And back to encasing...
Again, I would suggest to add as much clear as you can afford/lift. I find that certain colors look different when exposed to the air so at least make sure that you have clear covering all the color.
This picture is really blurry but it is the only one I have before I start adding waste glass:
Once you are happy with it start adding waste glass to the ends:
And then stick a thick boro punty into it:
Carefully melt out the thin punty:
To do this, I focus the flame on the base of the boro punty until it becomes very liquid, then take it out of the flame and blow on it until it hardens. Since boro is so much harder than soft glass you can normally just pull it right out without leaving anything behind.
Waste glass on the other side:
Punty:
Pulling the gather is where you have to be careful. I like to do it in two stages, the first pull stretches it out to ~2", and the final pull brings it out to several feet. I believe my most important tip to getting an even pull is to heat the gather way hotter than you need it, then let it cool outside the flame and even up in temperature. If you pull it right when you take it out of the flame it will be extremely uneven (aka junk), waiting 10-30 seconds for it to even out and then pulling slowly while blowing on the thinnest parts will give good results.
First pull:
The punties are boro and aren't going to melt, if done properly, the boro punties should be inside the waste glass and reinforcing it, so that isn't going to go anywhere. Don't be afraid to heat the punties. You want completely even heat across all the soft glass. The waste glass should be part of the pull as well.
I don't have any pictures of the pull, but take the gather way hotter than you want it, let it cool a bit outside the flame and then stretch it. Try to keep the punty with the biggest glob still on it above so that the heat rises to warm it. Just something that seems really 'duh' after the fact, don't let the pull get near your shirt...
You may need a helper for the pull as well.