Can anyone relate to this when encasing....
when i start off i end up with a thick stripe and ends in a very thin stripe, and then when i try to cover the thin stripe to make it the same width i end up with joining marks (if you know what i mean) you can see where i added more clear :o i would have thought it would just join and blend in with the rest but it doesnt :-[
any ideas what im doing wrong here?
Maybe it's trapped air...? Someone else will have the answer off the top of their head, but I'll have to consult my books!!!! If you've not had an answer by the time I get my daughters back from their swimming lessons I'll have a flick through :D
How's it going otherwise?
Thanks ;)
Yea im doing well, im just waiting for my kiln to arrive ;D ;D so exiting.
and my raised flowers have come on a treat since my creation station!
im just having big probs with encasing, its so annoying lol
how are you doing??
Not getting much than an hour or so on the torch at the moment per week, but I'm having a play around when I can. I need to get our camera sorted and post some pictures. Finding any work with transparents slow and arduous on the hothead... I get so frustrated by the time I've done one, I then do some twisties to unwind and I'm then ready for bed ;D
Going to have a go with the March/April challenges and tutorial. The in-laws are here this weekend so I'm hoping they take the girls for a few hours during the day so I can get a go on the torch while I'm still alert rather than waiting until the girls are in bed.
Did you buy the minnow Billie?
Yep, got one from Q. Hoping to have an oxycon in the next few months. Our car keeps breaking down, which isn't so good when you've 2 pre-schoolers in the back, so my oxycon and kiln are on hold... again, while we try and replace the car! James has promised me an oxycon by the summer so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'm looking into getting a weekend job if it means getting myself sorted but I don't think he wants to be left looking after Daisy and Ruby all weekend ;)
You have to have the base bead nice and cool, and the clear nice and hot. If your core is too soft you might be deforming it. If the clear is too stiff it might be bubbles, like Billie suggests, or else the core peeking through. Make sure it's soft, and squish it right up to the previous stripe, pushing out air and covering all the core. Hope that makes sense!
So Mary, when i start to encase do i push it on WITHOUT distorting the bead?
when i start i end up with a thick bit LOL and i want to get a thin layer of encasing.
Yes, the core should be firm enough not to move, really quite cool, and the clear should be soft enough that you can squish it. Hold the core under or beside the flame not in it.
ok Mary i will try again ;)
Hi
I don't seem to manage to get any decent encasing done - I try to cool the centre part - but as I'm warming up the clear (I try and only heat the edge but it doesn't seem to melt) and they all seem to melt together.
I have also tried the method of putting a clear stripe around the middle and melting in - but this doesn't work either.
Any advice appreciated - I'm on a HH - bulk and at the moment using effetre glass!
Thanks
Trudi
Hi - I'm new to beadmaking too, & struggled with encasing - one way I found to get an even coating was by using a thick stringer of clear & winding around the bead in a spiral, then heating to melt the surface. You have to be careful not to leave any gaps or the underneath will bleed through, but I found this worked quite well.
(I did see a tutorial on this somewhere - if I find it I'll let you know)
Having said that I've since tried the other methods & seem to be managing those Ok now - must be that it does come with practice! (& getting the temperature of the base bead right)
Good Luck!
Hey Dawn i never thought of using a stringer, im gonna try it ;)
I've had more success since using a thick stringer, although I get the occasional bleed through where I miss, and I can't get the ends right at all >:(
Lots of opinions on encasing here:
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-327646.html
I've only managed to encase small beads...the big ones I always get some of the inside on the outside ;D
Let the base bead cool right down until it is stiff and while you are heating your encasing rod, just wave the bead in and out of the top part of the flame to keep the overall temperature even, I tend to do a wrap at either end, then I am left with a channel in the middle, I heat a big blob and using the channel as a guide I push the blob down and smoosh it around the bead. Keep the base of the bead cool and just keep waving it in and out of the flame all the time you are doing this.
I'm left with a knobby bead now. so I heat either end first and tidy them up, then I heat the centre, even it up and shape it, Dont be afraid to turn your flame up or down to make it bigger or smaller. If you panic then just stop, move the bead up to the cool part of the flame and assess what you need to be doing, and start again. Keep the encasing rod in your hand, as you are heating your bead you may notice areas that you missed while encasing, just heat a blob and dab it over the top.
Does any of this make sense? :P
It does, I'll keep that stored in my head & I'll give it ago tomorrow...ta Tan ;D
Makes good sense Tan, I've been struggling with this too so I'll try your suggestion too! :)
I tore my hair out over encasing and was convinced it would never happen for me........I tried everything I read on all the forums and STILL couldnt do it.....then one day I just got it.....play play play..none of this practice lark ;D ;D
Cool thanks Tanok will give it another go ;D
The eureka moment for me was when I saw someone using tools to push the clear around. I have a set of cheapo dental tools, I heat the clear and nudge it over the bare bits. You can do it in several stages (just keep dipping them in water to cool them).
