Lampwork Etc.
 
Mountain Glass Arts

LE Live Chat

Enter Live Chat

No users in chat




Beads of Courage


 

Go Back   Lampwork Etc. > Library > Boro Room > Free Boro Tutorials

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #181  
Old 2013-11-19, 10:08am
Will.T's Avatar
Will.T Will.T is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 10, 2013
Location: seattle
Posts: 80
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mary K View Post
using a cuticle pusher like you can get at Sally's on a straight line will give you a lotus style petal, that will cup around the staymens.

Hi Mary, I tried this and I got a really nice rounded petal but not really cupped like a lotus. Could you give some more detail perhaps? I made a short curved line like ) which is the shape of the cuticle pusher and pressed into the middle of the line matching the curves up. Maybe it's the angle of the press? Thanks-


Reply With Quote
  #182  
Old 2013-11-19, 3:34pm
Mary K's Avatar
Mary K Mary K is offline
Flamewoman
 
Join Date: Jan 12, 2007
Location: California
Posts: 985
Default

Nice flower Will.
Try this.
First make the line STRAIGHT, not curved.
Use the cuticle pusher to curve it, and sort of gently
push the petal away from the staymens. Lightly,
and I mean lightly, indent the cuticle pusher.
Make your staymen area larger, like twice as large as
what you did here. Use jet black for staymens, or layer
jet black over the color you have here( or green ) and pull out for
staymen cane. Lightly prick each staymen dot with
tiny very sharp tungsten pick.
The staymens that are lightly indented are going to want
to travel up as you heat the maria for the compression,
As they go up, they will also drag the petals along with them,
producing a slighly cupped effect. Sometimes when I push the
petals out with the cuticle pusher there is room for another row
of tiny dots, so I put those on and don't pick them at all.
Actually most times I only use the pick on the center dots.
Try this and post what you get, I'll talk/type you thru it.
__________________
Mary K
GTT Sidewinder & 3 Regalias

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

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never
know how soon it will be too late.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
PLEASE like my page!
Reply With Quote
  #183  
Old 2013-11-19, 7:06pm
Will.T's Avatar
Will.T Will.T is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 10, 2013
Location: seattle
Posts: 80
Default

thanks, Ill try this out.
Reply With Quote
  #184  
Old 2013-11-23, 9:19pm
Will.T's Avatar
Will.T Will.T is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 10, 2013
Location: seattle
Posts: 80
Default

Here is the next attempt. Had a hard time with pushing the lines out. Went way too far on a couple petals. I haven't done much raking so doing that sort of moving is tough. I also went too deep with the pick on the black dots. It's good to know I can get something that far above the petals. This was interesting to try.







Reply With Quote
  #185  
Old 2013-11-27, 7:05am
Jonny B's Avatar
Jonny B Jonny B is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 10, 2013
Posts: 13
Default

Here's a few of mine, I did these a few month ago.

Reply With Quote
  #186  
Old 2013-11-27, 8:25am
dehoffa's Avatar
dehoffa dehoffa is offline
Lava Maker
 
Join Date: Jan 14, 2011
Location: Houston in the Lone Star State (TX)
Posts: 1,946
Default

Those are gorgeous. They are so ethereal. what colors did you use.
__________________
Life is an Adventure!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Ann DeHoff
Reply With Quote
  #187  
Old 2013-11-27, 9:52am
Jonny B's Avatar
Jonny B Jonny B is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 10, 2013
Posts: 13
Default

Thank you so much! That was Loki's lipstick on the left and I believe Blue Moon on the right.
Reply With Quote
  #188  
Old 2013-11-27, 9:53pm
Mary K's Avatar
Mary K Mary K is offline
Flamewoman
 
Join Date: Jan 12, 2007
Location: California
Posts: 985
Default

Beautiful pendants Jonny B. What color did you use on the bail's of those? it really sets them off well.
Will T its coming along there. I think you would
be happier with another color for petals, if you are not going to make a layered cane. Most all my flowers are layered canes for all components. Got any turbo cobalt?
Layer that over that pink glass and you will love the effect you will get. Just make sure your coating of Turbo cob. is on the thin side.
If you want a good color that makes nice petals without layering try peacock.
Be sure your staymen dots are tiny, yours could still be smaller, and use a
really fine pick, mine is tungsten 5/16 and I sharpen it daily. That gal from
england is using a sewing needle that she bought, must be long.
Good job there on getting your design to rise up nicely.
What you are discovering here will help you design more interesting pieces.
Good job. Keep Melting Glass, & Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
__________________
Mary K
GTT Sidewinder & 3 Regalias

