I'm excited to be finally about to start lampworking and I'm reading everything I can get my hands on.
So, I was wondering, what good habits should a newbie pick up asap and what bad habits are best avoided?
I was thinking of trying to work on the centre of the mandrel after reading a piece in Soda Lime Times about it, rather than getting into the habit of working on the end only. Good idea / bad idea?
I think whether you work in the middle of the mandrel or not is really a matter of personal preference - by all means try it and see how you get on.
I'd suggest you avoid buying too many presses and beadrollers initially. Yes - they will help you make nice shaped beads quickly, but they teach you nothing about how glass moves and flows and how to shape using gravity (ask me how I know this! ;D). You are much better taking your time and learning how to shape a basic donut and round bead without the use of tools to start with.
Don't rush out to buy loads of silver glass until you've got the basics down. Stick with plain old Effetre or CiM. You'll only waste money ruining silver glass in the early days.
The best advice I can give is to be free to find your own way! By all means learn from other people, but don't assume there is ever just one right way to do something and don't be afraid to experiment. The only bad habit I can think of is setting limits on your own imagination...
I've never tried that because I anneal as I go and the beads wouldn't fit easily in the kiln if they were on the middle of the mandrel.
Other good habits - learn heat control and how to shape a bead without using bead rollers might be one habit to recommend. (getting a good shape and ends which aren't sharp)
And of course - be conscious of health and safety! eye protection, ventilation and be careful of dusty enamels for a start.
Give a bit of thought to your sitting position and posture as you work, so you don't get a painful stiff neck/shoulders/back.
(...another 'ask me how I know'!)
Beware of adding glass, tools and other goodies into your shopping cart after a glass of wine, then hitting the 'pay now' button....... ;D ;D ;D
(Though Martin may disagree ;))
Holding the mandrels horizontally unless you want gravity to make the glass flow in a particular direction.
Label all your glass, individually if you can bear it, before you store it. Or, label 2 rods in each 1/4kg - use one, keep the other bound with the bundle. when the one you are using gets short, connect it to an unlabelled one from your bundle, and off you go. When there's only a few left in your bundle - order more! :)
This eliminates the 'shorts proliferation' problem. (Actually, it doesn't, but it helps...).
Keep burn gel or lotion handy. If you have a window in your studio, get an aloe vera plant - break the tip off a leaf and squeeze the gunge on the burn - works great!
When you leave your studio, even for lunch or a cup of tea, always turn your gas off, and bleed your lines. Always!
Read a lot of stuff, follow tutorials, try to recreate effects you see on other peoples beads. Nothing wrong with copying to learn.
If you haven't had a class, get one - the learning curve is very steep, and a class will smooth it for you.
Have fun! ;)
Sean
Keep your water quenching pot on your right hand side if you are right handed and try and get everything you need ready before you start.
Then just enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!
Wow, so much great advice! Thanks everybody; there were lots of points I hadn't considered.
I'm sure I'll make plenty of mistakes but it's good to know what to be most aware of.
Buy a mixed kilo of glass to experiment with colours and how each colour works differently and try colour combinations then work out what you like, don't like as it gives you a lot to play with for your money in the first instance and then you can buy more of your favorites and don't end up with half a kilo of something you don't like much or don't get on with.
Try using household objects as tools - old stainless steel tweezers for adding murrini, metal spoons or foil cake cases as frit holders and old metal butter knives for scoring or general patting and prodding can be very useful.
Quote from: helbels on August 12, 2014, 01:51:40 PM
I'd suggest you avoid buying too many presses and beadrollers initially. Yes - they will help you make nice shaped beads quickly, but they teach you nothing about how glass moves and flows and how to shape using gravity (ask me how I know this! ;D). You are much better taking your time and learning how to shape a basic donut and round bead without the use of tools to start with.
Totally agree with Helen on this one! Plus, in order to be able to use a press effectively, it's enormously helpful to be able start with a well balanced bead, rather than just using the press to make the shape you want. If you don't have a balanced bead to start with, it is actually quite possible to make rubbish beads even with a press!
I worked my way through Passing the flame and found it invaluable.
Clean your beads as you go - much less painful! I still have the odd perfectly useable spacer from my early days that I never got around to :-[ :)
Quote from: Pat from Canvey on August 13, 2014, 07:18:43 AM
Holding the mandrels horizontally unless you want gravity to make the glass flow in a particular direction.
Can't agree more ... And don't turn the mandrel to look at the bead side on until the bead has cooled enough so that gravity distorts it.
Don't be disheartened by mistakes, try and logically work out what happened ... You'll learn so much about the process that will help you!
Oh ... And start small and build up size gradually.
Don't stare at your newly made bead for too long even when you're absolutely impressed by finally managing a new technique. (We've all had that experience, right? ;D ) Will cause your bead to crack for sure.
Do not put the finger of your dominant hand through the flame ::) ::) ::) ::) Fortunately I have Boots the chemist burn gel in stock but my finger nail is a fetching shade of brown.
Don't try too many techniques at once - spend time getting good at 1 technique or design so that when you try other designs and have a bad day, you can revert back to something you do well to cheer yourself up!
Pull your own stringers -
This saves money and helps a LOT with learning heat control
There are a lot of tutorials on the internet on how to do this
I cannot agree more with 'Passing the Flame' - I keep going back to this book for basic things that I keep having to refresh my poor brain with ;D
JMKnox
I've been following all the great advice on this thread - thanks everybody.
Have finally got a copy of Passing the Flame and it has made some things clearer. I could get consistently puckered ends or round beads but not both and I now know why!
I can add some things of my own now (before I forget) -
- When you buy a mixed bundle of glass, go through the list in the wiki and separate out any that are prone to being shocky. Use them later when you you've got the basics. I took out the rods that strike and reduce too.
- Get an apron with a high neck if you're worried about flying glass. Cat gave me one and it's been helpful in building my confidence.
- Have a plan for what you'll do when the glass won't stick to the mandrel or if the bead cracks when you're working on it - it'll help you not to panic.