How I make stringers-1st get some M&M's...

[Jude Rose]

Here's how I go about making a stringer. Sorry no pictures. But hopefully this can help a few out there!

Get a needle-nose pliers close to your work-station.

Take a rod (any color but white) and heat up a gather about the size of a peanut M&M. To push the process along-cuz I'm pushy-I will fold my gather into the yet-to-be-melted part with a graphite paddle. My paddle is attached to my torch, but any paddle will work.
If your stringer is dual-colored, then make a plain M&M sized gather and then case that with a transparent color. The two together usually end up making a large enough gather to pull.

When it seems like it's big enough, pick up your needle-nose and turn to your side. Pinch the end of the gather and then-this is important-pause and count to three. If it's a very big gather, you can even blow on it to create a skin. Then start to pull, slowly and calmly.
Watch the gather and determine which side has the most glass that's molten. Then actually lift that side and let the heat rise while you pull diagonally. It's almost always the side that has the rod in your hand versus the side with the pliers in your hand.
The reason you're doing this is because heat rises and that extra heat will get you usually about an extra 6-8 inches on your stringer. It's also a little intuitive at this point because you may feel the heat out and decide a straight pull will get you the thickness you're trying to achieve.

Your stringer will usually pull into about 2 1/2 feet. The more slowly you pulled it, the fatter it got. Faster pulling means thinner stringers-sometimes too thin to easily use.

Carefully turn back to your torch, pause a few seconds to let eveything harden up, then cut the stringer in the flame. I usually cut it twice. (clean up those ends-the threads of glass can permanently get stuck under your skin)

White glass is super juicy and needs an extra long pause before you start pulling. In fact, sometimes I roll my gather on my marver pad to cool it just a bit even before I pinch an end with the pliers.

One can make stringers with two rods-in fact I sometimes do for certain situations. But it's harder to convince the stringer to remain thicker that way. It thins out more times than not. It has something to do with the diameter of the intial point of the pull. The larger that diameter, the thicker the stringer. The needle-nose chills the end and creates a thick starting point.

[beadstillmyheart]

Jude,

What an excellent description. Have you seen the MEGA M&M's? http://us.mms.com/us/index.jsp

[Jude Rose]

I've decided that the mega M&M's would make some very big stringers.

I tried my explanation on a newbie friend yesterday and it worked really well. In fact, I was shaking my head at how long it took me to make a stringer as good as the one she had just made. Well, she is a natural. But the point is, I really hope this helps some folks out!

[Venessa]

Originally Posted by beadstillmyheart

Jude,

What an excellent description. Have you seen the MEGA M&M's? http://us.mms.com/us/index.jsp

Yeah, but where are the dark chocolate M&M's? Those are the ones I really want!!

[JCHerrellGlass]

Jude! Awesome, lady! You inspired me to post a tut!

Questions:
But what kind of M&M's? Almond? Peanut? Plain? Crispy? What color? Should it match the glass you are pulling stringer with? What should I do if the M&M melts? At what point can the M&M be eaten?

Gracias, amiga!
JC

[nate-d]

If I'm working boro should anything change?

[houptdavid]

Originally Posted by JCHerrellGlass

At what point can the M&M be eaten?

It's a reward for pulling a good stringer