Starting out, getting to know the glass

Floorkasp · #1 2013-04-10, 11:35am

In 10 days (yes, I am counting the days) I will have my own lampwork gear set up at home. I have been buying a variety of glass types, mostly different sample packs. So I have Effetre, Vetrofond, Lauscha, CIM, some Devardi and some Czech glass. So far, I have had only 4 hours of torch time.
On the 'tips for newbies' thread I read it might be a good idea to just start out making 100 plain spacer beads. My idea was to do exactly this, but with the different types of glass. The result might just be a great rainbow of beads, and an understanding of how the different types of glass work. So day 1: 20 transparant effetre beads, 20 opaque effetre beads, day 2, 20 CIM beads, etc. Also, i would have 'sample beads' for all my glass.
Does that sound like a good idea?
I will probably get a little tired of it at one point, so I thought that the next step could be to introduce either silver wire, forming the little droplets on the spacer beads, or silvered dark ivory. (from drawn stringers). Do these types of 'decorations' work well on either type of glass, or would it give ugly results on some types of glass? Obviously, with the ivory I would have to check the COE.

nwmud · #2 2013-04-10, 12:01pm

I started on a hot head and now have a Nortel mega minor
I have not done 100 beads of any kind yet.
my first bead - based on you-tube videos.... had plenty of colors

good luck and they are right about just start doing it...

Sheila D. · #3 2013-04-10, 1:17pm

My suggestion is to start out with all 104 COE. Effetre is a good starting point. I still don't own a lot of different brands of glass and a lot of people who have been making beads for
20+ years still only use Effetre. However the colors range is limited, that's why I love CIM.
Have some fun with those first beads! Put some dots on them and some stripes from stringers, which you have pulled yourself. Try making some different shapes too....it will all help you understand the properties of melting glass as well as getting to know your torch.

Eileen · #4 2013-04-10, 4:18pm

Some glass will have great reactions, other glass will make mud, because of the ingredients in the colors. Some have copper in them, some sulfur, some silver, etc. and so some colors "fight"
Enjoy the adventure!

Nolly · #5 2013-04-10, 4:29pm

I agree with making 100 beads. There is no substitute for practice, and learning how to put down a good footprint, getting nice puckered ends, and building your muscles so that you can keep the mandrel horizontal is a smart place to start. Learning the flame is also very important so making lots of donut beads is a great idea.

However, you might be a little bored, so I suggest studying dot techniques to make your practice a little more fun. Great dot placement is a terrific skill to achieve and it's not all that easy at first so you can master a couple different things at one time, while keeping your brain excited about color and design.

Good luck!

Nolly

losthelm · #6 2013-04-11, 10:25am

Wait on the silver untill you have a bit of experiance, it can add up if you start burning though the expencive glass/materials right out of the gate.

I would plan on breaking up your spacer bead sessions with shapes, dots, and stringers.

Pulling a stringer or twisty thats aproximatly the same diamiter takes time and can be fun to play with the different color combos.

Step one should realy be labeling your glass and getting the space setup to work safely.

Floorkasp · #7 2013-04-11, 11:57am

Thanks everyone.
Step one is pretty much taken care of. Workbench set up, safety measures in place and I have just put the last set of labeled glass rods on the shelf. No it is just me waiting for the burner, oxycon etc to get here.
On the first two workshops I did, it was clear that I am not a natural when it comes to dots. Slowslowslow is something I have yet to learn. Will make it a more varied start, after reading your advice than I was planning at first. Thanks!

FosterFire · #8 2013-04-11, 12:28pm

My beadmaking started as a hobby, a way to relax and have fun. If you do what you want then you will have fun and keep doing it and get better. If you make it tedious then there is the temptation to quit because it's not fun. My recommendation: just do it. You'll get better with practice anyway.

fawnheights · #9 2013-04-11, 7:41pm

KEEP A NOTEBOOK! It's my biggest mistake, but if you have colors you like/don't like, or weird reactions, or even simple things like White melts fast and Periwinkle melts slow...

