Lampwork Etc.
 
TrueDesign

LE Live Chat

Enter Live Chat

No users in chat


The Flow

Beads of Courage


 

Go Back   Lampwork Etc. > Library > Tips, Techniques, and Questions

Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 2007-04-13, 6:02pm
rosebud101's Avatar
rosebud101 rosebud101 is offline
I think I could be a bead
 
Join Date: Jun 28, 2006
Posts: 10,992
Default Troubles with blowing shards

There are 2 excellent tutorials here, and I have read and reread both of them. I have only blown one good set of shards, and that was the first set that I tried. Now, each time I try to blow shards, I get a blowout on the side somewhere and very thick glass shards because I can't go any further with the blowing. I've tried to repair the holes, but that doesn't work. On the up side, I am getting a lot of very pretty frit out of these efforts. I don't know what I am doing wrong. I have tried to follow the directions very carefully. I am using a Hot Head torch. I put my finger over the mandrel hole for little bits of time, and I try to use short puffy breaths that aren't too strong. Can anyone give me some help with this? Thanks in advance.

Mallory
rosebud101
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 2007-04-13, 6:18pm
wendbill's Avatar
wendbill wendbill is offline
More ideas than talent
 
Join Date: Sep 17, 2005
Location: Melbourne, Oz
Posts: 2,565
Default

I finally managed to successfully blow some shards about three or four weeks ago when I dramatically reduced the amount of glass I was trying to blow (I'm sure I'm going to regret that sentance). I found about a pea sized lump of glass worked well for me.

I'm sure you'd be rotating your mandrel slowly while your blowing as well. For me I also found just blowing lightly and steadily rather than puffs worked.
__________________
Wendy


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 2007-04-13, 7:47pm
crystalflipz's Avatar
crystalflipz crystalflipz is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 15, 2005
Location: Eastern West Virginia
Posts: 2,936
Default

Does anyone have a link to these tutorials handy? I've been trying to figure out how to blow my own shards and failing miserably!
Carol
__________________
Carol O. (Cricket with 5 lpm oxycon)
"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start" John Bingham

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 2007-04-13, 8:19pm
wendbill's Avatar
wendbill wendbill is offline
More ideas than talent
 
Join Date: Sep 17, 2005
Location: Melbourne, Oz
Posts: 2,565
Default

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...ghlight=shards

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...ghlight=shards

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...ghlight=shards
__________________
Wendy


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 2007-04-13, 8:44pm
crystalflipz's Avatar
crystalflipz crystalflipz is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 15, 2005
Location: Eastern West Virginia
Posts: 2,936
Default

Thanks!
__________________
Carol O. (Cricket with 5 lpm oxycon)
"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start" John Bingham

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 2007-04-13, 10:47pm
Bellagirl Bellagirl is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 24, 2005
Posts: 252
Default

I have never worked on a Hothead, but when I do shards, I have found that the glass needs to be hotter than you think before you try and blow. Small puffs, continually turning the blowpipe or boro tube while you blow. If your glass is thicker on one side it means the glass wasn't centered when you started to blow.

I agree that a smaller gather to start is good. Keep trying and you will get the hang of these. It taught me allot about reading heat of my glass.

Have fun and continue to practice!

Jolene
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 2007-04-14, 10:54am
rosebud101's Avatar
rosebud101 rosebud101 is offline
I think I could be a bead
 
Join Date: Jun 28, 2006
Posts: 10,992
Default

Thanks for the input. I tried again this AM, and guess what, I blew a hole again! Yikes! I will keep trying. I love the look of beads with shards. Thanks.

Mallory
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 2007-04-14, 3:27pm
wendbill's Avatar
wendbill wendbill is offline
More ideas than talent
 
Join Date: Sep 17, 2005
Location: Melbourne, Oz
Posts: 2,565
Default

I gave up building a hollow on the end and just put a pea sized lump on the end of the tube.
__________________
Wendy


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 2007-04-14, 6:01pm
KathyDinBC KathyDinBC is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 12, 2005
Location: Sooke, BC
Posts: 324
Default

How many times are you heating your gather and letting it condense? I found that the problem Iwas having was that the wall was thinner on one side. I need to heat the gather to a real glow and then puff it up slightly at least 4 times to make sure the walls are even.
__________________
Kathy
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 2007-04-14, 9:07pm
Heather/Ericaceae's Avatar
Heather/Ericaceae Heather/Ericaceae is offline
Floral Obsessed
 
Join Date: Oct 17, 2005
Location: Winnipeg, Canada
Posts: 1,375
Default

I don't condense... it seems to complicated for me. I build a small, fat-walled hollow on the end of the mandrel, and heat it with the open tip of the hollow mandrel pointing down. Hot air won't escape if it has to go down (in my experience, anyway!), so the hollow doesn't collapse. I get it GLOWING red hot, spinning regularly, then lift the open end to my mouth - keeping the glass end higher than the open end - and blow extremely gently and slowly for a second, then spin, then breathe in gently again, spin, then breath, getting a little stronger with each breath as the glass cools. I can get really nice, thin shards this way with minimal stress. Hope this works for other people - it's so satisfying when you see that bubble grow. And then you get to smash it!
__________________


