Large Clear Rods wont melt!

[Alyson]

Hello again,

I am having trouble melting my clear glass rods, they are much thicker than the ones I originally got, the new ones are 8-10mm. When I try and melt them with my hot head/propane, they take ages to to soften and then when I put them on the mandrel and try and make a bead it takes so long to melt that I keep dragging the glass and then the bead release breaks.
I think I am in the hottest part of the flame, is this a problem with the propane as I have heard that it is slightly cooler, or can you get thinner rods, tuffnells only seem to have these thicker ones on their website.
Any guidance is again most appreciated.

Alyson

[helbels]

Hiya

You are right, this is a Hothead problem, as Hotheads don't get as hot as other systems, so fat rods are a real pain (I got some last year from Tuffnells and they have just sat there since).

You have a few options:

1) Give Tuffnells a call and explain the issue and see if they have some thinner rods in stock.  They often have stuff that's not on their website.  They might even swap the rods you already have.

2) Try to melt them enough to pull stringers from them, that way they will be quicker to melt.

3) If Tuffnells don't have any thinner clear rods, try Hamilton Taylor instead.

Hope that helps a bit
Helen

[Alyson]

Hi Helen,

Thanks for that, good to know its not just me doing it wrong!
I will try the stringer thing, still not too great at doing that though!
Will definitely give Tuffnells a ring, they seem really nice on the phone.

Thanks again.

[Dragonfire Glass]

Martin definitely has some thinner 006 in (cos I got some at Essex  )

[Trudi]

Some people really like the bigger rods for encasing. If you're going to Flame Off - why not see if someone will swap with you if you want normal size rods!