Foot print using Hothead torch

LadyCrow · #1 2006-07-31, 1:17pm

Does anyone have a video, or short clip of a bead foot print being made? As many tutorials that I have read I still can't seem to get a good round bead.I thought that if I could actually SEE a bead being made on the same torch as I do it would help. Everything I've been able to find so far shows the bead in the "ready to decorate" stage. I must have spent half a months time reading and trying to figure it out,Thought I could save time and watch how it's done.
Thanks,
Margie

wildwire · #2 2006-07-31, 1:57pm

I will try to help...Other people please step in...I am not sure how well I can explain this.

This is what I do....I make a one wrap as wide as I want the bead to be...so once for a donut and for a round bead two wraps side by side trying to keep the edges as even as possible....doesn't matter to me yet if there is a bump of glass height wise just that the edge is even where it touches the mandrel. Then I build up wrapping more glass and melting it in using gravity to center the glass mass...once the bead is almost round or the shape I want - I add more glass to the shoulders of the bead and melting in. I keep doing this until the glass is rounder than the edges and there shouldn't be any sharp edges....Using gravity tho to center alot sometimes can over cook the glass...but basically I start small and work up to bigger...

Hope this helps a bit...I had to teach my self too and resorted to buying some videos to help. The Jim Kervin ones are good.

Shauna

ewdb · #3 2006-07-31, 4:22pm

this site has some good free mini videos showing how to make a bead from scratch.

http://www.bearfootart.com/pages/VideoClips.

this one is long but shows a lot of techniques
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?doc...836&q=lampwork

this one is a newbie on a HH
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?doc...079&q=lampwork

hope this helps!

Samyel · #4 2006-07-31, 4:32pm

I almost always have an uneven footprint, which makes it really hard to get an even bead at the end.

LadyCrow · #5 2006-07-31, 7:35pm

Those videos were great. Thanks Evelyn !!
Shauna...you're explaination was very helpful once I saw the videos. Anyone have anymore, the more the merrier.The more I learn!!!
Thanks to all.
Margie

beadlvr · #6 2006-07-31, 8:11pm

I found this http://www.turtlebeads.com/instructi...pworkbead.html

memphis robin · #7 2006-07-31, 8:39pm

hello Margie! i am a new bead person, also trying to perfect the round bead. i found a website with a good tutorial by the bead maker/teacher Jim Smircich. his website and tutorial round bead links are:
www.smircich.com
www.smircich.com/html/round_bead.html

i hope that this will be helpful.
robin

LadyCrow · #8 2006-08-01, 6:57am

Thanks Robin,
I have looked at Jim's website and it actually helped alot,Truley every little bit has helped me bunches! I keep finding little helpful hints here and now I'm addicted to this forum and GLASS...lol
I think we came to the best when we came to this forum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stay in touch.
Margie

Carolyn · #9 2006-08-01, 8:59am

To get a good footprint with "dimples" at the end I make the intial wrap as SMALL and thin as possible. Even try using a stringer to make a wrap. As you add more glass it will "spread' into a nice dimple. If you have a hump where you initally made the wrap, try touching the bead with the hot glass and then slowly pulling away as if you are making a stringer off the bead. You will get a thin tubeof glass which you can then wrap around the bead (like a belt). Melt in and it will spread more evenly. I find that a lot of making the nice round bead is patience. Particularly on my hot head!

LadyCrow · #10 2006-08-01, 9:42pm

I'm starting to get there...maybe a few more stringer control videos and ppp...lol

Sabbsee · #11 2006-08-02, 1:18am

I had a similar problem. All my beads were - well... very oddly shaped wobbles - the perfectly round bead just always seemed to escape me.

Then a friend watched me and told me to slow down. I was rotating my mandrel so fast, that I just about threw the glass off the mandrel at time. Since I have slowed down, even I can make round beads

. It was one of my (many) "AHA" moments.

I hope this helps a bit. Still working on stringer control.

LadyCrow · #12 2006-08-02, 11:26am

Thanks Sabine,
I will give it a try and slow it down a few licks.

LadyCrow · #13 2006-08-02, 5:53pm

Just wanted to share a good website that you may or may not of seen. I read it several times and it has been very helpful to me (along with the videos recommended). Hope it helps someone else get rounder beads.
http://www173.pair.com/mirish2u/roundbed.htm
Thanks,
Margie

Angela Schoonen · #14 2006-08-05, 8:30am

Hi Margie;
I haven't read all the replies, so forgive me if I'm repeating someone.
I always had trouble making my footprint (I was on a HH, now I'm on a minor). I would make a wrap, and then add glass.
However, if you melt enough glass at the tip of the rod to be the size of the bead you want, get it into a nice ball/pea shape at the tip of the rod, red hot, heat your mandrel and drop the hot glass onto the mandrel, spinning it as you go, you will get a perfect round bead with puckered edges.
Does that make sense?
I have found this method to be fool proof and makes the WORLD of difference. It's also super quick.
Good luck!

LadyCrow · #15 2006-08-05, 10:00am

Angela,
Yes it makes perfect sense. I'll try it this evening. I'm getting better, but I still have a LONG way to go. I posted the last beads I did, in the gallery under Hot head Users-What ya got to show. Seems I've been in a "blue" mood and didn't even realize it....lol
Thanks so much for your tips!!
Margie

debkauz · #16 2006-08-14, 7:43pm

PPP. Make 100 spacer beads. You'll have round down to a fine art by the end!

dungeonbeads · #17 2006-08-14, 10:26pm

I start with a very small footprint and then each successive wrap gets wider and thicker as I go up. Then as I round the bead off it forms perfect dimpled ends. I do not worry too much about how even the wraps are, I find that as I start rounding, the glass will even out. It is very important not to turn the mandrel too fast, I go slow enough that I can see the glass moving as the mandrel turns. I also find that most of my students have their torches turned up way to high and can't control the glass as it melts.

Hope that helps,

Jim

Angela Schoonen · #18 2006-08-17, 2:12pm

Margie - did you try the method I suggested? Did it work for you?

LadyCrow · #19 2006-08-18, 12:04pm

Angela ,
I did it this morning and it works GREAT !!!!! I owe you a big hug!! I can make round beads now...knock on wood (substituted my head for wood). It was the first bead without my signature lubble on it, round and even all the way around...amazing.
Many many thanks!!
Margie

Angela Schoonen · #20 2006-08-18, 8:25pm

You are SO welcome! Glad I could help