Stupid Newbie Mistakes for Laughs

[indigoblu]

Here's a couple lessons learned the hard way. When i first began torching I didn't exactly have my equipment organized. one day my hubby finds my fiber blanket on the floor of the garage. not knowing what it was, he thought it was left over packaging material, he tossed it in the trash.

The next day, I can't find my blanket and because I go through withdrawals if I can't melt glass, I decide to just grab a towel to cool my beads in. Well......I make the beads, stick them in the towel and viola...towels on fire! Now. how stupid is that?

Also if you do make the mistake of picking up a hot rod up with your fingers, which by the way makes you drop it immediatley due to your excruciating reaction to the pain......
DON'T immediatley pick it up with your fingers again!!!!

Shey

[lonerp]

When blowing on a bead to cool it down fast, don´t touch your upper lip with the hot bead. Ouch.

[lldesigns]

I love seeing this thread pop up to the top again! LOL!

[Angie's glass]

I just joined this sit. I have been touching for about 4 monthes. I don't hvae a kiln yet. So don't wipe the bead you just picked up out of the fiber pad, thinking that doesn't look hot and then wipe it on a cotten tee shirt. I have holes in two tee shirt now. Hot glass will burn tile. And it stinks. I had a large bead brake off the manderal no one told me that could happen. I didn't think to have ovenmits or antthing to pick it up with. left a burnt trail across the floor while I chased the #&%@* beads with my twesers. Never, never, never place a hot glass rod anywhere( I have a rod rest now) that it will be picked up again and of course by the hot end. Don't respond to look at me Mamma, until you a. turn off you torch b. moved away from the flame. I have bunt myself more times that way. Angie's Glass

[Frogsongstudio]

Originally Posted by PurpleCatJewels

I really try to stay "in the moment" and limit distractions, perhaps this, coupled with my fire-and-sharp-things phobia has kept me from doing a lot of "newbie" things I have read in this thread. Not to say I will never do them...

~Rachelle K

Oh you will, trust me on this....
I've been at it for 6 years and still do stupid things. The upside is, once you've been burnt so many times, you kind of get used to it.

I remember one time I was making a bead and my teenage daughter was sitting there watching me. I had the bead made and had done quite a bit of the decorating already but then I had a rod shock on me and a small shard of hot glass landed on my hand that was holding the mandrel and bead and I just gritted my teeth and kept on working so as not to mess up my bead. I didn't know my daughter saw the glass land on me and she looked at me and said, "Are you just going to sit there and let that burn you?" I said yep, save the bead at all costs.... LOL

[ROC]

Originally Posted by Angie's glass

. . . left a burnt trail across the floor while I chased the #&%@* beads with my twesers.

ROFLMAO!!! What a great visual!

[bbnana]

Some very funny goofs.

Don't anneal your first beads in a kiln that you haven't used for a year that's still set for glass fusing!! You might end up with a rather large flat blob of multi-colored glass with bits of bead release throughout.

[lldesigns]

Originally Posted by bbnana

Some very funny goofs.

Don't anneal your first beads in a kiln that you haven't used for a year that's still set for glass fusing!! You might end up with a rather large flat blob of multi-colored glass with bits of bead release throughout.

You've discovered a new technique!

[PurpleCatJewels]

Originally Posted by Frogsongstudio

Oh you will, trust me on this....
I've been at it for 6 years and still do stupid things. The upside is, once you've been burnt so many times, you kind of get used to it.

I remember one time I was making a bead and my teenage daughter was sitting there watching me. I had the bead made and had done quite a bit of the decorating already but then I had a rod shock on me and a small shard of hot glass landed on my hand that was holding the mandrel and bead and I just gritted my teeth and kept on working so as not to mess up my bead. I didn't know my daughter saw the glass land on me and she looked at me and said, "Are you just going to sit there and let that burn you?" I said yep, save the bead at all costs.... LOL

At this moment I have an adorable little sore/blister near my left elbow and that's exactly how it happened. The rod shocked unexpectedly (didn't think it would shock, after all I HAD been using it--newbie mistake), the red (the color was red) hot shard landed near my elbow but I wasn't gonna risk the bead...

~Rachelle K

[PurpleCatJewels]

Originally Posted by harakeke

Don't lean over too far inspecting your Dremel-ing of bead release before you turn it off. Long blonde hair missing a chunk at the front is not a good look!!!

Don't LET GO of the bead while Dremel-ing (even at the slowest speed). The bead whipped off that bit at high velocity and I have yet to find it (it was a "big" one too!)

