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Boro Room -- For Boro-related tips, techniques, and questions.

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  #1  
Old 2009-09-19, 7:09pm
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debkauz debkauz is offline
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Default Boro Melt Down

Unfortunately it's not the boro that's melting down, it's me. I have always resisted boro because I wanted to feel like I had soft glass under control before I started something else. I'm finally feeling like it's time to move on but I also feel like I'm in a foreign country where the street signs look kind of familiar but I don't know the language.
What in the heck do I need? I don't know much about the different glass and companies or what colors I need or any special tools I might need. I realize that I can start with what I have right now but I know how I am. I'm going to want it all asap. Hints from people please? I appreciate any imput you can give me!
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  #2  
Old 2009-09-19, 7:24pm
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Start with clear, and I would say a sample pack if you can swing it. All the companies have them (Glass Alchemey, Northstar, TAG and Momka).

Moving from soft you will work much closer to the torch. Flame chem. is very important for a lot of the colors. But there is more on that throughout the Boro area.Glass Alchemy has some good info on flame Chem on their site. There is a boro newbie thread with some starter tutorials. http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...ghlight=newbie


Hope that is at least a start for you. I'm sure there will be more things posted for you.
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Last edited by Kare TX; 2009-09-19 at 7:27pm.
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  #3  
Old 2009-09-19, 7:43pm
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Thanks Kare. Another question if you don't mind...I have a minor, a bobcat and a cricket. Which of the 3 do you think would be the best to try to use? I'm guessing the bobcat or cricket but I'm not really sure. I'll try them both but I just wondered how others felt. I just can't get a bigger torch for a while so it has to be with one of them.
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  #4  
Old 2009-09-19, 8:27pm
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I've never used the bobcat, but the cricket works very well with boro.

For the glass....Avoid crayon colors at first as they're kind of the alabaster of the 33 world...they work, but need some TLC and experience.

Get a quarter pound of 6mm clear rods and one of the aforementioned sample packs. If you really want, look for a video from Smartflix

And welcome to the dark side!
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  #5  
Old 2009-09-19, 8:42pm
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Yep, boro really makes us softsiders feel just plain ignorant, doesn't it?

I've only played with mine. It's like learning a whole new way of life. (Of course, it didn't help that in the first 15 minutes I played, I took a 1/4" bead out of the flame for not all that long and it exploded on me!!! Since that's never happened to me with soft glass, I realized right off the bat that I had a whooooolllllllleeeeee lot of learning to do.)
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  #6  
Old 2009-09-19, 9:20pm
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Deb I am working boro on my Bobcat with NG and a m15 oxy con. I works great!
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Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in. -Amy Lowell-

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  #7  
Old 2009-09-19, 11:01pm
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Deb,
When I was teaching stoneware pottery (in another life, years ago) I used to tell my students "I can teach you to throw good pots in a year, but you will spend the rest of your life learning about glazes".
I feel the same way about boro glass, and I have been melting it for 34 years. When I am teaching boro, I start with clear because it is consistent. Only after learning the basics of how boro moves and attaches do we move to color. The chemicals added to make colored glass change its working characteristics. Because each manufacturer's glass reacts differently in the flame, I would suggest sticking with one brand in the beginning. My preference would be for Northstar, although I really like Momka's glass too.
Welcome to the dark (and reduced and oxydized and flame struck and fumed etc) side!
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  #8  
Old 2009-09-19, 11:11pm
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the best thing about boro is that it's not soft glass.

think about all of the things you know about 104; how quietly and simply it moves, how gentile shapes and natural forms arrive innately through the material, how it preserves and protects the heat you give it. this is the energy of a material designed to produce the female form, a material made to make those flowing ergonomic shapes that are so pleasing to the eye.

now pick up a 2x4.

this is boro. boro is a real material in the scene one constructs with it; builds with it, assembles with it. it was made to be a part, to be cut and welded back together again. boro rewards the engineer's nature.

in that it is a glass, it is not at all different from 104; like the Dolly Lama and Michael Vick are both humans.

Be at peace with 104. Be at work with 33.

