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  #1  
Old 2008-09-05, 7:51pm
Moth Moth is offline
Mary Lockwood
 
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Default How to make murrini using small metal cutters as molds

Hi guys. Been playing around with these for a little while and thought I'd share my results.

www.marylockwood.com/tutorials

Scroll down to the bottom of the freebies section for the tutorial.

Also, I have a link on my home page for my August Newsletter. There is more information about this technique in there too. (Ignore the Bead Blitz announcement...I'm totally not gonna make it in time.)

Hope you have fun. I do!
~~Mary
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Last edited by Moth; 2008-09-05 at 7:56pm.
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  #2  
Old 2008-09-05, 8:10pm
RyanTheNumberImp RyanTheNumberImp is offline
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I have stayed away from optic molds due to their cost and these look like they give great results very cheaply. Thanks for the tip!
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  #3  
Old 2008-09-05, 8:14pm
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Mary Lockwood
 
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Yep, they are a fun diversion. I mostly started using them because I was sick of forming my starfish murrini by hand for my aquarium beads but it wasn't worth $60 to me. LOL

I do make enough of them though that I will probably buy a more reasonably priced graphite star mold for about $30. I won't use the other shapes often enough to warrant that price tag, but for just playing around these little cheapies are great.

Thanks for posting!
~~Mary
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  #4  
Old 2008-09-05, 8:21pm
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theglasszone theglasszone is offline
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HOLY SMOKES!!! You're amazing!!!! This is such a fabulous idea...! Mary, I do believe you've reinvented the wheel, the star, the triangle, etc....

Warm hugs to you for sharing this amazing concept!
De
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  #5  
Old 2008-09-05, 9:01pm
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that was a pretty nifty tutorial, thanks!
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  #6  
Old 2008-09-05, 9:11pm
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MaryBeth MaryBeth is offline
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Thanks, Mary! I have that exact set of cutters but I've never thought of using them for murrini making. Brilliant idea!
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  #7  
Old 2008-09-05, 9:22pm
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Yeah, that was cool - very cool!
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  #8  
Old 2008-09-05, 9:56pm
volkanokaren volkanokaren is offline
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Mary , thanks sooo much. Its so funny because I was looking at my polymer clay molds tonight and wondering if they would work!!!!!

Karen
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  #9  
Old 2008-09-05, 10:04pm
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Fantastic - thank you for sharing this!!!
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  #10  
Old 2008-09-05, 10:45pm
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You're welcome...I'm just having too much fun over here.

This idea was born from trying to cheat at making signature cane, just so ya know.

I bought a set of the alphabet ones, kiln washed the inside very thinly (which was not easy) tried to pate de verre them full of frit (only the M and the L were sacrificed to this experiment) and turn them into little glass letters.

Then, I was going to take those little glass letters, set them into a small circle cutter and fill in around them with frit and fuse it all together kiln casting style into a slug of glass that I could then remove from the mold, clean and buff, then ramp it up in the kiln and pull it down into signature cane.

I thought I was pretty smart. Until I tried it. not so slick. It was a miserable failure. BUT, it did lead me to trying to make murrini with the more geometric, simpler shapes so all is not lost. LOL Making the actual signature cane is much easier hand built at the torch. I just thought this would give me so many chips I'd never have to make it again as long as I live. Oh well...it did spark some other thoughts though. There are many shapes, sizes and themes for these metal cutter doodads.

Bob Ross would have called this a happy accident.

~~Mary
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Last edited by Moth; 2008-09-05 at 10:49pm.
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  #11  
Old 2008-09-06, 12:02pm
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playswithfire104 playswithfire104 is offline
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Brilliant!!! I also have that exact set of cutters. Good thing one of us is thinking!
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  #12  
Old 2008-09-06, 12:24pm
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thank you!!!!!!!!
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  #13  
Old 2008-09-07, 10:45pm
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Sharon Abood Sharon Abood is offline
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Thank you Mary! I also have the cutters and I had them out the other day looking at them going -hummmmmmm? It works well. I made some tonight.
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  #14  
Old 2008-09-08, 9:42am
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Karen Hardy Karen Hardy is offline
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You know what, doll?
You may not be so far off with this experiment.
Since most letters are formed with straight lines,
you can probably use the "I" and the little "i"
(or a "-") to get some nice straight lines. Then build
your sig cane around those.

Great idea for using these!
You a smart lady!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moth View Post
You're welcome...I'm just having too much fun over here.

This idea was born from trying to cheat at making signature cane, just so ya know.

I bought a set of the alphabet ones, kiln washed the inside very thinly (which was not easy) tried to pate de verre them full of frit (only the M and the L were sacrificed to this experiment) and turn them into little glass letters.