~Rachelle K

[Kym]

Originally Posted by AuntD

Here's one of the things I've learned to this point...

If you're the first one to smell something burning, you're probably the one on fire.

Oh that's too funny! And so true! Kym

[Spookyjewel]

Originally Posted by PurpleCatJewels

Don't LET GO of the bead while Dremel-ing (even at the slowest speed). The bead whipped off that bit at high velocity and I have yet to find it (it was a "big" one too!)

~Rachelle K

Done that! Except that I managed to find my bead...with my cheekbone...ouch!

[ellyloo]

I haaaaaate it when that crumb of hot glass doesn't have the sense to just stick to where it lands on you, but it has to ROLL AROUND...bounce down the boobage like a pinball and wind up burning your BELLY BuTTON!! Grrr. On top of that, I took a swipe at it, and it poked a hole in me!!!

[Frogsongstudio]

DO NOT under any circumstances, use a kiln with exposed elements for annealing your beads.

I did this in the beginning with my kiln that I used for burning out wax castings in silversmithing. I didn't know any better and I'm lucky I didn't electrocute myself. I did however short out the kiln when the mandrel touched the elements, so that sucked.

[xxxMiEkAxxx]

Acryllic nails hurt when they melt into your flesh.

[xxxMiEkAxxx]

Oh- and that glass rod you just had in the flame? PUT IT DOWN before you wipe the hair out of your face.

[airwynnglass]

yes yes yes, acrylic nails do hurt when they melt onto your nailbed! lol!

[mewsicmama]

I just sat down and read all the way through this thread, laughing and cackling as familiar scenarios emerged. The first thing I learned was don't pick your rods up while they are still hot, and also don't put them in the plastic storage tube while they are still hot. Ended up with a minor burn and a wonky tube, but it is still usable!

Karen Hardy - I totally relate to " You don't have to twirl the f*cking mandrel like a propeller when making a round bead" - my first couple of beads pretty much were done with that technique.

The thing that worries me the most is that after using hot glue for so many years to make things I know just how fast my burned finger can get to my mouth to cool it off...... this amps up the risk and excitement considerably!

I did get a third degree burn once. I wasn't lampworking though, I was reading a book in bed using a big 3-cell Maglight flashlight. I fell asleep, dropped the flashlight (still on) and it rolled of my shoulder and onto my left whatsit, woke up several hours later with a real mess. I tried to heal it myself but the doctor saw it one time when I was in for something else and then of course everyone had to see it (and laugh hysterically about it - me too!). It needed professional help - lol. I don't read with that flashlight anymore.

[Ellen Haskell]

When I first started torching and before I had a kiln, I used vermiculite in a crock pot to cool my beads. I didn't want to put the crock pot on the table, as I wanted every square inch for spreading out glass. I decided to put the crock pot on the floor nearby.

I turned on my crockpot to heat the vermiculite up the first time I sat down to use my torch and the strangest odor permiated the room, which smelled something like cat urine. Not knowing what warm vermiculite smelled like, I didn't think much of it at the time.

To my surprise the next day, I found our female cat contorting herself over the crockpot, trying extra hard to avoid the steel rods sticking out, doing her business. Now it all makes sense.

Moral of the story: Always put the lid on the crockpot when you walk away for the day. And get the kiln sooner rather than later.

[ROC]

Originally Posted by xxxMiEkAxxx

Oh- and that glass rod you just had in the flame? PUT IT DOWN before you wipe the hair out of your face.

Cannot even believe I did this the other day! Hair smells nasty when it burns.

[eyeskatermum]

I know that this is a very old thread - but it has been just wonderful to read. The responses should be put in a book.

I hope my posting brings this up on the list so that others can enjoy this thread as much as I have.

[PurpleCatJewels]

Originally Posted by PurpleCatJewels

Don't LET GO of the bead while Dremel-ing (even at the slowest speed). The bead whipped off that bit at high velocity and I have yet to find it (it was a "big" one too!)

~Rachelle K

The bead is STILL missing to this day!

(Thanks for bumping the thread…here I am, not much farther ahead than before…)

[madpup]

If you clean the rod with methylated spirits, dont put the rag on the bench while working,
when it goes woooosh (and it will) its under pants changing time.

[Mitosis Glass]

Originally Posted by Karen Hardy

My lessons learned as a newbie:

1) You don't have to twirl the f*cking mandrel like propeller when making a round bead. Sloooowwww it down. Let the bead shape itself.

