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

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  #1  
Old 2009-03-31, 4:01pm
CelesteK's Avatar
CelesteK CelesteK is offline
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Default barrel beads

I've been making round beads for the most part since I started torching and now I'm getting somewhat bored with layered dots and want to expand my abilities. I've been trying to make barrel beads and like so many other things that just sound so simple--"Roll your barrel bead on the marver a few times until it's the right shape"--it's not really that easy. Since I'm just learning, how long can I realistically expect to spend on one bead? And how do I not get bursting bubbles? I know I need lots of practise. Oh, and is there an easier glass to use for practice? I've used ivory and also periwinkle for a base.

Celeste
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  #2  
Old 2009-03-31, 4:19pm
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evolvingBeau evolvingBeau is offline
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There are a couple of ways to build a barrel bead..
You can make separate coils, like three beads, close together then heat and marver until they meet.
Or you can coil the glass continuously like a snake, lift the back end of the rod up and heat so when you're laying down the glass you don't trap air. You want it hot enough to flow as it goes on, but you also want to kind of continously mush it as you go to keep from trapping air. There are lots of variations on those methods for getting the glass on without trapping bubbles but that's a basic start.
The continuous method is much faster and will usually give you less trouble, it just takes a little more practice to keep the air out.
Get a nice symmetrical cylinder then add glass, mostly towards the center to build it to the size you want.

To marver.. Bring it down onto the marver like you're landing the bead on it, then taking off before you reach the other end (like a plane). Turn the mandrel in the direction you're going to land so the speed that you are moving forward is matched by the speed of the mandrel. Then you won't drag the glass around.
Start really gentle, hold the marver at eye level to see that the bead and mandrel are parallel with it.
Heat the glass evenly but not so hot that it's soupy to the core, let it chill a second or three before you go in to roll it..

there's some tips off the top of my head..keep at it and you'll be making them in your sleep in no time.
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  #3  
Old 2009-04-01, 5:59am
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I bought myself an osibin lentil shaper tool early on - it has four craters in it (two on each side) and I found it to be a great help in getting a nice barrel bead (and great for lentil shaping too). Don't get the glass too soupy, let it chill for a bit. If you've got a big bead goin' on, work one end, and then the other.

Another way is to elongate the glass in the flame - if your bead is centred in the flame, it'll round up like a donut..move the glass mass closer to one side of the flame, and the glass will move toward the centre. Conversely, you can get one half of it molten, and then tip the mandrel up perpendicular to the table and spin slowly - the glass will crawl down the mandrel, leaving a nicely puckered end. Let that end solidify, and then work on the other end. Kimberley Affleck has a nice tutorial on barrel beads in the book Beads of Glass (The art and the artists), written by Cindy Jenkins.
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  #4  
Old 2009-04-01, 6:43am
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Catamander Catamander is offline
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I just could not get barrels until I was shown this tip at a class. Make 2 small donut beads about as far apart as you want the barrel to be long. Start small at first until you get the hang of keeping 2 beads hot at the same time. Then get your rod nice and molten, while keeping your mandrel just out of the flame. Start right up against the left bead and begin winding the glass onto the mandrel. Continue until you have covered all of the mandrel between the beads. It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth. Now heat the whole thing evenly, but try not to get it too molten. You don't want to loose you end puckers(unless you want to of course). Now begin gently marvering the bead. Make sure not to push too hard. Gentel rolling. As for time, that just depends on the bead and how much of a perfectionist you are. I can spend 30 minutes or more shaping one bead if I really get into it. I'm sure it can be done in a lot less time too. Once I got that technique down, the other techniques started to make a lot more sense. I think most of it is confidence. I hope this was clearer than mud. Let me know if you'd like me explaine anything better.
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  #5  
Old 2009-04-01, 6:55am
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One of the best tuts I've seen is Kimberly's tutorial on shaping in the flame - She makes a simple ivory bead in the tut but any glass will do and the techniques is on you will use over an over.
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  #6  
Old 2009-04-01, 9:24am
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I wind my barrels on. The key to avoiding the bubbles is to make sure the bead release is glowing when you lay the glass down. If you get bubbles you can heat them until they pop or you can pick them out. I add glass to the "shoulders" of my barrel to help establish a nicely shaped end. Gentle patient marving when the bead isn't soupy hot and PPP! I'm just now getting there myself.

Oh, there is always the Michael Barley method of making a gather the size of a golf ball and blobbing it onto the mandrel - lol!
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  #7  
Old 2009-04-01, 10:48am
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To help master keeping 2 beads hot at the same time, try using a base color that changes color when it's hot. Most of Effetre/Moretti's Special colors do this: yellow, coral, red, orange. It gives you a visual reminder - if the color starts changing back to the original color, your bead is cooling off and you need to reheat it.
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  #8  
Old 2009-04-02, 12:56pm
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I wind my base bead and use a combination of heat and gravity to get good ends. If necessary I'll add a wrap near the end but the gravity method is much less fussy once you get the hang of it.

I get the basic shape wound in and let it solidify. Then to make nice ends, I angle my mandrel around 45 degrees and let the flame hit the glass near the mandrel on the underside of the bead, while rolling the mandrel of course. Not actually hitting the mandrel with the flame because that will make the glass want to flow along the mandrel and elongate the footprint. You want to try to keep the glass/mandrel meeting point cool so that it'll be a dam that the hot glass will bulge around, forming a dimple. Don't heat it too soupy or it'll run away on you - just glowy enough to flow slowly. Keep spinning and the dimple will be even.

If necessary you can marver GENTLY to intensify the curve beyond what gravity will do, or to gently tap up a dimple side that is too droopy. (*Never* try to scrape glass off the mandrel, it just makes a mess).

I love the Osibin shapers too, for my florals especially (they're perfect for a final centering when you don't want the core to flow). But they won't automatically give good ends. The gravity method is fast and slick for making good dimples and often you won't need a marver at all!


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  #9  
Old 2009-04-02, 2:18pm
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Thank you Heather, that image helped me!

Marina
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  #10  
Old 2009-04-02, 5:48pm
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Thanks for your help. I want to get the tutorial, but I have a temporary cash flow problem--it's flowing out faster than in--so I'm having to really watch my spending.

Celeste
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