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Nov. 2003-Nov 2005 --> QuietTorch, 1lb MAPP ::
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
:: Nov. 2005-May 2007 --> Piranha, NG, 1 Solaris oxycon ::
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
:: May 2007-Present --> Piranha, NG, 2 Solaris oxycons
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 2007-04-15, 4:41am
rosebud101's Avatar
rosebud101 rosebud101 is offline
I think I could be a bead
 
Join Date: Jun 28, 2006
Posts: 10,992
Default

Wow! I didn't know you were supposed to condense. I'll try that, too. Wendy, I'll try your technique, too. I thought you meant you built it up. I'll just try putting glass on the end. Heather, I'll try your technique, too. I didn't realize that there were so many great ideas out there and different ways to blow shards. Thank you, all, very much. After all, today is another day!

Mallory
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 2007-04-15, 8:19am
Heather/Ericaceae's Avatar
Heather/Ericaceae Heather/Ericaceae is offline
Floral Obsessed
 
Join Date: Oct 17, 2005
Location: Winnipeg, Canada
Posts: 1,375
Default

I went and tried shards again last night to refresh my memory, and it worked great. The only thing I'll edit is that once you've got your coiled gather red-hot and smooth, and you've removed it from the flame, you should spin with the tube against your lips (not that hard unless your lips are really dry!) and pointed up. Wait 2 seconds (while spinning), then breath out (while spinning) in an EXTREMELY gentle, continuous puff. Don't stop and start like I described in my first post. If just one section puff out thinly, stop blowing but keep a pressure seal on the tube. After 1 second, blow again and the thin part should have solidified. You might get a rounder result if you condense a few times, but for shards it doesn't really matter. For blown vessels or ornaments it would, of course.

Definitely keep the glass at an upward angle (say, 45 degrees) while blowing. If it's pointed down, there's a chance a stray drop of spit could flow towards the hot end of the tube, turn to steam and burn your lips. It's also easier to control if it's up.
__________________


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Nov. 2003-Nov 2005 --> QuietTorch, 1lb MAPP ::
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
:: Nov. 2005-May 2007 --> Piranha, NG, 1 Solaris oxycon ::
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
:: May 2007-Present --> Piranha, NG, 2 Solaris oxycons
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 2007-04-15, 10:50am
lldesigns's Avatar
lldesigns lldesigns is offline
Crazy Snake Lady
 
Join Date: Jul 31, 2006
Posts: 5,583
Default

Have you ever used the super elastic bubble plastic - that stinky stuff you blow with a straw...? I do my shards like that. I tried making a hollow on the end of a mandrel but that didn't work for me. I found that winding a small amount of glass on the end and then rolling a shaping it on a graphite plate worked best. Make sure to shape it evenly then heat it until it's glowing slightly but not drippy. Take it out of the heat and puff and turn. Sometimes I have to really blow but that's because I don't get it super hot. If it's really hot and flowing, that's when I get blowouts.

Just my two cents...
__________________
Mrs. C
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 2007-04-16, 7:21am
rosebud101's Avatar
rosebud101 rosebud101 is offline
I think I could be a bead
 
Join Date: Jun 28, 2006
Posts: 10,992
Default

Well, at last, a small measure of success. Of the 2 tries, I had one set become shards. The rest of the glass became beautiful frit! I love all of my new frit, but I would enjoy more shards, too. Thanks for all your help. I guess that I have to keep on trying.

Mallory
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 2017-03-24, 10:27am
Mina's Avatar
Mina Mina is offline
Lifelong Student
 
Join Date: Apr 13, 2014
Location: Washington USA
Posts: 2,660
Default

I'd love to see Jennifer's tutorial but the link no longer works. Anyone willing to repost it?
__________________
Norma
Reply With Quote
  #16  
Old 2017-03-24, 3:44pm
beadmama's Avatar
beadmama beadmama is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 22, 2006
Posts: 1,198
Default

Norma you out bring it up on the Wayback machine website. Just copy and paste her webpage on it.

Becky
__________________
Becky
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 2017-03-24, 10:19pm
della della is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 11, 2006
Posts: 374
Default

Norma, I think I might have noticed it on pinterest.
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 2017-03-24, 10:26pm
della della is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 11, 2006
Posts: 374
Default

I just checked and it IS on pinterest!
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 2017-03-25, 12:07am
Mina's Avatar
Mina Mina is offline
Lifelong Student
 
Join Date: Apr 13, 2014
Location: Washington USA
Posts: 2,660
Default

thanks...Ill go check it out
__________________
Norma
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 2017-03-29, 8:58pm
Mina's Avatar
Mina Mina is offline
Lifelong Student
 
Join Date: Apr 13, 2014
Location: Washington USA
Posts: 2,660
Default

I tried the method that adds a gather of glass to the end of the mandrel. It worked great! I was successful in all three attempts.
__________________
Norma
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump




All times are GMT -7. The time now is 5:51pm.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.5
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Your IP: 18.213.110.162