead! ;-)

http://dieglasperle.at/forumfotos/Galvanoperlebimetal.jpg

I like it!

Michael
2008-06-20, 11:57pm
And once more ;-)

http://dieglasperle.at/forumfotos/galvanoperle-patiniert.jpg

The first pic is copper natural ... the second is patined by Heparsulfur!

bexrox
2008-10-01, 9:41am
Wow, cool beans!

bead-meltdown
2008-11-02, 8:36pm
i got my blow pipe yesterday and mastered shards today. okay i am bragging. it feels so good. problem. i am having one heck of a time applying the shards. they seem to want to ball up or they shatter when touch hot glass or slowly melt close to flame. any hints.
plus want to thank all for help w/ shards. the tut. on this site was amazing.thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge. i am so grateful.

micsmom
2008-11-03, 12:32pm
Thank you. I am a newbie (very newbie) so I try to learn as much as possible from all of you. I appreciate any help at all. I am working with 104coe now, but would like to know where I can get small amout of silver and gold frit to try. I have seen beads with it applied to them and think they are beautiful. Again, thank you for you explanation and help. Linda

papimom
2008-11-03, 1:01pm
Just a few hints about using the shards. If they are balling up before you apply them, they are getting too much heat. If they are shattering when touched to the base bead, they have not been pre-warmed. I have success when I pick the shards up with my tweezers and flash them through the outer reaches of the flame a few times before making a warm spot on the base bead and then touching the shard to that spot. I keep out in the cooler part of the flame, or along the edge of the flame where some ambient heat spills off (depends on which torch), letting the shard wilt onto the bead. Sometimes all little gentle pressure with a tool is necessary to attach the shard to the surface, but not always.
Remember, the longer the bead is in the flame, the more completely the shard will melt in.
Good luck and keep practicing.
Joan

bead-meltdown
2008-11-04, 3:39pm
thank you papimom

FairyVerre
2009-02-18, 8:12pm
BRENT ?? The tutorial is still not working please can you send it to me or post it aain ? thank you so much !!!

Jamn!
2009-02-18, 10:26pm
Michael those are pretty beads!
Murf I love the depth in your marble!

I must have missed this thread when it popped back up! :)

firegrl
2009-06-24, 12:42am
:love:

judeldee
2010-09-07, 12:25pm
Thank you so much for your info. I read your tutorial and went right out to the studio. I was able to blow a 4 inch bubble of glass on the first try, but had to run around the studio looking for something to break it into. It came out fine and I have been experimenting with silver and Double Helix. You got me over my shard fear.

Mitosis Glass
2010-10-01, 6:18am
Very cool tutorial, thank you! The things I find when I just browse around on here. :D