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Old 03-12-2004, 11:54 AM
Rafa Rafa is offline
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Smile glass rings

Hi everyone there,
Iīm a new member of this forum, Iīm writting from Madrid, Spain. I would like to know the correct way to do glass rings. I started a few months ago with my lampworking beads. And I canīt find a book or a person to show me the way. I will be so please if someone can hepl me.
Thank you very much in advantage.

Rafa
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Old 03-12-2004, 11:59 AM
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AlexM AlexM is offline
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Re: glass rings

Hi Rafa,

Welcome to WC!

I have never made a glass ring, so I can't help you there, but I'm sure someone else will chime in and enlighten both of us.
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Old 03-12-2004, 12:24 PM
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dread dread is offline
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Re: glass rings

Well the first thing you need are the large hole mandrels
You shoul be able to order them direct from ArrowSprings or Frantzartglass and they should be able to ship direct to you in Spain.

There are various sizes so it depends on your finger size - Frantz has his listed by ring sizes

Its a matter of wrapping these woppingly large mandrels with glass - simple as that - once you get used to working with its just like using regular mandrels - decorate and voila you have a ring

If you do a thread search there is someone here on WC (I cant remember her name at the moment) does some lovely rings
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Old 03-12-2004, 01:13 PM
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ctseibels ctseibels is offline
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Re: glass rings

Hi Rafa-
Rings are my favorite!!! It does take some practice, but after you get the hang of it, you can get them right on every time!!

You need a large hole mandrel...I have tried three different sizes....you just have to figure out which size will fit your finger. And you can also add a double or triple coat of sludge onto the mandrel, if you want to inch the size of the hole up a little bit.
First you heat the glass...about a two or three inch section of it....just flash it through the flame for a minute or two, until you feel it heating up. You want to have enough of the glass warm enough that you can cover the entire diameter of the mandrel in one application. Am I making sense?
Then, once you have one coat, go around again, to get a sturdy enough band. Then I melt it down and marver, to smooth it out. If you need to go back and add glass, to make an even edge on the band.
I find that the sludge will sometimes start cracking at this point. So when I go to add the centerpeice/focal point of the ring, I put it on the opposite side from the sludge crack.
Add some more glass wherever you want the bulk of the ring to be. From this point on, you just add glass and shape it to make whatever shape you want.
REMEMBER to keep heating the band of the ring while you are working on the details. That was my hardest part, other than the initial application of glass.
I hope these instructions are clear....I have never really typed out detail instructions like this before.
Feel free to ask any more questoins!
Good luck!
I will post a few pics below so you can see some of the rings that I have done!
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Old 03-12-2004, 01:22 PM
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Ty_2002 Ty_2002 is offline
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Re: glass rings

Hello ctseibels,

Wow I am speechless. Your rings are absolutely georgous. I am also new at beadmaking (Since OCT 2003). I have alot to learn and need alot of practice.
Thanks for the instructions how to make rings. Again, you are quite talented.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ctseibels
Hi Rafa-
Rings are my favorite!!! It does take some practice, but after you get the hang of it, you can get them right on every time!!

You need a large hole mandrel...I have tried three different sizes....you just have to figure out which size will fit your finger. And you can also add a double or triple coat of sludge onto the mandrel, if you want to inch the size of the hole up a little bit.
First you heat the glass...about a two or three inch section of it....just flash it through the flame for a minute or two, until you feel it heating up. You want to have enough of the glass warm enough that you can cover the entire diameter of the mandrel in one application. Am I making sense?
Then, once you have one coat, go around again, to get a sturdy enough band. Then I melt it down and marver, to smooth it out. If you need to go back and add glass, to make an even edge on the band.
I find that the sludge will sometimes start cracking at this point. So when I go to add the centerpeice/focal point of the ring, I put it on the opposite side from the sludge crack.
Add some more glass wherever you want the bulk of the ring to be. From this point on, you just add glass and shape it to make whatever shape you want.
REMEMBER to keep heating the band of the ring while you are working on the details. That was my hardest part, other than the initial application of glass.
I hope these instructions are clear....I have never really typed out detail instructions like this before.
Feel free to ask any more questoins!
Good luck!
I will post a few pics below so you can see some of the rings that I have done!
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Old 03-12-2004, 02:31 PM
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ctseibels ctseibels is offline
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Re: glass rings

Thank you very much for your compliments! It all comes from love of what I do...and the fact that I do this full time....so I get 8 hours of practice a day!