Don't introduce anything to the glass. Work on basics - shapes, dots. Here's a great practice that will help keep you from getting bored

http://corinaspecials.com/docs/Groundhog1.pdf

PerfectDeb · #10 2013-04-11, 7:51pm

im sorry but forcing myself to make 100 plain spacers would be as boring as batshit and turn me off so fast

TRY EVERYTHING!

third bead i made was a really wonky encased floral, i still have it somewhere

this is meant to be fun, its not a job (at least not yet) , pull stringer, make blobs, make long beads, short bead and horrible beads, just play with the glass and get a feel for it

MistyCherie · #11 2013-04-11, 8:06pm

I agree that making that many spacers like that would probably drive me nuts, however if you do decide to make spacers... then maybe make one of each color and keep them for a color reference. If you do any type of mixing or reactions, then write it down and keep the bead for visual reference to your written info.

I would say work more on learning how to handle the flow of the glass. Using gravity and tools to make various shapes, and also in my opinion... definitely learn how to make great holes with nice puckers. I see so many beautiful beads and yet the holes on them are often terribly formed. It just seems a shame to see so much work put into color reactions and murrini placement or stringer work, and then the bead has jagged or lopsided/uneven ends, etc. It makes me cringe a little and is probably a bit silly but is one of the things I look at when deciding to buy or not buy. To me the holes frame up the bead to make it nice for jewelry making or just simple displaying.

ewdb · #12 2013-04-11, 11:12pm

I'm with the "try everything" crowd. If anyone had made me make 100 spacers i would have probably quit lampworking on the spot. I've been making beads for 7yrs and i'd bet i've barely made 100 spacers.

Beadmaking should be fun, so IMO make whatever you want. By the time you've completed 100 of any type of bead you'll see a marked improvement in your control and skills.

AnArtistontheInside · #13 2013-04-12, 4:56am

On the up side: if you still have any interest in getting near the torch after making 100 spacers (sounds like a surefire snoozefest to me too) you'll be a master of spacer beads

Dreamsincolor · #14 2013-04-12, 6:07am

Sometimes the hardest thing when you are starting out is to not feel that every bead you make has to turn out to be something worthy of the time and glass you used to make it. If you learned something that no one told you would happen with that glass I think that bead is worth it's weight in gold. You will find yourself to be the best teacher in the long run of what you like, what works for you. When someone tells you how to do something it is advice, when you see yourself do it then it is knowledge. The idea of making 100 spacers is like the way they teach you to type which is repeat till you can do it in your sleep. Your fingers develop memory and act on their own. I do think it would be a good idea to work on getting a feel for how different glasses and colors do or do not play well with others and learn to make shapes yourself before investing in special marvers for instance.

Welcome to the addiction....

Andrea

eregel · #15 2013-04-12, 6:25am

Best thing I ever did as a new newbie was make twisties. Lots and lots of twisties, using the simplest possible method - take two colors, overlap an inch, heat, pull while twisting - no punties or anything involved. I learned so much about heat control that way, it really laid the foundation for everything else I did, AND it gives you a feel for the hardness of the different colors, and how they interact.

Single colors alone aren't going to give you that sense of how the different glass interacts. It MAY bore you silly, though.

My advice would be to play with whatever seems like fun. Yes, put some time into the basics - getting beads that are shaped well, with nice clean ends, etc, but don't turn it into a chore.

MelanieG · #16 2013-04-12, 7:31am

I'd choose a shape you want to make, and I'd focus on that until either it is boring or you've mastered it, and then pick another. I'd decorate all of the beads I made, starting out by learning to make nice dots and then expanding on that. You'll be able to play with lots of different colour combinations, so I think that even if you're making spacers, you aren't going to get bored.

