Encasing

[fionaess]

I am totally, utterly useless at this...  I have made 3 lovely beads.. encased them and ended up pulling them into stringers.. I hate, detest, loath encasing.. I am never, ever ever going to try to encase anything ever again, I am going to be know over land and sea as the non encasing lampworker... I promise faithfully never to attempt to encase anything ever again  .. well probably until Wednesday !!!
Phewww... I needed to get that of my chest..... I have spent abot 3 hours trying to do this,, it is/I am hopeless... 3 hours on 3 lots of ugly stringer... poooooo !!!!!


Fiona

[Funky Cow]

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooh my friend - I really do know how you feel! But fear not, if ham-fisted me can get the hang of it - there is hope for everyone. Try this
http://www.kikibead.com/techniques/casing.htm
and you will see that when you heat one side of the bead, the encasing glass really does 'pull' over. The knack is getting the right amount of encasing glass on, and I usually marver mine gently to make it a kind of 'belt' around the middle of the bead before heating each end in turn Give it go, and report back please 

Cath x

[afina]

Hi Fiona,
encasing is difficult in the beginning. Just don't give up! I so do remember my fist "encased" beads, they were sooo ugly! Then it got better, and suddenly it just worked! It is only PPP.  But I wouldn't pull the beads into stringers, I would finish them as they are and later look at them so to see what should be done in a different way.
You'll manage, as long as you don't give up. 

[fionaess]

If you had spent 30 mins trying to melt a huge blob of effetre clear into a round bead.. and being so careful not to burn the damn stuff, and still ended up with a huge blob of clear.. you too would cut your losses and pull the damn thing into stringers   

Fiona

[Shirley]

I think the point is, we haveall done exactly that, but have stuck with it and it does get easier as you get more used to how the glass works. Give it a rest for a bit, then go back to it, and you will find it gets a little better each time.

[♥♥Tan♥♥]

Take a little plain bead, about the size of a pea, run a wrap of clear around it......you have encased something.

Make another plain bead, put some dots around it, melt them in, let it cool to tapping coolness, i.e tap it on your marver, if it taps its cool enough, wrap a layer of clear round it melt it in....thats encasing decoration

Now look at them, you have encased a plain bead and a decorated bead, both very simple, the edges are bleeding around the mandrel, but you have encased.

Now do the same with a small barrel bead but wrap clear around both ends and a little bit around the centre if you need it.

And again with a dotty decorated barrel.

Keep it small, keep the practice on beads that dont matter

[Sal]

Encasing seems to be one of those things you're rubbish at for ages, feel like you're never going to be able to do it then suddenly one day you get it. I'm by no means an expert but my encasing has suddenly come on leaps and bounds recently (but it has taken a lot of practice and is still far from perfect!). Don't give up and do keep a couple of your rubbish ones-you'll be able to look back at them later on and see how much you've improved (which always cheers me up  ). One tip which really helped me-if you are spiral encasing twist your clear slightly backwards and forwards between your fingers as you wrap it on-it helps to push the air out and reduce bubbles.

Another thing-sometimes I think I've cocked up some encasing but I carry on heating and working as though my encasing is fine and I am surprised by how often it actually turns out ok-don't give up too early, you may be surprised  

[garishglobes]

Don't give up! You will get there, it just takes lots and lots of practice. Start small and work up! Just don't despair, its hard but a method that works for you will suddenly click and you'll wonder how you ever had a problem.

[Bumpy Beads]

It's all been said already. One day you can't do it, next day you can! 

What helped me most was sitting next to another lampworker last week and actually watching her do it, and  her watching me and telling me what I was doing wrong.

Stick with it, and until you suss it take great pride in all the other things you CAN do.

[fionaess]

Thanks everyone... especially Tan.. that was just what I needed.  I was cack handedly attempting to encase big beads... and actually giving myself a headache, most unusual for me..  But I took your advice Tan.. and made a little, and I mean little, pea size red bead and encased it.. and then I made a little dotty bead and encased that one... this evening I will make a little barrel and a little decorated barrel and encase both of them.  And I will leave it at that for today for my encasing. Although knowing me I will continue with the little encased beads.. I can just see them on a dangly charm bracelet    What Tan made me see was that I was trying, once again, to run before I can walk, I hate giving up on things, but now I can encase... albeit tiny beads... Thank you all 
I still find that my effetre clear very stiff... are any of the other clears better.. ie  easier to encase with?
Fiona

[♥♥Tan♥♥]

If your down this end, come and see me and I can show you for real. Vetro is ok, not a great clear though, the better the clear teh more expensive it gets, effetre seems about the cheapest are your rods very thick?

[fionaess]

Yeah... thick and non gloopy... stiff as a stiff thing, and if you heat them too hard they burn    I seem to stand for ages trying to melt the stuff.

Fi

[Kaz]

Yeah... thick and non gloopy... stiff as a stiff thing, and if you heat them too hard they burn    I seem to stand for ages trying to melt the stuff.

Fi

!!!!!!!!!!
Kaz

[fionaess]

 

[afina]

There is a new kind of Lauscha clear which is really soft. And there is the new Reichenbach 104 clear, very soft, too. I like the Reichenbach very much. Don't know who carries it in the UK, though.