Hi! I have made some beads copying some I have seen on the web, maybe it was on this site? don't remember. It is all about melting in small dots and then rake them . I use a very Sharp pointed tungsten rake. I find it very hard to just rake the dots, usually a Whole lot of the black is moving also and I only want to move the white. I heat and rake and try to only be at the surface of the bead but a lot of the black still moves With the white. Anyone have good tips on how to do this ?
Here are my beads.
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/ACDonMyMind/30ec3ad6-edca-4429-bfce-8904bc28d247.jpg) (http://s299.photobucket.com/user/ACDonMyMind/media/30ec3ad6-edca-4429-bfce-8904bc28d247.jpg.html)
Beautiful beads!
Spot heat where you want to rake and wait until the colour comes fully back into the white before raking. You can actually wait quite a bit longer than you think and still rake ok.
...and you can rake one dot more than once :)
I have tried to wait until the colour comes back in the white but then the raker just Bounces off the glass, its like its either molten or completely stiff, no inbetween...
I use a thin clear stringer to rake.
Stringers snap when I use them, I'm obviously heavy handed.
I use a sharp tungsten pick.
It doesn't have to be done all in one go - try and get hold of the Kristina Logan dvd that's (was) doing the rounds - she does it bit by bit.
I'm pretty rubbisk at raking with stringers and tungsten so I like to use a sickle dental pick like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/161149524166?hlpht=true&ops=true&viphx=1&lpid=95&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=95
What a fab ebay shop-all those instruments of torture. Did you spot the medical fetish pinwheel-with three wheels? OMG, what's THAT for?
My brother in law apparently does some DIY dentistry-Yeowch!
Oh, and thanks Sall for the tip, I too can't rake for nuts, so will try a sickle dental pick.
Quote from: Redhotsal on March 16, 2014, 04:56:02 PM
I'm pretty rubbisk at raking with stringers and tungsten so I like to use a sickle dental pick like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/161149524166?hlpht=true&ops=true&viphx=1&lpid=95&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=95
That is what I use Sal.
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/surgitek-Ltd?_trksid=p2054897.l2563
Sorry to go slightly off topic but OW! There are some cringeworthy tools in their shop!!!
Made me cross my legs they did!!!!
wow, I had no idea its possible to buy surgical instruments just like that. I know I do not need a speculum not now not ever......
That blackhead remover thingy looks nifty - don't know how it works, though! ;D ???
Nick
The effect of raking depends on several things while doing it.
Temperature of the glass:
The hotter the glass the easier it moves. If the heat is just in the surface of the bead after a nice and hot "kiss" with the flame you'll move less glass than on a bead heated allmost molten to the mandrel. A deep and less hot "heat pool" moves on a wider trail than a superhot and shallow one.
Depth of poking in with the tool:
The deeper you poke your tool into the glass the more glass moves. If you start in the middle of the dot you'll get a wider trail of dot color than starting just before leaving the dot. If you just surf on the surface of the bead the trail will be very narrow and you can almost pull a stringer out of the bead.
Temperature of the tool:
If you rake with a cold tool it moves much more glass than a hot tool. The cold tool is cooling the glass and turns virtually into a very fat tool. A hot tool is more cutting through the glass than moving lots of it. If the tool doesn't melt the cold tool may leave kind of teardrop shapes where the raking stops. If you pull the raking trail out of the bead and remove the stringer, you'll get very pointy ende og the trails. A melting tool as a warm stringer will leave a trail of its color in the raking trail. Use it as a design element.