Right, I know it's PPP, but there are a few things I just can't get the hang of, and this is them (for now) - any help sooooo gratefully received:
Stringer: This sounds daft, but (obviously), if I put the stringer in the flame, it melts into blobs before I can apply it - fair enough. But if I hold my stringer above the flame so it's nicely warm and pliable, my bead is *in* the flame, and any shape melts into nothingsness whilst I (tip of the tongue sticking out of the corner of my mouth) carefully apply the stringer. I then normally get an OH S*** moment when I realise half my bead is melting, the other half is getting stone cold....hence most of my stringer work is in the way of squiggles, but I'd really, really like to do better. I should say that I pull my own stringers, and they are quite thin...
Foil/Leaf: I'm after the 'stars in the distance' look, lots of tiny, tiny silver dots. Yesterday, I did three identical beads, wrapping one in foil, one in leaf, one in wire. The base colour was black. The foil one ended up looking greenish and silver dotty....not a bad look necessarily, but certainly not the night sky I was after. The leaf one ended up yellow-tinged, like custard cone off, no silver dots - not a nice look. The wire was okay (I knew it would be, I like wire), but the dots were much larger, there weren't enough for the look I was after, and there were still the trails between them.
There.....long message - anybody who can solve the predicament? ???
It is PPP and to be honest, I had a real problem with stringer control and dots for age. For dots, I hold the bead under the flame to keep it warm. I put the end of the stringer in the flame to heat it, remove it from the flame to apply to the bead (both stringer and bead are out of the flame, then move the stringer back into the flame to flame cut it. Does that make sense? Remember to keep the bead warm.
I very rarely use foils, but it sounds as if you're burning the foil if it is turning yellow. To avoid trails between your silver wire dots, instead of wrapping the wire around the bead and melting, I use it like stringer - heat the end, apply it to the bead, then flame cut it (remember to hold it quite far up as obviously the wire conducts the heat). This way you can control where your dots are.
You'll probably be presented with a few different methods. It's all about having a play and seeing what works for you :)
Hi Sabine
What Billie said - PPP :)
Stringer control is a bit of a holy grail - the Corina Stringer DVD is brilliant if you can get hold of it. But to make patterns you need to keep the stringer out of the flame and the bead behind the flame. Turn your flame down and keep the stringer just hot enough so that you can push your pattern down onto the bead. Then cut the stringer and waft the bead through the flame. You might also need to marver the stringer on to the bead to stop it pinging off. And you can use a tool (I use one of Sandy's spears) to manipulate it to where you want it. But this isn't easy - I am no expert - its all about PPP.
For dots have you tried using the end of a whole rod? You have more control and can push the rod through the flame - you can still get small dots but you are less likely to melt a rod than a stringer in the process.
And onto silver - I love working with silver but to be honest there are so many different things you can do and so many different reactions that I would just play and enjoy the results to get an idea of what happens. I think there is a Corina silver book (Q might have it?) - I haven't seen it but her books are great so it should be worth a look. The important thing with silver is to make sure that you have fine silver. I got the look you are looking for from very heavily reduced foil on CIM hades but this also has some green blue tinges so might not be what you want. If I were you I would just play and enjoy what you're getting even if it isn't what you intended :).
This is kinda brief but it is how i can work.
Stringer, turn the flame down a little, bead behind the flame and the stringer does not touch the flame, then heat radiating should be ehough from the right hand side. then move the beads, not the stringer, so keep the stringer still and move the bead about. then you are not moving out of the perfect heat spot
With the silver, i am not great with organics either, you could try using thinner wire? An organics pro may be able to help you more on that one?
hope this helps?
Thanks everybody :D :D One thing that's becoming clear already is that I'm not using the flame enough...positions, turned up, turned down...Sarah, I use rods for dots all the time, and find that a lot easier, even doing titchy dots that way....I guess maybe I just don't do 'subtle' ;D ;D If I look closely at my stringer beads, there's always the start of a perfect scroll/coil somewhere, turning into squiggles/blobs ;D ;D ;D Will keep trying...
You can get silver frit, which is milled silver - not glass. It makes the little dots without the trails, although you can get a dark ring around the dot, depending on what colour base glass you are using. You can get it from Petra at silverclay - that's her username and there's a link to her website. It comes in different grades. I find the fine is best. A little goes a long way.
As to the stringer control, I don't have to add anything to the above advices. Maybe it would be easier for you to make encased stringers. The clear encasing makes the stringer a bit stiffer and therefore easier to work with.
I love working with silver too! The look you are aiming for can also be obtained with silver frits! I bought them a few months ago with Petra. If you would like the address, please let me know and I will find it for you!
Further, I can only say P P P !!!
Edit: I see Shirley posted just before me, with the same advice on silver frits!
Re stringers - the bead should be under the flame, not in it, and the stringer to the side. So neither is fully in the flame, but both can be warm. Does that make sense?
My tuppence worth, try squishing a bead so you have two flat surfaces and pull varying thicknesses of stringer, think, skewer thickness, toothpick thickness, hair thickness. Start with the big thick one
Warm the bead in the flame and then turn the flame down so its nice and crisp.
Put the bead under the flame and bring your thick stringer in slowly from the side
The minute it starts to glow....STOP
That is the place you need to be at, bring the bead over to the stringer, put the stringer on the bead and draw randomly
Imagine if you have a tube of rolled thin paper about three inches long standing upright, as you apply pressure it sort of stays in the same place but 'gives' and crumples downwards, thats the sort of feeling you get when you apply stringer correctly.