And remember the best rule:

A person who wishes to develop strong boro skills only needs to be one thing: unemployed.

Be aggressive. Be yourself. It's a lot easier than 104 anyway, you won't have a problem.
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  #9  
Old 2009-09-20, 3:31am
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Deb - I couldn't have said it any better than Harold just did. That's the word from the bird there ;-D

When I get a new color, here's and exercise I try to get the feel of the color. It helps me just play. I take the color and make a small gather...coat it with clear, twist, mash, cut, stretch etc....you'll some how end up with a pendant in there somewhere. Then I take the clear and make a gather, coat it with the color and do the same. Then I will do both those striping with a striking color and/or a sparklie of some kind. After you have these little test pieces, you'll know what effects you will get from that color. Under, over, twisted, cut...etc
I'm not much of a delicate little flower, so a glass that I can beat the crap out of suits me just fine. ;-D Most of all...have fun!
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  #10  
Old 2009-09-20, 5:05am
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Ooh Ooh... the Boro bug has bitten you.... Welcome!!

I melt small boro on my Bobcat.... bigger stuff on my Cheetah, but when I first started Boro it was easier for me on the Bobcat cause it melts a little slower and gave me a little more time to work on a piece......
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  #11  
Old 2009-09-20, 1:02pm
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Get some larger diameter mandrels and some clear frit, Clear rods in 15 mm (if you are doing off mandrel pendants) 7mm and 3 mm, and a sample pack as previously mentioned.

Adding Clear frit or melted in dots can do amazing things . . .

One of the biggest soft glass habits that could hurt your work in boro is waving the glass in and out of the flame to keep it warm. You don't have to do that, generally either have it in or out. That way you have less of a chance of developing too much haze or muddy colors from phase separation.

Have fun and welcome to the dark side!
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  #12  
Old 2009-09-22, 6:31am
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Deb do yourself a favor and buy a bag of Brents boro bits or a bag elsewhere ... I have at least 25lbs of shorts and have never "lacked" in color. You can't beat the bits for learning and at $50 a bag it would be very hard to beat. Figure around $80 bucks for clear, in different sizes, and your bag o bits GL!
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  #13  
Old 2009-09-22, 8:13pm
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I rent space at a studio by the hour to work with glass, and much of the time I use a minor, so a minor is fine. Now that I'm not afraid of turning up the flame, things go pretty quickly.
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  #14  
Old 2009-09-23, 9:54am
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Hey Deb. If you want I can bring some boro on Saturday and show you a few things...

Your best bet is to get your hands on Brents Boro Basic DVD. It's da bomb for beginners...!
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Old 2009-09-24, 5:11am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bclogan View Post
Your best bet is to get your hands on Brents Boro Basic DVD. It's da bomb for beginners...!
QFT (quoted for truthyness)
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  #16  
Old 2009-09-25, 1:35pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HWCGlass View Post
And remember the best rule:

A person who wishes to develop strong boro skills only needs to be one thing: unemployed.

Be aggressive. Be yourself.
That will be after the 1st of the year...... Watch out boro
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  #17  
Old 2009-09-26, 4:33am
Christopher Rice Christopher Rice is offline
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Definately use the Bobcat, the cricket will work too, but the Bobcat has a bigger flame. And it gets much hotter than the minor. The biggest thing between soft and hard that I tell our students (hmmmm, that doesn't sound good....) is the color of the glass. Most soft glass you keep at a dull orange glow to work it. With boro it needs to be white hot. Turn up the torch and don't be afraid to get it hot. Boro likes heat!!
-chris
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  #18  
Old 2009-10-02, 5:59am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KEW View Post
Yep, boro really makes us softsiders feel just plain ignorant, doesn't it?

I've only played with mine. It's like learning a whole new way of life. (Of course, it didn't help that in the first 15 minutes I played, I took a 1/4" bead out of the flame for not all that long and it exploded on me!!! Since that's never happened to me with soft glass, I realized right off the bat that I had a whooooolllllllleeeeee lot of learning to do.)
You sure you didn't accidentally add some 104 in with the 33? Thats the main reason I like boro its thermal stability.
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