Escaping Marbles

[PamS]

I just started making marbles yesterday and have discovered that if I'm not really careful transferring them to the kiln they escape. Scary having hot glass rolling around on the floor. So far I've been able to grab them back and re-introduce them to the flame without cracking. They're about 1 inch. I can see how marbles can be very addicting. Will post photos when I have something good.

[JEK3]

That's when a cement floor comes in handy - can't catch on fire. Hopefully, you're not working on carpet (of course, if you were, you wouldn't have your marbles rolling).

Can we say you've officially lost your marbles?


Joe

[Karen Hardy]

...and never try to catch them between your knees.

[pjmarchwinds]

i caught a hot rod between my knees this summer when i was wearing shorts and now have matching brands on my legs

[menty666]

I transport mine in the marble mold and dump 'em in. I also have some fiber blanket on the floor of my kiln to reduce the chance of them all fleeing when I open the door. I've had it happen, most not cool. In fact it was a 1050 degrees of rolling mayhem.

Oh, you might get a pair of olive tongs too to help in retrieval, just remember to flash them in the flame before grabbing so you don't shock the glass. Check out the marble tweezers here: http://www.artcoinc.com/tweezers.php

[Hangs Well]

Those look like the ice tongs that I bought at Crate and Barrel for making lentil beads. About the same price too.

I use the mold transport option also, works great. My kiln has both bead doors and a top that opens, so marbles go in from the top.

[Playing with Fire!]

We line the floor of our annealers with a layer of coarse salt... drop a marble on it and it sits right there, no rolling around.

[cheng076]

I have a 1/4" layer of fiber blanket on the kiln floor as both a cushion and to prevent movement. Take a look at Drew Fritt's book for a great marble 'tweezer'. I made mine from a length of 1/8" stainless steel welding rod. Works very well.
PJH

[Hangs Well]

I second Cheng076's idea. Both blanket and tweezers work great.

http://frittsartglass.com/marbles/articles/Tweezers.html

[Eileen]

I'm just curious here, but is there a cookie sheet that might work well as a work surface to stop rolling beads/marbles, or would the edge interfere with other things?

[menty666]

I suppose it depends on how large your bench is. I've heard of people putting lips on the edges to help keep them corralled.

Luckily mine just stick to the pile of glass underneath the torch

[JesterGlass]

I transfer them in the mold as well.

[Mary K]

You know those cheap metal salad tongs with the fluted edges? They work like a charm, for lots of transportation issues. I also use them to move things back in the kiln because they are long. $2.99 at Ross.

[cheng076]

The D. Fritts webarticle shows using the steel wire from a coat hanger. I do not recommend using this wire as it is soft and bends easily. As I mentioned above, sacrifice one of the 1/8" welding rods you use to make mandrels to make one. Or make a couple different sizes. The one I use most frequently has a loop about 3/4" or 7/8" dia. and handles about 8" long. I shaped the loop around a couple differennt sized sockets from the tool box.

[PamS]

Wow - it's good to know I'm not the only one who's losing my marbles. Luckily I have a tile floor so they just bounce - I'm amazed at how sturdy they are. Will try some of the techniques mentioned - and start working on getting them rounder too. Thanks for all the good advice!

[menty666]

The worst for me is when they get loose and roll underneath something like the kiln or the oxygen concentrator. Occasionally there's debris under there so if you can't get to them quickly you risk a fire. I've had to shoot things with the spray bottle as a last resort, that sucked worse than them picking up crud from the floor.

Luckily it doesn't happen often.

[Cosmo]

Get some hotfingers. Problem solved.

[effemess]

Originally Posted by menty666

The worst for me is when they get loose and roll underneath something like the kiln or the oxygen concentrator. Occasionally there's debris under there so if you can't get to them quickly you risk a fire. I've had to shoot things with the spray bottle as a last resort, that sucked worse than them picking up crud from the floor.

Luckily it doesn't happen often.

Have you been lurking in my house??

[Bakerman44]

i never have a problem with my topload kiln

[JesterGlass]

When I first started melting glass, I was making beads and marbles on a hothead set up on a table in our kitchen by the window. When we put the place on the market, I had to take white shoe polish to the linoleum floor where there were long black streaks from fallen marbles rolling across...