Hi guys, I've been pulling my hair out with encasing too & was going to give up but all your tips has encouraged me to fight the good fight. After my jewellery course later I will have another go. Wish me luck! ;D
Michelle.x
Good luck Michelle...... I'm still awful with encasing...
Les xx
Glad that I'm not alone on this. I thought it was also me being new and from reading other posts - I've read that effetre is not as good to encase as Lauscha is.
I've used some lauscha glass and have noticed that it does melt far easier than effetre. I've got some clear due soon and I might have another try.
Sometimes I try new things and if they don't work then I tend to leave it for a while before trying again. If you try to hard and it doesn't work then I get angry & frustrated which doesn't help!! I guess that more experience at the torch in general will help, and being a bit more relaxed too!!
I've had a similar problem with surface flowers - for ages it was real hit or miss with them. I still need to practise with them, but it is getting better - and some of it is down to tips and little things I learn naturally like heating the rod evenly - how much to heat it etc etc..
Trudi
Keep at it girls its sooooo worth it, when you've cracked it post us a before and after pics so we can oo and aaa at your progress,,,,and it will be soon I promise!!
You mean the ones that haven't been flung across the room - LOL!
I always wanted to do encased flowers, but never got them right. Every few weeks I'd go back and have another go, meantime practiced other things, and eventually I got it. Not great yet, but recognisably flowers, lol! Having a break let me work on other things that improved my general technique and control, so my flowers were better too.
I let the bead get cool enough so if I tap it on the table it makes a click sound, then I encase, will go and see if I can find a pic
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s276/dybyk/DSCN2822.jpg)
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s276/dybyk/DSCN2821.jpg)
mmmmmm....... sweeties!!!!
:D :D ;)
Tan, those are gorgeous :)
what she said ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Ooh, love the blue one! Such clear bright colour!
One thing I learnt about encasing is: after laying down the 1st stripe, all subsequent stripes must be pushed against the previous stripe as well as push on the base bead - this way you avoid leaving gaps in between (the core oozes out between the gaps and you have this unwanted line on the surface of your encasing). Usually for righthanders, work from left to right when laying the stripes. For lefties, just the opposite. Like most of you have mentioned, keep the base bead slightly cooler (it shouldn't be glowing red when you encase, that will cause the bead to go wonky) when encasing.
I also like to use a stringer to encase - I use ready-made stringers, they are about 3-4mm in diameter from Moretti. The only drawback is the clear Moretti (at least the huge batch that I've bought) is very heat sensitive and overheating causes scums like crazy. This means I draw back on my flame while encasing, the clear behaves well, stays clean and unscummy. Vetrofond may be offering clear stringers, I am not sure since I still have about 5kg of Moretti clear stringers to use up (it was greed when I first bought the stringers). I also use a lot of 'regular' (5mm) Vetrofond clear instead of Lauscha, as Lauscha is known for mixing up their glasses and you end up with incompatible glass which was used to encase your beads and they crack after about 3-7 days - that happened to an entire week's worth of work about 3 years ago. I no longer use Lauscha clear. Also, it is very important to clear your rods before dipping into the flame. The filth on the rods will also create scumming when heated.
Coincidentally, I decided to make a floral bead yesturday - I had wanted to check out my encasing again! The method of encasing is slightly different from what I have described above. I use a 'dumping' method. I dab huge globs of clear on the bead instead of encasing in stripes. After poking the centre of the flower, I put a huge glob of clear over the flowers - making sure that all petals are covered by that clear glob. After I have globbed all the flowers, I globbed in between the globs - gosh, this sounds like a tongue twister, is this difficult to understand?! I do not push the encasing with the graphite or brass paddle anymore - I am not good at that but I use the flame to make the bead round again.
There are several ways to encase, I could probably go on all night. Main thing is you have to like the techniques you use. What suits me may not suit you. Books like Cindy Jenkins' & Corina Tettinger's mention several techniques. Try them all out, make smaller beads to encase. It will take time but eventually you'd find out what's best for you.
Here is the result of the encasing I made. Two pictures taken at different angles.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w304/doraschubert/Glass%20Beads/382_RT8.jpg)
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w304/doraschubert/Glass%20Beads/381_RT8.jpg)
Thanks for your advice guys, but I think I'll give encasing a rest for a while, go back to it later! :)
Michelle.x
Thank you dora, your bead is beautiful ;D
I have always found encasing really hard, and It's something I keep going back too, but I have had a bit of a lightbulb moment recently with the dumping method Dora describes. It's much easier to make sure you are covering the base. I make my base bead, and heep it warm just off the back of the flame and then I do small dots of clear over the base, and go round starting at the right hole side, dotting away like fish scales, slightly overlapping the last round of dots. I then use the flame to melt it all down. This way I've found you can get a nice thin layer of encasing, as with doing the stripe method I could never get it even, and ended up with the base colour bleeding at the edges. You really need to try different techniques and you'll soon find one which works for you ;)
ohh Dora love that bead :o
im ok encasing over a plain colour, but florals nope
i move the encasing with a tool but it STILL ends up moving the flowers aswell :-\