When I pull these rings out of the kiln, I want to eat them I am so excited!
I wish you luck...and patience....when you start to get the feel, you will be so exctied, that all you want to do is make more rings. They really are not that hard...it's all about temperature control.

Let me know how it goes.
Carter

Anybody else have ring pics to share??
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Old 03-12-2004, 03:27 PM
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nicker nicker is offline
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Re: glass rings

Oh those rings are so gorgeous !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I check your ebay but none in there!
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Old 03-12-2004, 03:34 PM
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ctseibels ctseibels is offline
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Re: glass rings

I don't have any on ebay right now....in fact, I have never tried to list my rings on ebay....the lampworked rings on there don't seem to be selling for much....but I just might have to give it a try.
Check back maybe on Monday....we'll see what we can do!
Thanks!!
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Old 03-12-2004, 05:14 PM
Rafa Rafa is offline
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Re: glass rings

Hi,
thank you very much for your intructions, now I can understand why rings are your favourite. Yours are gorgeous as simple as that. I will follow everything on Monday. Your instructions are so clear even if you havenīt typed out something like that before. Obviusly I will have to work a lot even to get somethings similar to your rings, but you have been a great help.
Thank you very much, there is only a few person doing lampworking in Spain and they keep all the information for themself. I have been living in London for a few years and now I travel at least ones a month, and there is not a lot of information there to.

Thanks again I will write you again if I have any questions.
Rafa
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Old 03-12-2004, 05:29 PM
Rafa Rafa is offline
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Re: glass rings

Hi ctseisbels,
One more question before I try.
Can I do them with a Hot Head Torch?
because it is the only one I have got now.
Thank you
Rafa
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Old 03-12-2004, 06:24 PM
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mistymade mistymade is offline
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Re: glass rings

Carter, I LOVE your rings!!! Very cool!!!
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Old 03-12-2004, 08:47 PM
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TheBlueBetween TheBlueBetween is offline
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Re: glass rings

Those rings are so fab! Thanks for sharing your instructions! I've been wanting to try some rings for a while now and I think I might just order those mandrels and give it a try!

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Old 03-13-2004, 02:36 AM
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wonderwoman wonderwoman is offline
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Re: glass rings

Very cool rings!
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Old 07-20-2012, 01:50 AM
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aventurinedream aventurinedream is offline
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Re: glass rings

This is an old thread but seems like something I can add a few tidbits on and since I'm new to WC thought I'd find something useful to add somewhere and I've been making a lot of on-mandrel rings lately.

The standard big hole mandrels come in many sizes but they aren't closely spaced in ring sizes. That's because they are made from standard sizes you can buy stainless steel tubing in.

One way to deal with that is to try to vary your bead release thickness or even double dip. I find that's not ideal and can lead to bead release cracking but I can get some range up from the mandrel size. If I'm shooting for a very particular size I can even "sand" the dried release down a bit from a thick coating to try to hit a certain size. I did a blog post showing the range of results I routinely get from different size mandrels..
http://www.aventurinedreamblog.com/2...ndrels-sizing/

There are still sizes really hard to get to and there is a source for ring mandrels in custom sizes. Unlike the standard ones they are made on a lathe to size: Noodlesaurus.com
More expensive that the standard ones but well made and I'm glad I filled in my size range with some of these.

On getting the insides smooth: I've had good luck experimenting with bead release. Particularly with mixing Alice's Bead Release with my usual Sludge from Arrow Springs. At any rate the release makes a difference and you can get a very clean inside. I may not have found the absolute best recipe but it's worth experimenting on that. An added tip on that is that you can smooth the dry release further before you start (and that can be used to shrink the final size a bit too).
Here's a blog post with more on bead release experimentation for rings.
http://www.aventurinedreamblog.com/2...k-glass-rings/

Here's a picture of one of my cat rings...
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