Emily · #17 2013-04-12, 12:22pm

If you're a methodical, disciplined person, doing the 100 spacers is a great idea. It will teach you a few important things: making a small footprint on the mandrel (rather that splooshing down a big wide glob, which can make it hard to get your ends nice); making a nice, rounded, balanced bead; and that different glass colors behave differently.

When you're just beginning, the first thing you have to learn is to make a rounded, balanced bead with nice ends anyway, so if you want to do it in a range of different colors, there's nothing wrong with that.

However, I also agree with the people who say that trying to be that disciplined and methodical would drive me absolutely screaming batso. Your mileage may vary!

Why not resolve to start out each practice session with a few spacer beads, then move on to something a little different when you start getting bored? This wouldn't be a bad thing for even experienced people to do -- keeps their skills up, and you end up with a whole bunch of spacer beads, which are useful. In your case, I might make a notebook or a color chart with your spacer beads, since essentially you'll be making color-reference samples of all your different colors of glass.

Definitely pull stringers, though. Learning to pull even, straight stringers in the sizes you want is an important skill, and will teach you a lot about how glass moves.

If you really want to experience the differences in how different colors of glass melt, try doing a twistie of Effetre white and Effetre black (or ivory and transparent cobalt, which might be even worse). Remember that Effetre black is a transparent -- just a very, very dark purple.

In Effetre, transparents are stiffer than opaques. An opaque dot on a transparent base will spread out; a transparent dot on an opaque base will sink in. The more heat you apply, the more this will happen.

After you've made a bunch of stringers, then you can use them to do dots. A fun exercise is to take two colors (an opaque and a transparent -- I did mine in periwinkle and black) and see how many different designs you can do with just those two colors and dots. Once you start stacking dots on top of each other, you can make a surprising number of designs.

Don't worry about ugly. You will make ugly, and you will make beautiful, and not everyone will always agree on which is which. (Truly fugly beads, however, are indisputable, and everyone makes those from time to time, too.) Experiment and learn! Some of the most interesting designs come from people breaking "rules."

KJohn · #18 2013-04-12, 1:29pm

I started with spacers, moved on quickly. I tried all sorts of things and even did pretty well, except the shapes weren't always that good. I went back to spacers and paid much more attention to form. Now, everything is sort of coming together. As long as the SHAPE is good, you can find a use for pretty much any bead, even if the design did not turn out the way you wanted.

houptdavid · #19 2013-04-12, 4:57pm

Spacers? Hell jump in with both feet and do and try an encased floral

Catts · #20 2013-04-12, 6:52pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by houptdavid

Spacers? Hell jump in with both feet and do and try an encased floral

That's exactly what I did & I'm still making them...

I never have made spacers....
Kerry

LynieG · #21 2013-04-12, 10:19pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by houptdavid

Spacers? Hell jump in with both feet and do and try an encased floral

Nah - go for a sculpture! My very first bead was a scultured rose! Ugly huge and fugly but a sculpture! (and it was all DH's fault! LOL)

(LOL - Don't mind us! We are just being silly) The above advice is good advice!)

Polgarra · #22 2013-04-15, 5:03am

Do what fits your personality best! If that means making 100 spacers then do it.

Mitosis Glass · #23 2013-04-15, 6:16am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polgarra

Do what fits your personality best! If that means making 100 spacers then do it.

What Nikki said. Whatever you feel compelled to do, do it! Just make sure you don't get bored. Glass can be frustrating when you first start to learn, so you don't want frustration AND boredom all at once!

I was in the try-everything camp. I gave everything a shot, and learned all kinds of good stuff that way.

