HELP, please...how do I make a raku twistie

[pookieboo_beads]

I thank anyone who answers this question!! All I have is raku chips and I would like to make a twistie of raku. Well, I don't even know how to ask the question, I guess. I know I will have to pull some thick stringer but what should I use to twist with it?? Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Judy

[Kevan]

It's not going to work that well unless you use rod. I make them with raku rod and intense black.

[bubblebabeuk]

You can do it with chunk, choose a smallish bit maybe pea sized, prewarm it by either placing on a torch munted marver, kiln, rod warmer or wafting it through the back of a flame using tweezers. heat a clear rod, join the raku chunk on the clear melt it until molten enough to pull. either use tweezers, pliers or another rod as a punty and opull out the molten ball of raku! viola raku stringer, thickish of you fancy making twisties.
okay now the twisties loads of diff methods available my personnal fav is using a old mandrel! got it from a tutorial on here I believe it was kimberleys seahorse twistie tut? add glass to the Naked mandrel (I use the Raku but hey I'm wasteful LOL you could slap black on instead, or whatever colour your putting with your raku in the twistie!) marver it to a cone, so fatest end on the mandrel pointy bit hanging off so to speak!
then I put stripes of intense black over the raku base (if you've done the reverse and got a black base do raku stripes on top.) melt it in, attatch punty, I'm a tweezer girl (but pliers, punty or whatever works too) remove from flame, allow to just forma skin (that sounds gross) Twist hands in alternate directions viola a twistie!

My Fav's for Raku twisties are;
Raku and Intense black
Raku and Opal yellow
Raku and periwinkle blue.

But just experiment.

[bubblebabeuk]

also you could heat the chunks and chuck them in cold water to make frit! thats also good fun! and you still have the option of pulling frit into stringers or thin rods.

[pookieboo_beads]

Thanks so much Kevan and Ellie..I really do appreciate the input. Gotta go now....gotta see if I can make the twistie....
Hugs,
Judy

[SuzyQ]

Actually if you have the chunks you can do the twisty thing. Of course a rod is much easier. Heat the chunk up, while it is still nice and molten stick it to another chunk, melt that in and keep going until you have a decent sized blob. Take the blob and shape it into a 3d rectangle. Paint intense black on two side, heat and do the pull twist thing. Yes I have done this. Anyone want to buy the rest of the chunks? I bought rods soon after, lol.

[SuzyQ]

oh, I see you have a good way from Ellie, just added yet another way to skin the cat!

[Melanie]

when you say "Chips" do you mean large frit? i make it from raku rod and black now, but i have made it by heating up a black rod and laying it in the raku frit on one side, then heating the whole blob, grabbing one end with teeny tweezers and then twisting the rod. it made perfectly fine twisties. i like the rod better, but the frit will work. hope that is helpful. by the way, raku and black twisties on copper green is really pretty!

melanie

[lunamoonshadow]

Judy--& any other new folks--an important TIP/HINT--if you order from Olympic--order CANE not rod--or you'll get huge bat sized things that will not work for making twisties!!
(everywhere else pretty much lists the mm size of the "rods" I think!)
~luna