pulling stringers

[cazz]

HI.
can anyone tell me where i am going wrong?
when i try pulling a stringer they are end up thinner than i want,am i pulling too soon?

[SilverGems89]

im rubbish at pulling anything but really thin stringer but i know the principles of pulling thicker stringer, wait longer and pull slower!

[♥♥Tan♥♥]

Yup, just pulling too soon and a little bit quickly. When you heat your blob, come out of the flame and let it cool just a bit and then start pulling slowly, you will feel when the glass starts to firm up, then you can pull a bit firmer and faster

[helenfc]

make sure its out of the flame frist, sounds dumb but i tried to do that before figuring out it doesnt work....
also try using a punty instead of pliers for a thicker stringer, that seems to work for me

[julieHB]

Agree with Gemma and Tan   Also, remember that if you want quite a thick stringer you need to melt a lot more glass, otherwise it won't go very far  

[cazz]

I  do tend to pull them fast i think im worried it will cool down before im finished

[ScarletLeonard]

When I take my gather out of the flame I stick it onto my punty then count to 5 for the stringer thickness I like to work with, count to 8 for a 'commercial stringer' and to 3 for fine ones for scroll work.

That's what works for me, still doesn't always go to plan but the counting helps I usually end up with a semi decent sized rod of the thickness I want and a thicker bit at the end.

Scarlet xx

[SilverGems89]

also try using a punty instead of pliers for a thicker stringer

Helen i had been thinking about doing something like this but with Maria Louisa's chopsticks...i will have to give it a go!

[cazz]

thanks for the help,

i like the idea of counting think i will try that.......

[Magpie]

Practice with white. It's easy to see when it's cooling as it goes from clear to white. Also you can always use white stringer.

[Redhotsal]

Don't pull it while it's glowing - and if it's a white/ivory stringer don't pull until it has turned back to opaque from clear. You have to count up quite a few seconds - don't panic, you have more time than you think - and what's the worst that can happen if you leave it too long? You just end up with a very thick and very short stringer so just reheat it and try again.