big beads, problem!!

[turquoise]

HI, I have just had a go at making a huge lentil shaped focal bead 36mm

However both times I have had a go the glass has got burnt.

How do you get the glass hot enough to squash in the press without burning and discolouring the glass??

[Billie]

Sounds as though, with the weight of the glass on the mandrel, you're moving your hand toward the base of the flame maybe without realising.  Can be tempting to do this to melt glass quickly.  You just need to keep the flame moving all over the bead.  Don't move the bead around too quickly, but not too slowly either otherwise one area will cool as you heat another.  It's all practice.  A 36mm is a lot of glass to keep hot, but you need to keep the bead moving.

What torch are you on?  I found it a bit of a pain on my minnow, but using FIL's minor for big beads like this I've found it much easier as I can work with a bushier flame to keep a larger surface area hot.

[turquoise]

OK, well it is a nortel minor burner, I reckon I am trying to heat up the bead too fast and it is going to the hottest part of the flame. It is a heck of a lot of glass and very heavy too.  More ppp required.

Thanks for your advice. 

[Lush!]

Patience, I think.

Those whoppers take ages to melt and shape so much glass, I just keep building it up and pressing, over and over - takes me at least 20 minutes to melt that much glass on my minnow.  A good DVD in the background helps