Have a play with all the stringers, they all do different jobs with regards to their thickness but the thick ones are a great way to practice
SILVER FOIL, Looks good with frit, the silver will rise up and web around it.
Wrap your base bead in your foil, doesnt matter if its double thickness, and burnish it on, I usually use a cold glass rod, but really make sure that it is on there
This is the point where you would add frit, if you wanted to.Warm your bead to a red glow, don't worry about the silver, and roll in frit. Melt frit in.
Now work right up in the top of the flame, turn the bead slowly in the flame to melt the silver. Watch how it beads , keep it moving and don't let it get so hot that the silver sizzles. It happens quickly, but you can see it start to bubble, If you see that, just remove from the heat and it will settle down. You can encase from here now.
If the encasing glass is too hot this will turn the foil yellow as well, its never ending innit
For stringer, as the others say is to not put it in the flame but to use radial heat. I've found that some people forget to put a bit of pressure on as well instead of just "laying it on". I tend to work stringer cool, and with a fair whack of pressure there - like you would with a biro? So you arent just dropping the glass on but drawing with it. So you are working with the flame chasing your stringer, but never catching up :D
As Tan says - the moment it glows, stop (mind you for stringers with silver in, they can be a bit brittle so sometimes you may have to work with a *little* glow).
Also remember to move your bead for the design - not the stringer. So the stringer always remains in the same place in the flame and never moves, for the pattern you move the bead instead.
What torch are you using? I couldnt do stringer work until I moved onto the minor burner, if it helps...
Okay, my 2p worth now! ;)
White stringer is very hard to use so avoid it and try something stiffer.
Make a one colour bead and squish it for a good surface area - decorate it with a stringer of the SAME colour. Melt it in when you have done, and try again. Keep going, all you'll end up with is a bigger bead rather than loads of wasted glass.
Silver wire, I haven't used much of this but I have tried it in the way Billie describes - but remember heat travels QUICKLY! If you are using it like stringer it melts fast and the heat travels up the length of it fast too :o
So many good ideas! I remembered I had some silver frit, I'd given up on it because it stayed clunky before, but got it to work today, hurrah...waiting for my starry night sky to cool to see whether it worked. I'm very prone to burning myself on silver wire, thanks for all the warnings (my favourite is getting it stuck to the bead, then yanking it off and getting a nice wire-thin burn from the backlash ;D ;D ;D).
Stringers...for the first time today, I managed to pull a stringer with continuous heat, so they're a bit thicker than usual (but I'm ace at pulling hair thin ones for intense black lace :D :D) I had a go, but will try again tomorrow...it's a start - thanks again, everybody - Sam, your 'stringer-of-the-same-colour' is inspired - will try that tomorrow, at least that way, I don't mess up as many beads ;D ;D
I can help you with some of this stuff when you pop over if you want? I can also teach you how to pull a good stringer too that arent too thin.
Yeeha, yes, please....I'll bring my tree beads to make you laugh (they all sport two features: a load of blobs and much-lower-than-intended branches from when the stringer ran away, and one melted corner from when I concentrated on the stringer and forgot about the bead) ;D ;D ;D
tee hee! i'm sure it aint that bad!!!!!!!
I'll show you my first one from a year ago :D well not the first I have thrown that away in shame, but I do have one of the first ones! it be baaaaaaaaaaad!
Can I ask a question along these lines? I have been practising my stringers, and then I encased a bead with black stringer (think it was Hades) and the black spread out. I thought this was because it was a trans colour - any tips?
Quote from: tanok on December 30, 2007, 01:31:33 PM
Put the bead under the flame and bring your thick stringer in slowly from the side
The minute it starts to glow....STOP
That is the place you need to be at, bring the bead over to the stringer, put the stringer on the bead and draw randomly
Imagine if you have a tube of rolled thin paper about three inches long standing upright, as you apply pressure it sort of stays in the same place but 'gives' and crumples downwards, thats the sort of feeling you get when you apply stringer correctly.
What fantastic advice Tan! I now know what I should be looking for and how it should feel too. Have you ever considered teaching? You'd be great!
I would love to teach but dont have the space or the insurance, however anyone coming to Cornwall is welcome to come and play with my torch and some glass and we can work out any sticky bits you may be at.......its free but cake is required, and you get to make the tea ;)
Where are you Tan? I am in Croyde, North Devon. There are a few of us on this coast now!
LOL, I'm planning our summer holiday - DH said 'how about the Lake District', I said 'hmmm....I'd prefer the coast', he says 'how about Cornwall or Devon', I said 'oh, how about around Croyde Bay???' So fingers crossed we'll be in the area over the summer! ;D ;D ;D
Hayle, just across the bay from St Ives :D
we were in St Ives about 2 years ago, its gorgeous...I used to live in Looe & Polperro in my childhood, we went back there during the same holiday & I'd quite happily live there again, allthough I do love where i am aswell...& the seagulls are bigger in cornwall & I hate birds :P ;D
oooo hayle, there is a pub restaurant there that does an amazing carvery, buggered if I can remember what it is called though!
Quote from: turnedlight on December 31, 2007, 04:41:57 PM
Can I ask a question along these lines? I have been practising my stringers, and then I encased a bead with black stringer (think it was Hades) and the black spread out. I thought this was because it was a trans colour - any tips?
Hades is like nero intense/intense black, it will spread very easily and bleeds - especially when over/super heated.
Good bit of advice from the Lampwork Beads DVD is that for dots the stringer should be at right angles to the place on the bead where you are applying it!
Kaz