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

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never
know how soon it will be too late.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
PLEASE like my page!
Reply With Quote
  #189  
Old 2013-11-28, 12:09am
Will.T's Avatar
Will.T Will.T is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 10, 2013
Location: seattle
Posts: 80
Default

Thanks for all the help Mary. I appreciate it. I ll try your color suggestions. I am not sure about turbo cobalt. I still use northstar shorts mostly and they arent labeled. I definitely have some cobalt though maybe I'll try that. I have a somewhat fine tungsten pick. Smaller dots are really hard for me though. I must have some depth perception problem but if the dots are too small by the time I can line up the pick they have cooled too much. I'll see what I can do though. Happy Thanksgiving all-
Reply With Quote
  #190  
Old 2013-12-02, 8:29am
Jonny B's Avatar
Jonny B Jonny B is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 10, 2013
Posts: 13
Default

Thank you, I think those bails were also blue moon.
Reply With Quote
  #191  
Old 2013-12-07, 8:12pm
anniedoski's Avatar
anniedoski anniedoski is offline
Lampwork junkie
 
Join Date: Dec 02, 2011
Location: Virginia
Posts: 77
Default

This is the marble i sent my swap buddy, I am very proud of it, even if it had a slightly flat side. Hope you guys like it too.
Reply With Quote
  #192  
Old 2013-12-08, 7:54am
Mary K's Avatar
Mary K Mary K is offline
Flamewoman
 
Join Date: Jan 12, 2007
Location: California
Posts: 985
Default

Very pretty Annie, do you remember what color you used? Are the staymens the same as petals? Nice.
__________________
Mary K
GTT Sidewinder & 3 Regalias

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

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never
know how soon it will be too late.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
PLEASE like my page!
Reply With Quote
  #193  
Old 2013-12-08, 8:24am
anniedoski's Avatar
anniedoski anniedoski is offline
Lampwork junkie
 
Join Date: Dec 02, 2011
Location: Virginia
Posts: 77
Default

Hi Mary. I am pretty sure that the staymens were crayon yellow and the petals were Silver Creek. I'm pretty sure that was what I used... But mostly I use other people's shorts that don't have tags on them, which was what the yellow was.
Reply With Quote
  #194  
Old 2013-12-15, 2:58pm
FiredDesires's Avatar
FiredDesires FiredDesires is offline
tweetysweetie
 
Join Date: Jun 30, 2005
Location: Alaska, I was here first!
Posts: 1,854
Default

I'm the lucky ducky who got Anniedoski's marble pictured above. It is so stunning, and I think it is just perfect.....excellent job swap buddie!
__________________
I am NOT the authority on anything/everything, but as old as I am... and given the mistakes I've made? I've got a jump on most as to what IS right and what WON'T work!! ~CWeaver 2006


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
  #195  
Old 2014-01-31, 4:14pm
ArtifexVitri's Avatar
ArtifexVitri ArtifexVitri is offline
Newbie
 
Join Date: Sep 30, 2013
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 15
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by VooDooVixen View Post
some are done with frit, dot, and petal shaped. I am really excited to try out some of the new flower types that were posted earlier in this thread! It's been challenging figuring out how to shape different types of flowers.

Beautiful! What size frit did you use for these?
Reply With Quote
  #196  
Old 2014-01-31, 4:18pm
ArtifexVitri's Avatar
ArtifexVitri ArtifexVitri is offline
Newbie
 
Join Date: Sep 30, 2013
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 15
Default

After a month break, I tried another implosion yesterday. I'm trying to make them really small, because I don't like the bulky pendants, but I don't think I get enough glass to flow around the floral drawing...
My main concern right now is the fact that the stamen goes out like the petals instead of straight up. And then, even though I implode and marver the the petals once or twice before applying the leaf cane, the leaves are so tiny, they are never seen unless you turn over the pendant.

Should I start with a larger maria and remove excess glass after I'm done with the implosion? How do I fix the stamen issue?

