Annealing beads, and Kidlet!
Debbie kindly agreed to allow me to come over to her house to anneal beads. I couldn't resist the opportunity to make a few last beads. I'd stayed up very late Friday night trying to research the problems with silver foil. The only things I found out were ways to prevent the silver yellowing the clear, a problem I haven't seen too much, but useful information nevertheless. I found lots of other great info, though, including accounts of the myriad ways lampworkers can burn themselves (don't let a flying piece of hot glass get into your cleavage, LOL)! So rather than head over to Debbie's right away, I made a couple more last-minute beads.
The first one, of course, was another attempt at the foil. This one was better foil-wise and with nice flowers, but not shaped well. I also added dots on the surface of this one. Here is a photo.
When I asked Debbie about the foil, she said that the mossy effect is what silver is supposed to do if it's near the surface. Essentially I have to learn to encase the foil better. The problems are twofold: 1) I'm cutting the foil too wide, and 2) I'm not encasing it completely, which is largely to do with my torch. She said this is an ambitious project to do with my torch. Yay! I'm not a total idiot!
The other thing I made was a Kidlet, following a tutorial I found in my wanderings Friday evening. It's so cute! I'm pretty happy with how he turned out. Two pieces, as it shows. I'm wearing it now.
While we waited for the kiln to do its thing, I bought a bunch more glass from Debbie, along with some bead release and etching cream. She's so nice to let me do this. She has some really rare colors, too.
She also made a bead while I enviously watched her work on her Big Girl torch. Sigh. It's so much easier. She made a gorgeous bead using this amazing frit that she just started using, and she made the bead a shape that was new to her. So inspiring!
I've been chomping at the bit about my torch setup. I really don't mind using a baby torch for my silversmithing, but it's not working for me in lampwork. I feel like I could do so much more with a better torch.
I'd thought a better torch was an impossible dream, but then I started thinking about drilling a hole in the outside wall of our basement and running a hose through the hole to a tank in the shed. Then I remembered something and went to look Saturday morning. Sure enough, a hole already exists! It must have been used for a dust collector or something, and it's covered now with duct tape. So it would be a relatively simple matter to set this up, if and when I can afford it. Woo hoo!
Oh, and one sad note. My cube bead split in the annealing cycle. RIP, first square bead. The others all survived. Phew!
The first one, of course, was another attempt at the foil. This one was better foil-wise and with nice flowers, but not shaped well. I also added dots on the surface of this one. Here is a photo.
When I asked Debbie about the foil, she said that the mossy effect is what silver is supposed to do if it's near the surface. Essentially I have to learn to encase the foil better. The problems are twofold: 1) I'm cutting the foil too wide, and 2) I'm not encasing it completely, which is largely to do with my torch. She said this is an ambitious project to do with my torch. Yay! I'm not a total idiot!
The other thing I made was a Kidlet, following a tutorial I found in my wanderings Friday evening. It's so cute! I'm pretty happy with how he turned out. Two pieces, as it shows. I'm wearing it now.
While we waited for the kiln to do its thing, I bought a bunch more glass from Debbie, along with some bead release and etching cream. She's so nice to let me do this. She has some really rare colors, too.
She also made a bead while I enviously watched her work on her Big Girl torch. Sigh. It's so much easier. She made a gorgeous bead using this amazing frit that she just started using, and she made the bead a shape that was new to her. So inspiring!
I've been chomping at the bit about my torch setup. I really don't mind using a baby torch for my silversmithing, but it's not working for me in lampwork. I feel like I could do so much more with a better torch.
I'd thought a better torch was an impossible dream, but then I started thinking about drilling a hole in the outside wall of our basement and running a hose through the hole to a tank in the shed. Then I remembered something and went to look Saturday morning. Sure enough, a hole already exists! It must have been used for a dust collector or something, and it's covered now with duct tape. So it would be a relatively simple matter to set this up, if and when I can afford it. Woo hoo!
Oh, and one sad note. My cube bead split in the annealing cycle. RIP, first square bead. The others all survived. Phew!
posted by Susan at Aspiring Arts at 6:30 PM
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