Practicing reduction:

[ellyloo]

What's the best combination that you've found to practice reduction?
I'm trying to practice getting reduction frit or reduction glass reduced just right, but then the whole bead goes on me.

maybe I just need some good reduction technique. *sigh*

[Toni Lutman]

What type of flame are you using? Are you just turning your propane up a bit, (or the oxy down a bit), or are you blasting with the dragon's breath of propane only?

I find I have much more control if I make a slight adjustment to my propane or oxy, and flash the bead a little, then check it. If it needs more, I do it again as needed. That way, I can control it and take the reduction as far as I want.

[GinnyHampton]

I learned on iris gold (chunk, pulled into stringers) when I took a class with Larry Scott. With that glass he taught us to make the flame slightly reducing by turning down the oxygen, then "bathing" your bead in the blue tip of the flame . . . sort of like your gently coating the bead with the flame rotating forward and back and hitting all of the dots from different angles . . . do the left side, the right side, rotate forward, rotate back, etc. Like Toni suggested, I'll reduce the glass from all angles just a little, look at the bead and either keep going, stop, or hit specific areas with the flame again.

What kind of torch set up are you on? I use a minor with natural gas and an oxy concentrator so all I need to do it adjust my oxy knob down until I can see the reducing flame.

[bubblebabeuk]

Originally Posted by GinnyHampton

make the flame slightly reducing by turning down the oxygen, then "bathing" your bead in the blue tip of the flame

What kind of torch set up are you on? I use a minor with natural gas and an oxy concentrator so all I need to do it adjust my oxy knob down until I can see the reducing flame.

I'm also having reducing issues, I've never had a lesson, I'm book taught LOL so maybe my reduction flame is too reducing, everything keeps getting covered in soot! when I set a reducing flame on my minor + oxycon, I just turn down the oxy until the candles get longer and have yellow tips, sort of an inch in length maybe, then put the bead in those yellow tips to reduce it? then I try not to put the bead back into the flame until its encased as i thought the reduction would disappear if i put it back in a neutral flame? what am i doing wrong?

[ellyloo]

I'm like Ellie.
I'm on a minor. Propane/oxy.
I don't knowwhat a good reduction flame is. I watched the stringer control dvd, and she turned the oxy OFF, and propane UP... and waves it through the tip.

Do i wave it through the yellow? Soemone mentioned waving it through the blue. I never thought of just doing it incrementally and checking. I never know when is 'enough' either. I love the delicate shine, but am afraid i won't be able to tell when that's happened, and will do it until it's a harsh mirror surface.

[Carolyn M]

Elly, just turn the oxy down a bit, the candles will grow fairly large and become less defined. Bathe your bead in the top of the candles, briefly, check on reduction, back in for more if needed. This works well for me.

Ellie as far as encasing, what glass are you talking about specifically?

[bubblebabeuk]

I've been playing with the various silver glasses, I made some twisties with clear and intense black and some silver glass R4 I think. melted it into the bead, reduced using the yellow flame I mentioned in a previous post, then keeping my bead outta the flame, I switch back to neutral and add clear glass to the bead.

The soot seems to be in my encasing layer, and affects clear dots too! I made one out of ivory and got soot marks on that as well when I went to reduce the silver glass part.

should I be putting the bead back into a neutral flame after I've reduced it?

I think an oxy flame would clean up effects of reduction so the soot and mirror shine thing, but I don't do that as I thought it would remove all the reduction again?

[wendbill]

I think Deanna Griffen Dove's new book shows good examples of what the varoius flames looks like.

Actually my only regret is that on the page that shows the various flames, they didn't show any hothead flames as well. While I'm now on a minor, I would have killed to have seen some flame types on the hothead (which the majority of us seem to start on).

[ziggys]

Hi, I have the same problems. I don't know when enough is enough.
After I melt the frit in a neutral flame I use a rag on a HH to get a reduction flame. It reduces alot!
Ellie, I put it back in a neutral flame and some of the color came back but I could still see the reduction. So I don't think you will loose it all . And if you do loose all the reduction you can do it a few times before it turns muddy.

I was afraid it wasn't reduced enough so I reduced it again. Wrong thing to do as the bead is basically all black now.
When the bead is hot and a dark color it's hard to tell. Practicing with ivory will hopefully be easier than black.
I haven't tried encasing yet so not sure about the soot. That's carbon right? I always had problems with clear encasing, and soot on a HH using bulk propane. I've been told to work further out in the flame to keep that from happening. Do you work close in?
Sorry for the rambling but hopefully something in here is useful.
Angela

[ziggys]

PS: I also read that etching beads that have been reduced too much will lighten up the bead so I'm going to try that as I have nothing to loose at this point.
Angela

[ziggys]

One last thought. <G>. When I took a class we "flame annealed" the beads by turning off the oxygen. The bead turned black with carbon.
Couldn't see anything but soot. But after the bead cooled the soot was all gone!!!
So I'm wondering if you are using too strong a reduction flame and encasing that soot. So either make the reduction flame smaller or put it back in a neutral flame just until the soot is gone before encasing.

Also in the book Passing the Flame a reduction flame is a little more than twice as big as a neutral flame. It's not yellow either, at least in the picture.

FWIW,
Angela ...(I think I ate too many chocolate covered Espresso beans. )

[bubblebabeuk]

ahhhh think I must be over-reducing it in that case!
I have a copy of PTF so will take a look at what my reducing flame should look like really, I think that in it self will help alot.
I just switched from my HH to a minor so its kinda like learning my flame all over again!
definitely going to check out some pics of flames.

[ziggys]

Ellie, If you have any Ah-ha moments please let us know. I for one could use it. Especially since I'm also switching from a HH to a Mini CC in the next couple weeks and am concerned about the learning curve.
Angela