Thank you all!
Reply With Quote
  #197  
Old 2014-02-04, 9:59am
Mary K's Avatar
Mary K Mary K is offline
Flamewoman
 
Join Date: Jan 12, 2007
Location: California
Posts: 985
Default

What size cane are you using Artifex? Smaller is not easier, at least for me. I use mainly 14mm clear rods for my work, and I control the size of the pendant with the gather size I start with. To fix the stamen issue - to get the stamens to go up instead of out - keep the dot you make as tiny as possible, then give it the smallest poke with a tiny point, I use a very small tungsten pic that I got from ABR, but I have read that some use a larger sewing needle in a pin vise to do this.( don't put it in the flame though). Post a picture of what you are getting and perhaps I could be more help.

ON this one I have the stamens going up.

this one has the center stamens going up and then I didn't poke the blue ones around the center, so they go out instead of up. See the difference?
__________________
Mary K
GTT Sidewinder & 3 Regalias

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

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never
know how soon it will be too late.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
PLEASE like my page!
Reply With Quote
  #198  
Old 2014-03-12, 7:42pm
hotglass's Avatar
hotglass hotglass is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 16, 2007
Location: Hawaii to Junction City, KS to Sierra Vista, AZ
Posts: 116
Default Getting DAP to strike....

I've been trying to get a similar effect on small marbles but get only the yellow color.

Mary K, would you mind sharing how you strike your colors? Thanks in advance!

- Alpha
__________________
Alpha


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #199  
Old 2014-03-13, 7:35pm
Mary K's Avatar
Mary K Mary K is offline
Flamewoman
 
Join Date: Jan 12, 2007
Location: California
Posts: 985
Default

Ahh.... .. ... Alpha. I had a great Aunt named Alpha, and she was a kick in the butt, married 8 times, never divorced. Now back to glass.
I have been wondering when this subject might come up. It's a big secret, and
I can't tell you, unless you torture me. Ok, I hate torture so I will try to tell you.
My information may be wrong, misunderstood, and way off base but this is to the best of my ability what I know about why glass changes to different colors, otherwise known as striking. That's my disclaimer in case I am wrong, which I may be.
Know anything about crystal growth? That's what I know as what is happening when the glass goes from say - clear - to red or purple, or somewhere in between like yellow. The molecules in glass move and change composition at different temps, as they cool they change from one type of molecule to another. The glass needs to be brought up to a certain temp for a certain amount of time to achieve max crystal growth, and it also needs to be allowed to cool for a certain amount of time and then reheated only so much to achieve the colors we all strive for, the pinks purples etc.
Each glass will have different striking temp needs, in my experience. For instance, you are getting yellow from DAP and you know it can also go purple, so why are you getting yellow? It could be that you never got the glass hot enough for the strike, or you didn't keep it hot enough long enough. Secondly it could be that you didn't then let it cool long enough, assuming that you had it hot enough for long enough, before you reheated it. Or...the most common reason for me is that the glass stayed in the slightly overstike temp for too long. Jeesh this is hard to explain.
Think of those little molecules in the glass, wiggling and moving and forming crystal formations, when the glass is very hot they are moving very fast, as they cool they slow down,(but in fact glass molecules never stop moving) if you keep them in the middle speed - mid heat - too long they lose their ability to connect into the dark purple crystals that DAP can make.
I doubt that I have that explained that right at all, so in short this is what I do:
For a pink petal:
Lay down a very thin line of DAP, Silver creek, purple lustre, etc
on top of that line I want like something like MP violet hue, scarlet, half blood, ruby, light ruby, a red, another very fine line on top of the DAP.
I make sure I use an oxy flame when laying down the DAP, and that my maria is hot too, I flash my flame over the area I am going to lay color down so it will keep the haze off as I lay it down. After whole floral design is made, I will punty up and then wait. Take a drink of water. I have a big clock in my shop that has a second hand, I watch it, make sure that it is over 1 min before I even consider burning off the rod I made the compression on. Hold it up to the light, does the glass look like the crystals are starting to form? Just keep it spinning. The clear around the design will start to almost look slightly green, just a tint. It's almost ready. Then after the right amount of time, and it's just something you learn from experience, I get the whole thing very hot, burn off the rod I made it on, pull off enough glass for the pendant to look right, and if you do this quickly your piece will strike perfectly. Then I chose a place for a bail, or loop, and use jet black mostly because it's an easy glass to shape, I want to get that bail on quick and not have to overheat the pendant to ruin the strike, sometimes if a bail gives me trouble it unstrikes the area near it, oh well.
I hope this makes some sense, I am taking allergy medication, I hope you understand.
__________________
Mary K
GTT Sidewinder & 3 Regalias

