Glass sculpturing?

[Tonyb]

Hi,

Hopefully I'm in the right place for some advice. I have never sat behind a torch but have always wanted to try making small glass sculputres and ornaments from melting glass - similar to this example:

http://www.rennart.co.uk/images/glassreindeer.jpg

Is this still called lampworking and does anyone on here do this - or is it known as something else?

Does anyone know if the equipment I would need is the same as that used for beadwork - will a HH torch be suitable?

Thanks all. Tony

[Skyblue]

Hello Tony im not an expert by any stretch of the imagination and im sure there are others on here that can give you very good advice. But my brother makes similar things to the picture you have shown and he uses a nortel minor torch, it is the same set up as lampworking and I anneal his little figures in my kiln. Im not sure if a hothead is suitable as I have never used one, I suppose it depends on how big you want to make the little animals etc and what kind of glass you want to use. My brother uses coe 104. Now hopefully somebody else will be able to give you some more in detail advice. Good luck ! its a fascinating hobby.

[Redhotsal]

Hi Tony,
Yes, it is called lampworking. Bob Martin is a bit of a master at this type of thing. He made a video on how to do it all which you may find really useful. You can buy it from my website:

http://www.redhotsal.co.uk

Can't seem to post a link to the actual page but just choose beadmaking DVDs from the Menu. Bob demos quite a few animals such as Bambis, Badgers, Pigs and so on.

What you choose to make the sculptures out of makes quite a difference to what torch you can use. For example - sculpting from borosilicate glass is fairly easy as it is thermally very strong, and it is stiff - so the legs of an animal will tend to stay in place rather than flop around, for example, however, you will need a hot torch to melt it (propane and oxygen) and a hothead wouldn't be nearly hot enough. So, your best bet would be to use soda glass rods, such as Effetre, CIM or even Bullseye. The old school glass animal makers prefer a slightly stiffer glass like Plowden and Thomson but this is getting hard to get hold of so I would probably recommend you have a go with some Effetre and go from there. The transparent colours are more suitable to begin with as they are a little stiffer than the opaque colours. Don't be tempted to mix different manufacturers together unless you know that the COEs - (coefficient of expansion - usually a number like "104") - are the same.

You should be able to make sculptures out of Effetre on a Hothead without much trouble. In fact - as the hothead is a bushier flame than a dual gas torch, like a Minor burner it is actually suited to sculpture quite well. If you've seen people make beads you'll see that they try to keep the whole bead hot all the time to prevent it from cracking, but with sculpture the technique is a little different - you heat different areas of the sculpture in sequence. Never be tempted to go back and have another bash at an area of the sculpture you have left as you are likely to have the whole thing crack or even explode.

Where abouts are you based Tony? I may know of a local bod who does a bit of sculpture and who might be able to give you a few pointers. There are a few of us on this forum who like to dabble in sculpting glass Let me know if you need any more info.

[Tonyb]

Hi Sal,

This is great information - thanks very much.

I'll look to get the DVD you mention - I will drop hints to the kids to buy it for me for XMAS!

I live in Bracknell in Berkshire so if you know of anyone who is in this area that I could possibly hook up with that would be great.

Many thanks

Tony

[Tonyb]

Thanks also to Skyblue for the info.

A follow up question if I may...

Is it easy to get bottled oxygen in the uk? Can I just order it from somewhere and have it delivered or do most people use an OxyCon?

Thanks. Tony

[Redhotsal]

Hi again Tony,
Not sure of anyone specifically in the Bracknell area - I'll have a think. Bottled oxy - yes, easy to get, but you'll need a contract with someone like BOC, but not cheap. They charge for delivery, charge for the tank rental, charge for a refill. You'll probably need a couple so that you can swap one over when the other gets empty and you have to restrain them (chain to a wall) by law. You'll also need a two stage regulator and flashback arrestor. Used to cost me a fortune - plus the cylinders are really heavy. Most people use concentrators these days - they pay for themselves in about six months, are really portable, really convenient and your oxygen is "free" once you have paid for the unit. Most people buy a 5litre/min recon unit from somewhere like Tuffnells. You also don't need a regulator or flashback arrestor with an oxycon. One oxycon unit is good enough for most soda glass applications but if you get into borosilicate you will probably need a couple or a posher 10 litre/min unit.

[Tonyb]

Thanks Sal,

I think that an Oxycon is the way to go if I go for a dual fuel. Once bought, is there anything you need to buy to keep an Oxycon running? Do you have to feed and water it with anything?

Thanks

Tony

[Steampunkglass]

Thanks Sal,

I think that an Oxycon is the way to go if I go for a dual fuel. Once bought, is there anything you need to buy to keep an Oxycon running? Do you have to feed and water it with anything?

Thanks

Tony

Nope, they're mains powered so just plug it in and you're off    It's a good idea to renew the inlet filter every year (about £12-£15) which is easy to do, just pull one out and push a new one back in. As they get older you sometimes might need to replace the pipes inside, although I had one going for over four years before it needed looking at, it does depend on how much you use it. Tuffnell glass offer a servicing service to do that too if needed. It's still better value than renting oxygen tanks, plus it's much safer than storing oxygen too.

[garishglobes]

Think of an oxycon as a gremlin. Food in the form of electricity is good but water is a no-no!

I think I am probably one of those sculpture dabblers, but living in Cumbria, am a way away from you 

As for the sculpting, Elizabeth Ryland Mears' Flameworking book is quite a nice introduction to working with borosilicate glass sculpture and it covers a lot of the basics like joins and heat flow and so on. There are lots of Youtube videos and Marsh Glass has some good, basic tutorials too - http://www.marshglass.us/tutorials.html. For borosilicate glass sculpture, I'd say that you should look at a torch that has the ability to make a small flame as well as a wider one - there are times when you may want to do some fine detail.

[Ian Pearson]

I am just up the road in Caithness so pop up here Tony and I can show you a thing or three

Ian

[Tonyb]

Thanks for the offer Ian, but I think you are 400 miles from my home.

Tony

[helbels]

Tony, I'm in Fleet and Marklaird on here is in Camberley (he's on a Hothead).  Mark does little fish and things but I'm afraid I only do beads.

Neither of us might be any good to you at all in terms of what you want to learn,  but just thought I'd say hello anyway as I'm local! 

[Redhotsal]

I am just up the road in Caithness so pop up here Tony and I can show you a thing or three

Ian

Don't be fooled - you think Caithness is a long way away but Ian has a disconcerting habit up just showing up down here with a really large flame from time to time!!

Love that quote about Gremlins and Oxycons - yes, they certainly don't like the damp - it's just a shame they don't reproduce if you expose them to water!

[garishglobes]

Ah, but possibly it is a good thing that they don't reproduce... the water might make evil oxycons....ones hell-bent on mischief!

[Redhotsal]

Ah, but possibly it is a good thing that they don't reproduce... the water might make evil oxycons....ones hell-bent on mischief!

Oo-eer - one of mine's a bit like that. I need to check it for stripes!