Pegs

[PreciousROC]

I understand that off mandrel you can use pegs to hold the object but having tried ones soaked in water to stop burning it seems too cold and cracks the glass. Have been watching the amazing Vittorio Constantini and he uses pegs with something wrapped around the end and gives them a quick flame warm before holding the object. Anyone any idea what you could wrap around then ends?

Thanks

Becky

[Redhotsal]

Vittorio uses some kind of fibre blankety-type material - but I reckon that's a red herring - I think he uses the material just because it provides better grip than a peg on its own does. So, in my opinion, you should be okay with the normal pegs without anything.....couple of tips I've learned. First - give the peg a bit of a blackening - you want it slightly charred around the edges to begin with - it makes it less slippery. Secondly - I agree - don't wet it but instead, WAIT a few seconds before you use it - you don't want to be holding a very hot piece of glass with the peg as it will catch fire and the subsequent charring will mark the glass. Having watched a few peg users I've noticed that they don't grip the hottest part of the glass with the peg - they actually choose the colder bit - which makes sense if you are doing sculpture - there's bound to be a part of the sculpture which is colder than the rest - you only need to wait for around 30 seconds to get an area where the peg can grip without burning. Hope that makes sense?

[spexy]

I was watching someone in Murano using a metal type peg which had that material wrapped around it too.

[PreciousROC]

Thanks Redhotsal for your insights...plain, charred,dried pegs is what I will try.