Dragonharper · #24 2013-04-15, 10:50am

For me it was soft glass floral implosion/compression marbles. Nothing like starting out big.

allicat · #25 2013-04-15, 6:46pm

You might find this PDF interesting. While it's for Bullseye Glass, which is 90 COE, the colors are similar enough for you to get a basic idea of what may or may not work together. Or at least which may react in a way you might have not otherwise expected (some of the reactions are pretty cool): http://www.bullseyeglass.com/images/...seye_glass.pdf

Alli

Cherri · #26 2013-04-15, 7:06pm

Alli, That is pretty cool.. Thanks
I am new and I try EVERYTHING! If it fails, cracks, goes wacky; I try a few more times, then put it aside and try something else. After a bit I got back to it. Every time I sit down at the torch I make round and donuts and spacers. I warm up with a round bead and then during the session I will make spacers. I cram a lot of practice into each session. When I take them out of the kiln the next day, I look at each one and mentally make adjustments so the next time at the torch, I try again. It is my way, but it works for me. I agree a 100% that doing and evaluating and redoing is learning and creating knowledge. Of course the folks here on LE are the best! Every time I have asked for advice or help it has been given freely. Fire it up and get melting.
Oh and I figured on melting every piece of glass I bought with the only return being to learn; that way there is no fear of wasting.

BeadedChic · #27 2013-04-15, 7:28pm

Have not done the 100 spacers thing...I did save very soft glasses like white and ivory till I got a feel for the other glasses. I started with twisties, using all different kinds of methods so I wouldn't get bored and it worked as a nightly warmup. Don't get discouraged if you start with wonky beads or when doing tutorials, find they don't look the way they do in the pictures. Realize that tutorials are another way to learn techniques and jump from there!

MelanieG · #28 2013-04-15, 10:52pm

I did a lot of studying my beads, too. I would make a strand of the beads I liked best from my weekend, and then carry them around in my pocket all week long at work. I'd study them and think about what was good about them, what wasn't so good about them and what I wanted to do differently when i finally got to sit down at the torch again on Saturday. I've finally grown out of this, but haven't kicked the other habit I formed as a beginner, which was chronic, obsessive list making.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cherri

Alli, That is pretty cool.. Thanks
I am new and I try EVERYTHING! If it fails, cracks, goes wacky; I try a few more times, then put it aside and try something else. After a bit I got back to it. Every time I sit down at the torch I make round and donuts and spacers. I warm up with a round bead and then during the session I will make spacers. I cram a lot of practice into each session. When I take them out of the kiln the next day, I look at each one and mentally make adjustments so the next time at the torch, I try again. It is my way, but it works for me. I agree a 100% that doing and evaluating and redoing is learning and creating knowledge. Of course the folks here on LE are the best! Every time I have asked for advice or help it has been given freely. Fire it up and get melting.
Oh and I figured on melting every piece of glass I bought with the only return being to learn; that way there is no fear of wasting.

PerfectDeb · #29 2013-04-16, 12:36am

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelanieG

I did a lot of studying my beads, too. I would make a strand of the beads I liked best from my weekend, and then carry them around in my pocket all week long at work. I'd study them and think about what was good about them, what wasn't so good about them and what I wanted to do differently when i finally got to sit down at the torch again on Saturday. I've finally grown out of this, but haven't kicked the other habit I formed as a beginner, which was chronic, obsessive list making.

and theres nothing like taking a close up photo to find how badly you've made something

Floorkasp · #30 2013-04-16, 9:27am

Thank you, thank you for all your great advice and experiences!
I was away for a few days, and just read all of it.
I am a pretty unorganized, impatient and chaotic person, except........when it comes to beads. My beads are better organized than anything else, I can spend 40 hours or more on a single beadwork piece and I approach learning about beads like a project. Setting a specific goal usually helps me be more productive and actually makes me enjoy it more. I have read Passing the flame twice, and decided which things I like to learn. So that is what I will be focusing on. I intend to use lampwork also as a way to learn more about older beadmaking techniques. So for example, I want to learn to do millefiori, dots, raking, and have pretty good stringer control. Encasing and flowers are not really my thing (yet?) And I still want to make a big rainbow of single color spaces beads. Reading through your replies was a good way to think about how I learn, and what I want to learn.