2) Don't wipe hot rods on your shirt to clean them. If you do, get used to your husband asking you "who's been whipping you today?"

3) If the bead looks and acts like dripping honey, it's probably time to remove it from the flame.

4) If the length of the bead is from the flame to the desktop, and the bottom of the bead is shaped like a puddle, it's DEFINITELY time to remove the bead from the flame.

5) Don't try and catch hot glass that drops towards your lap by closing your thighs quickly. No no, bad thing.

6) Before blowing through glass that costs $3000 a pound and is only available every other month in 1/4 lb increments if you have 6 forms of ID and four friends wiling to vouch for your character and have a notary sign and send the check federal express overnight along with 4 pints of blood, you might want to read up on forums about what other people have tried, so you can avoid ending up with a set of muddy, cracked beads with an average cost of $50 each.

I'll vouch for all of the above, as I have done them myself with the exception of #2. I didn't wipe rods on my shirt until recently, and only when I take them from their storage space. Once they're sitting on the rod rest, they don't get wiped unless I should happen to bleed all over them.

[Fine Folly Glassworks]

... taking your bead out of the Vermiculite or Annealing Bubbles and touching with your fingers to see if it's cool enough to remove from the mandrel... multiple times

[j2canoe]

1. Remember to angle the bowl of your stiker DOWNwards - especially if the ceiling fan behind you is set to "winter mode". The fireball will cause you to be really glad you have a chair with wheels!

2. Always check to be sure the propane knob on the torch is CLOSED before going outside to turn on the bulk tank (and then getting distracted by a chore on your way back to the studio.....)

3. 1/16th mandrels burn completely through really fast while waiting for the encasement to move. Probably better to alternate sides during this manuver!

[skippystretch]

Learned many of these on the previously listed not to do lists, during my time lampworking:

A few others:

#1, Do not hold the hot end of a stringer in your 3rd hand (mouth), it leaves such a large blister on the roof of the mouth, it will then turn in to a very large lump, (after the blister is gone) for numerous weeks, and it is very painful to eat or drink, but I must say, it is very useful while on weight watchers.

#2, When you slice your thumb open while reaching for a rod of glass, put the mandrel down then, the bead can be remade, even though you believe that it could be the very, very, very best one you ever, ever made. The glass rod that you did pick up with the bleeding thumb, even though you were able to get the rod to start melting, it will most likely slip while trying to twirl it in the flame, while you are dripping blood, on the rod and work table, and fall on the work bench and slide right into your lap. Wrecked the bead, ran over my boxer dog with the rolling chair, burnt the thighs, and only needed 2 stiches in the Thumb. DH thought I was attacked, or wacked, LOL,
And worst of all, couldn't save the bead, LOL

#3, Do not put your glass rods with jagged ends standing straight up in a cup, See #2, even though you want to see all the pretty color with the light shining through, it could be dangerous.

#4, Do not allow your boxer dog lay behind your rolling chair, See #2, if he needs to be with you, make him a nice cosy place in the furthest corner away from the havic.

#5, Place all your hot stringers pointing away from you, See #1+#2, not in your mouth or standing up in cups.

Power to the Lampworkers all over the world, tough bunch.

[kmd]

They told me to wear covered in footwear when I first learned glass bead making. So one lazy summer day I sorta convinced myself that rubber Crocs would be OK. After all the front is covered in. Right?

WRONG! And not for the reason you thought. No smells of burning rubber, (yet) but small escaped bits of exploded glass on the floor can work their way through the inch of rubber on the sole of a Croc and stab you in the sole when you least expect it. It took quite a bit of work with a pair of needle pliers to get those suckers out.
KMD

[PerfectDeb]

if something smells like its burning it probably is, if it smells like chicken and you dont have random chickens in your studio it's probably you.

dont pull mandrels out of the kiln with bare fingers to see what the bead looks like
A. you already know what it looks like, wait till tomorrow
B. you'll burn your fingers and you wont be able to torch for ages

dont ever let the cat sit on top of the kiln even when its off, someday it will be on..

[crabby31]

Originally Posted by VictorianAngela

Don't use the butter knife you have just had near the flame to shape a bead to then swat a mosquito on your arm...

Ouch! Related, but not to lampworking....
Don't swat at a fly while fileting fish like my Dad did a few years back. The EMTs were laughing, "We thought you must have meant HAND, but you really DID stab yourself in the head while fileting fish!"
The knife went through the top part of his ear, then in & out of his head alongside his skull. And unfortunately our little cottage is 17 miles away from the nearest hospital! It's a good thing he could laugh about it later.