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Author: Dale_Lynn, Contributing Editor
| This is a clean well organized place that makes lampworking a pleasure. Everything is handy and easy to get to with out any hazards to hurt you. |  |
| Its now the middle of week seven. On Monday I was digging around in work shop and found a "cold chisel", its about 7/8 inch in diameter and 8 inches long "Hmmm". On way to grocery shopping (yah I do THAT too) I stopped at local home improvement store and get a 1x3 inch pipe nipple and a 1 inch pipe cap. After putting groceries away I head out to shop and then screw pipe cap to nipple, look at it, and grab chisel and slide it into nipple. I now have a frit maker! Back to screen porch where glass stuff is, grab some short rods and pieces, back to work shop, drop small pieces of rods in to pipe mash a bit with chisel, pore contents out. I now have large, medium, small chucks of glass, ah- ha, FRIT! But how to separate it. Will muse on this later?
Decide to go to public library and do some research. Several times I have seen a comment on Jim Smircich's technique on getting the proper "dimple" on end of bead (can't wait for previously ordered back issue of Lapidary Journal to arrive). At library I set down with stack Lapidary Journal back issues and proceed to go through them one by one. AH-HA there is article, October 2001 issue. Read article feverishly to glean deep dark secrets out of written words? Dang, no deep dark secrets, just technique. As I read, it's so simple. I can even remember this when I get home? Also lots of other good ideas in various issues. Like the one to modify a graphite paddle to To be a "rest" for end of mandrel. Home again, grab paddle, out to work shop, cut sand, drill, I now have modified paddle per article in Lapidary Journal. Back to screen room and where glass "stuff" is. Fire up torch, and melt glass, dum-de-dem. A bit of time passes, can see how Jim Smircich's techniques works!. Great concept, do about eight beads to be sure I have firm grasp on concept, more successes than failures. YES!. Also the modified paddle helps stabilize the end of mandrel, this must also contributes to the successes. Monday is a very good day. Tuesday I'm back at bench wondering what to do with the frit I made yesterday. Got to be some way to screen it. Aaah!. Screen! Rummage around shed and find remnant of fiberglass window screen, now what, spy old plastic 35mm file canister, ok cut bottom off canister and hot glue piece of window screen to bottom. How have a real "screen", back at glass studio (notice subtle change in room name where glass work happens). Pour newly made frit through screen. I now have large chunks separated from smaller stuff, large chunks go into little plastic bowl, what to do about smaller stiff, thinking! thinking! Inspiration, rush to kitchen, rummage through "gadget drawer", aaah!. Tea strainer with fine mesh, back to studio. Pore small stuff into tea strainer, shake a bit, yes, separates small stuff from dust just fine. Now have large and small frit. Don't know what use I may have for the "dust" yet, though. But tea strainer has new home in studio. Now its time to play with the frit, place some large frit on back of small marver, and proceeded to make a white cylindrical bed, bead is shaped pretty good (with dimpled ends). And hot. Now roll it into frit and back into flame, frit melts into bead and into vermiculite to cool. Go to move marver for next bead. Poof. Frit all over the place, damn fumble fingers. Need to clean up frit. While muttering to self, got to be a better way! Spy old Altoids Candy tin sitting shelf, hmmm! Seems to have rather thin band around lid, grab tin remove lid, great, I now have tray to put frit in to control it while doing bead routine, and its also easier to dump frit back into storage container after use with tray? Make many more breads playing with my newly learned "dimpling" skills and my frit and my modified tools. Life is good so far this week? Did I mention I have made myself a pest on internet discussion sites of the last week or so with endless questions! |
 | Here is a example of some of the beads I have tought my self to make.
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| More Beads!.... The five on the bottom are actually "bottle glass" its heavy green glass from a "sparkling cider" bottle |  |
 | Playing with new shapes. The "apple core" shape was made by actually rolling hot glass gather down the Hot Head torch. These beads also are decoraated by rolling the "gather" in multicolored frit. |
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