Then, I was going to take those little glass letters, set them into a small circle cutter and fill in around them with frit and fuse it all together kiln casting style into a slug of glass that I could then remove from the mold, clean and buff, then ramp it up in the kiln and pull it down into signature cane.

I thought I was pretty smart. Until I tried it. not so slick. It was a miserable failure. BUT, it did lead me to trying to make murrini with the more geometric, simpler shapes so all is not lost. LOL Making the actual signature cane is much easier hand built at the torch. I just thought this would give me so many chips I'd never have to make it again as long as I live. Oh well...it did spark some other thoughts though. There are many shapes, sizes and themes for these metal cutter doodads.

Bob Ross would have called this a happy accident.

~~Mary
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  #15  
Old 2008-09-09, 7:32pm
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Mary Lockwood
 
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Thanks!!

As far as the signature cane making thing goes, I actually did get well formed glass letters out of it. I did have a bit of trouble getting them back out of the mold...had to cut the molds to get them out even after many hours of soaking and putting them in the freezer, in warm water, spraying them with WD40, etc. If I had been a bit more patient, maybe I would have made it ok, but as it were...I cut the mold and got the letters out.

That was pretty much the last bit of success I had with the process.

Putting the glass letters in a circle mold, and filling around them with frit didn't work. I think it had many characteristics of doom. First, the frit is loose and the letters weren't so they melted at different rates. Second, when I formed the letters, they ended up being much shorter than I intended because when the frit melts, it obviously goes down to the bottom of the mold. It 'shrunk' even more than I had anticipated so the letters were dinky. Plus they were kind of frosty looking because of the inherent properties of pate de verre. I expected that part at least.

Then, when I surrounded the letters with the frit, I had to mound the frit up really high or it would have been shorter than the letters. For whatever reason, I didn't get a good seal along the bottom of the mold and the frit melted all over the place. Luckily I have my kiln floor lined with fiber blanket.

Anyway...if you add together the amount of cleaning I had to do to get all the kiln wash off the letters...I would have been better off just building the cane at the torch. Especially since my letters are easy to begin with. AND even if I were going to use the molds to form the letters and then use them as components at the torch, the time issue and the risk of damaging the letters and losing all that work just wasn't worth it. To me.

However, I see great possibilities with the other shapes available with these molds. Like the bugs and the themed sets. Even if your end goal was pate de verre little cast pieces..they work swell. I envisioned little buttons. I would just be sure to kiln wash them better next time. $6 for a set of molds isn't really a deal if you only get to use them once. LOL

For my first foray into cast glass though, I had a huge amount of fun and regret nothing.

Thanks for the encouragement!
~~Mary
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  #16  
Old 2008-09-11, 12:55pm
tt4st tt4st is offline
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What a fabulous idea! I am going to rush right down to Michael's and get me some of these. I've never tried murrini before but I think I want to try this inexpensive idea.

Thanks for sharing all your nuggets of wisdom with us!
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  #17  
Old 2008-09-12, 5:06am
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great idea! I do something similar to make stars, out of the craft paper punches, torn apart..
its so fun all the tools we make for ourselves..lol
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  #18  
Old 2008-09-12, 6:15am
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Very cute and clever Mary! and thanks for another great freebie tut!
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  #19  
Old 2008-09-15, 6:56am
Sarabella Sarabella is offline
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You are too cool Mary... thanks for another tutorial!

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  #20  
Old 2009-11-27, 10:24pm
Lu Douglas Lu Douglas is offline
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Hi. I'm new to murrinis though i've admired them - like a handsome hunk at a nightclub- with wonder for a while now! I was wondering - on the matter of molds, could one bake fimo clay in a molded shape, such as a cone, and then when the glass is hot, push it into the fimo clay mold to make a conical bead like we do with optic molds? I know I could use stainless steel as a mold as it handles the thermal shock. Alas, I can't shape stainless steel but I'm longing to make individual, unique molds for my work. Can anyone tell me if they have done this?
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  #21  
Old 2009-11-27, 10:32pm
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I don't think polymer clay would hold up to the heat of the molten glass that you are pushing into it, but admittedly I have not personally tried it.

However, there are other materials you can use. You can carve into cuttlebone, or soft stone. You can pour plaster molds. The life span of those are short though, and you risk getting mold material stuck to your glass.

The safest bet is probably graphite. It is relatively cheap, will hold up to the heat, you'll get lots of uses. Primarily it just depends on what type of shapes you want to mold I guess.

Best of luck.
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  #22  
Old 2009-11-27, 10:37pm
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polymer clay won't work
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  #23  
Old 2009-11-28, 5:02pm
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Just found this thread - better late than ever. I have small cutters, but these look even smaller than the set I have. You are generous to do these tuts - and, as ever, an inspiration!
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