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

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never
know how soon it will be too late.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
PLEASE like my page!
Reply With Quote
  #200  
Old 2014-03-15, 5:28pm
Pickledkitty's Avatar
Pickledkitty Pickledkitty is offline
CatTickler Extraordinaire
 
Join Date: Nov 12, 2008
Location: Warner Robins, Georgia
Posts: 146
Default

Thanks Mary K for such a detailed process. One thing I recently learned is that you can kiln strike a piece of glass multiple times. That never occurred to me before, and with some colors, especially deeply encased colors, that is the only way I can get the colors that I know are possible.
Reply With Quote
  #201  
Old 2014-03-20, 11:33pm
hotglass's Avatar
hotglass hotglass is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 16, 2007
Location: Hawaii to Junction City, KS to Sierra Vista, AZ
Posts: 116
Default

Thank you Mary. When I get home I'll practice and post results.

Another question: do your colors look this way going into the kiln or after annealing?

PK - I'll have to try that

Mahalo!
__________________
Alpha


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #202  
Old 2014-03-21, 6:50am
Mary K's Avatar
Mary K Mary K is offline
Flamewoman
 
Join Date: Jan 12, 2007
Location: California
Posts: 985
Default

Hi again Alpha, my florals pretty much look struck when they go in the kiln, the colors are usually more vibrant when the annealing is done, but if they aren't struck going in, they won't be when they come out. My kiln has a preset boro program, and I don't know how to change it, I could call arrow springs and change it I suppose, but I've been doing things this way for 10 years and it works for me. I am not very good with things that need programing.
The only colors that develop in the kiln for me are the red ones like halfblood, the old ruby4, dragon's blood and the other colors like that. I love to put those kind of colors as a backing for the DAP type colors, makes really beautiful petal colors. Looking forward to seeing some of your pictures.
__________________
Mary K
GTT Sidewinder & 3 Regalias

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

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never
know how soon it will be too late.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
PLEASE like my page!
Reply With Quote
  #203  
Old 2014-04-07, 10:48am
hotglass's Avatar
hotglass hotglass is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 16, 2007
Location: Hawaii to Junction City, KS to Sierra Vista, AZ
Posts: 116
Default

Aloha!

Mary K, I did try again and I figured that I am not getting the glass hot enough. I've a Bravo on an H-1 but.... I am at 5000 ft above sea level. I believe I need another concentrator or add a tank for my outer ring. - what do you all think? Is my line of reasoning sound? I usually work with coe 104 and this had not been a problem until my venture into boro

So when I do get a chance to torch, I've been practicing on laying down really thin lines of color and compression. Thank you all for your advice on this board - it is helping this boro newbie immensely. Here is my latest.

__________________
Alpha


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #204  
Old 2014-04-07, 4:31pm
Celestial B Celestial B is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 16, 2013
Posts: 48
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by hotglass View Post
I've a Bravo on an H-1 but.... I am at 5000 ft above sea level. I believe I need another concentrator or add a tank for my outer ring. - what do you all think? Is my line of reasoning sound?
I am still working on the idea for homefilling myself and am about to move from basically seal level to @ 4K feet.

I used to sell air compressors and vacuum pumps for industrial use. What I can tell you is that at your altitude, if you are compressing air to a different pressure than ambient...which you are. You are only getting @ 84% of the performance from your concentrator compared to if it was working at sea level. Higher altitude means the air molecules are farther apart. At sea level the air pressure is pushing on everything at 14.75 pounds per square inch. At 5K feet it is pushing at 12.2 pounds per square inch. A way I used to describe this is imagine your compressor/concentrator is a factory scooping up 3ft x 3ft x 3ft boxes of air and squinching them down to a smaller size. At sea level your compressor is grabbing 100% full boxes of air (This is what the factory rates the performance on....humidity and temperature play in here too, but that gets complicated) At 5K feet, the same compressor / concentrator is only filling the box to 84%. This is for straight up compression of ambient air. Add the filtering to get only oxygen, and there could be more loss.

