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

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  #1  
Old 2010-02-05, 2:45am
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I started this hobbie because as a child i use to watch a man in a booth on the seafront making glass animals, he spend a few minutes making a super clear glass sulpture, he would then wait a moment or two for it to cool then hand it to the customer? my question is this, how? today we have to anneal the glass in a kiln,
i still have one of theses sulptures that my mum bought from him (over 40 years ago)
is it special glass?

Last edited by madpup; 2010-02-05 at 4:35am. Reason: cannot speel
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  #2  
Old 2010-02-05, 3:22am
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it is Boro. (and should have been annealed before handing it over to you!) I would not anneal it now - there might be stress fractures in it and the heating process migh just cuase it to go pieces.
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  #3  
Old 2010-02-06, 8:58am
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Thanks Diana, there must be thousands of theses animals out there,
i see them on fleabay from time to time, i might buy a few and try to copy them.
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  #4  
Old 2010-02-06, 1:30pm
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Maybe you should look at pics of animals, maybe make some sketches and drawings and design some original ones instead. The artists that created those other ones may have gone through great lengths to create their own original art works.

As you grow in this field you will come to realize that you will put a lot of effort into your design, it is quite rewarding. There are some artists who are sensitive to being copied, you may want to be aware of this.

To everyone out there who isn't Madpup...... he's new let's take the opportunity to GENTLY educate him please.

Otter
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  #5  
Old 2010-02-06, 1:43pm
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Some people are still making small boro pieces at malls or fairs and selling them without annealing. I just saw one in the mall in December. Most folks don't know that these pieces should have been annealed. My sis collects hummingbirds and I'm pretty sure some of hers were not annealed, but I also know that she didn't spend much on any of them so if/when they do break it wont be a big loss.
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  #6  
Old 2010-02-06, 6:28pm
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We had a guy at one of our local markets who makes rather crude figurines. My personal favorite is he claims that he makes the glass and then sells paperweights for $15. My guess is he is sourcing stuff from overseas and claiming them as his own.
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  #7  
Old 2010-02-06, 7:20pm
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Yes, the man who taught me ... when he was short on money and travelling would pull off to the side of the road, set up a portable torch and make animals, stir sticks, etc. and sell them right there and then. Back then he used Pyrex.
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Old 2010-02-18, 4:32pm
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Yep Madpup - my grandfather used to have a huge collection of them on his mantlepiece in Witley Bay back in the 70's - and like wise I have just remembered them from your post. They never seemed to crack - and most probably were not annealed either.

I have played a bit with boro tubing COE33 and it doesn't seem to need more than a little cool in a vermiculite crockpot. Have dropped several pieces on a slate floor and they with stand the shock. But after all glass is glass and it does break.

But then annealing in a kiln is the safest way for us to make sure our creations will last the test of time. I just wonder if the Romans and the Egyptians used 240v or 120v ? And did they prefer Paragon to KilnCare ? LOL

Lastly what is this "fleabay" site - is it an urban myth or what - or are you talking about your local car boot ?

All the best Greg
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  #9  
Old 2010-02-19, 4:01am
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i have a very good friend who still does this - she's never annealed them and as far as i know she's been making them for over 25years. she does the show circuit and craft fairs and such, and yep, she hands them over as soon as they're cool enough to touch

she calls it pyrex glass but she's pretty much old school, she never uses colour except for tiny bits for ducks beaks or black dots for eyes etc. when i told her she could get brilliant boro colours she wasnt interested
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  #10  
Old 2010-02-20, 5:39am
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About 30 years ago this woman made a beautiful dragon out of pyrex for me at a fair. She put it in some type of insulation and let it cool and I came and picked it up later. She painted the "fins" that she made on it's back and painted some detail in the face once it cooled. It has lasted all these years and it wasn't annealed. Of course now it is a beautiful snake body in segments laying next to some legs and a head. I sure wish she would have known about annealing back then.

Otter
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  #11  
Old 2010-02-20, 6:22am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Otter's Flame View Post

To everyone out there who isn't Madpup...... he's new let's take the opportunity to GENTLY educate him please.

Otter
That's it, I'm going out to my shop to make a boro whip baton!


While I totally agree that stuff should be annealed, annealed work traditionally costs more because of the extra time and effort. I don't agree with it, but you might consider it planned obsolescence, or maybe a little smoke and mirrors to make the pieces far more fragile than they need to be.

Take these for example, they'd be a little stronger with annealing, but their fragility adds to their mystique.
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  #12  
Old 2010-02-20, 7:19am
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lol Tom... you know what I mean! The copy issue can bring out our least favorable characteristics from time to time. I just wanted people to be gentle that's all

Otter
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  #13  
Old 2010-02-20, 8:04am
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oh my gosh, i have one of those glass sculptures. a tea pot--mostly clear w/turq blue touches on the lid, handle and spout. got it at disneyland about 45 yrs ago. its still intact. watched the man make it--was fascinating.
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  #14  
Old 2010-02-20, 4:19pm
tt4st tt4st is offline
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Hey Tom, thanks for posting that link! I always wondered how they made those old mercury glass figurines I put on my tree.
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  #15  
Old 2010-02-21, 11:19am
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My parents use to bring me glass animals when they came home from trips. I loved them. I regret sticking them in the attic when I was a teenager. My mother sold them or something. She was good at disposing of everything. They did break and it was heartbreaking when they did.
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Last edited by bousky; 2010-02-21 at 11:47am.
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  #16  
Old 2010-02-21, 1:03pm
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If you look in the free tutorials section you will find a number of different sculptural animal tutorials. It's a good place to start.

There are also a number of sculptural tutorials for sale from various artists.

I wonder how many of us had the glass animal collections? I did. I don't recall any ever breaking unless I dropped them.
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