I have a torch that is basically like a Carlisle CC which I generally run the oxy at 20 - 25 psi. The trick is to determine the cost of enough concentrators to run full out to make the cubic feet of oxy you need (Need to factor in life span if filters, repair and such). A tank will buy you some time and is cheaper all way around than another concentrator. Say you need oxy at 20psi and your concentrator makes 40psi, but your concentrator blows that pressure at 8 liters per minute and your torch will eat 12. A 80gallon tank filled up with 40psi oxy gives you time as when you start pulling off the tank, the concentrator will start up and push 8lpm into the tank while you pull out 12lpm. Now it is a race between if you will stop your burn before the tank falls below the psi you need for optimal torch chemistry. Now, what if you could get an oil free compressor that takes a direct feed from your concentrator and fills your 80 gallon tank to 100psi. You bough more time. Is the compressor which you are essentially using as a booster going to cost less in the long run to maintain than a second concentrator? Then if you go with two concentrators and one goes down, you have one left to limp along on. Lots of factors to decide what is most cost effective. If you can get good ratings on your torch and find that what you need is less than a second concentrator, a tank might do the trick.
Reply With Quote
  #205  
Old 2014-04-26, 9:23am
LynieG's Avatar
LynieG LynieG is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 28, 2010
Location: Winthrop, MN
Posts: 3,010
Default

Hi Mary! DH has been making floral pendants for a while now but every time he uses silver glasses for them, they wash out to basically white! Is there a method or a reason why they would wash out? We know that he is probably washing out the color / silvers and have tried several different methods trying to keep them from washing out including lowering the heat, upping the heat, flame consistency ie: carborizing and reducing and trying the methods you mentioned above. Nothing seems to work. Most of them come out like the 2 light blue ones! The color is a dark blue. He has gotten pretty good at these but very frustrated because of the washed out colors! Because of the heat in having to melt these down does he need to stay away from the silvers? We just ordered a Bravo and are currently working on a mini cc which, I know, isn't a big enough torch but the pendants aren't very big either - maybe an inch or less. The colors he has been using are NS Blue, Blue Moon, Alaska Thunder. But there are a few others also.
Any tips or help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! (Sorry for the blurry pics! These are HARD to get a good focus on LOL)
Attached Images
 
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
LynieG
Reply With Quote
  #206  
Old 2014-04-26, 10:13pm
Will.T's Avatar
Will.T Will.T is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 10, 2013
Location: seattle
Posts: 80
Default

I have been wondering about this too. I have only had good luck with using the metallic colors as surface decoration. I think if those colors get worked for too long the metal get burned out? That's my guess. I have pretty much given up trying to use them in marbles.

The yellow pendant looks pretty nice. Could you post a close up of that one maybe?
Reply With Quote
  #207  
Old 2014-04-27, 11:03am
LynieG's Avatar
LynieG LynieG is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 28, 2010
Location: Winthrop, MN
Posts: 3,010
Default

Thank you Will! Yeah that's kinda what we decided too but wanted to ask in case there was a trick to it that we couldn't figure out! Ron is so frustrated with it LOL!

Here are a couple of pics that he has done including a close up of the yellow one! The flecks in them are another problem. We got hold of some crappy clear that no matter how he cleaned and picked off the gunk he couldn't get them all out! That glass has since been replaced thank goodness!
Attached Images
     
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
LynieG
Reply With Quote
  #208  
Old 2014-04-27, 11:07am
LynieG's Avatar
LynieG LynieG is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 28, 2010
Location: Winthrop, MN
Posts: 3,010
Default

Just have to say that "Dang there are some beauties in here!"
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
LynieG
Reply With Quote
  #209  
Old 2014-04-27, 11:56am
Will.T's Avatar
Will.T Will.T is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 10, 2013
Location: seattle
Posts: 80
Default

Nice work! That yellow one is really nice.

There might be a trick to those colors. If there is I don't know it though. Maybe someone will chime in with a definite answer.

Last edited by Will.T; 2014-04-27 at 12:01pm.
Reply With Quote
  #210  
Old 2014-04-27, 11:59am
LynieG's Avatar
LynieG LynieG is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 28, 2010
Location: Winthrop, MN
Posts: 3,010
Default

Thank you!
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
LynieG
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 8:12am.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.5
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Your IP: 34.204.3.195