Tip for pulling that last point from a tube.

[dOprah Winfrey]

Hi all,

Not sure if everyone does this anyways, but I figure there must be atleast a few other new glassblowers in here like me who were having trouble with this as well so I figured I'd post. I've been having a hell of a time getting the most out of my tubes as far as pulling points when my section of tube gets down to the end (like 2 points worth of glass left). Especialy on the 38 extra heavy I've been using because I only use 2.5-3 inch sections at a time. I had a bunch of six inch sections with pulled blowtubes on one end that were wide open on the other that were collecting dust...Not anymore.

Heres what I do:

Take a section of 10mm rod and a piece of 3mm rod slightly bigger than the diamater of tubing your trying to pull that last point from.

Melt them together into a "T" shape, making sure to try and get it as centered as possible.

Heat up the open end of your tube, then stop rotating and let the flame just melts two points opposite from each other --> O <-- (arrows pointing to show what I mean by heating two points on opposite ends, the "O" is the open end of the tube.)

Now quickly warm the section of 3 mm rod on the end of the 10 mm rod (not too much, you want something similar to a cold seal.)

Stick the 3 mm rod as close to centered as possble to the extra heated parts of the open end of the tube.

Now heat just a half inch or so from where the 3mm rod and the tube meet, and pull it like a point.

Now you have your once useless section of tube with pulled blowtubes on both sides, melt the tube in half and you now have two points from what was once a dust collector.

If you made a good cold seal, you should be able to just tap the open chunk of tube off the "T" you made from rod and have a reusable tool for getting the most from your points.

Again, I'm not sure if this is going to help anyone, or if everyones doing this or something better already. Hopefully it will help someone new who hasn't figured out what to do with those scraps though. If you use blowtubes I guess this isn't helpful, however I only use points so it has saved me some decent money.

-Travis

ps. if you have a better way of making the most from those tube scraps post it here.

[Kevin Bumble]

or ya just stick the two ends together and pull points one move. heat stick together pull double ended point. or peal the glass together with the 10mm and pull that into yer point. or do what homie said up there id use straight 10 fuck that 3mm its just gonna snap

[schmoinkel]

Or do it the easy way.....attatch a blow tube

[brettodie]

i do the butt seal real quick and pull it into a double point before it gets to knuckle burner stage.

[dOprah Winfrey]

Kevin and brettodie, thats for the tip. That works much faster than what I was doing!

schmoinkel, I wish attaching a blowtube was the easy way, however I'm on a bobcat and melting down 32 mm extra heavy wall enough to attach a blowtube takes way too long for me.

Thanks for the imput all,
-Travis

[fUmEsNiFfEr]

I always just flare it out a lil' and then use my magic grabby finger thingies.

[Albino Sasquatch]

Or do it the easy way.....attatch a blow tube

what he said way quicker less steps make my head hurt less

[nicko0]

pull tube in half attach blow tube to pointy end of one half. go two sections down and pull point(if you like 3" go 6") flame cut point nearest to the section you just pulled. pull another double point till your done.

now the closed pointy end is all ready for a blow tube attach one and pull that double point in two

oh yeah the last point is so long that its easy to handle

the last double point is open ended so you gotta close it up and put a blow tube or flare a bit and finger holders

[kq9ak]

When my tube gets 2 small to break down I usually make 2 pieces out of the one point. Don't even waste the time or glass breaking it down it 2 smaller section.

[Deez]

or just heat the end of the tube. swipe the edge of the tuhe with some 7 mil rod north south east and west, then pull to the center. and pull point. no need to fool around with some 10 mill rod and 3 mil.

[sevin dummerville]

I think I pull points different than most but I dont pull them all from a full tube at all. I quarter or third a tube by scoring and snapping or shocking. then I take each piece and heat the center while holding each end and pull the points from the center. Seperate with the flame and you have 2 large points. 8 from the whole tube.
then if I want half points I hold and heat the middle of the point and split into 2. This way I lose less glass to points as each point has only one blow tube and not 2. I always have one blow tube and a pontil. If i need a tube on the other side I just add one.
I never understood why people pull them from a whole, cumbersome 5' tube when they can be broken down from more manageable sections. I never have to wait for anything to cool and can move freely in my compact studio.
I'm pretty sure this method is much faster than the other method and yields straighter points....try it.

[MUPH]

Use a blowtube

[brettodie]

ya i rarely if ever use puntys if im pulling points. i pull in half from a full tube. i start with 2 tubes that way i can pull points continously with out stopping. i pull pretty much perfect points everytime. i can pull 25-30 one hitter points per tube this way.at 8 dollers a tube or so i dont find this wasteful at all.
for smaller work which is all i use points for i find it a waste of time to attach blowtubes. your mileage may vary.

[menty666]

or just heat the end of the tube. swipe the edge of the tuhe with some 7 mil rod north south east and west, then pull to the center. and pull point. no need to fool around with some 10 mill rod and 3 mil.

What he said. Just plan ahead before it gets so short you can't hold it.

I saw Cesare's Corning video and it shows how he starts a point off of a fresh tube and it just made a ton of sense to me.

[RamblezMarblez]

Or do it the easy way.....attatch a blow tube

I thought that was the hard way.......

[RamblezMarblez]

or just heat the end of the tube. swipe the edge of the tuhe with some 7 mil rod north south east and west, then pull to the center. and pull point. no need to fool around with some 10 mill rod and 3 mil.



That's what I do.....be sure to score and snap your handle (point blow tube) RIGHT BEFORE the open end of the tube closes shut. This way no heat flyz up the tube and restricts hot air to the handle causing a major heat up in your hand. Or just use a small stopper and remove RIGHT BEFORE the open end (not your handle, the other side) closes. If you forget to score and snap or remove policeman, the point will fart open. Attach punty, whatever your likeing, and pull another handle. I usally silver fume before doing all this b/c it is already open for ya. Might as well.

Here's a good question? What's the quickest way to fume a whole tube?

[Boozeclues]

so supporting the open end of the tube with a graphite rod until your glass is condensed then removing the rod so the open side falls toward the floor, then grab the very end and pray its not "That hot" down there long enough to finish pulling it isnt a good idea? lol

[Aussie]

^ what now?

[Robert Mickelsen]

I marver down the open end and tag it up with a piece of 1/2" or 5/8". This is quick and I get a really nice, strong point.

- RAM

[Number Three]

I go with a butt seal when the tube is at about a foot and a half long.

let that cool

then blow tube on the other end

pull you point outta the center

cut it in the flame

cool

then cut the remaining two halves again.

I like having both ends cool so that I can hold onto the tube and slowly slide the hands back down the tube to the punty as the heat increases and my index fingers and thumbs get a real nice tan.

[Julian]

I've always just done what OVglass posted, except I sometimes attach a punty to that side. This never seemed to be something that required a special process to me, though there's always room for improvement.

[ReLo442]

I either attached a blowtube, or what I usually do is first I split the tubes in half, then pull points all the way down to the "last two" of each half, then attach those two halfs together (holding the points, and attaching the raw ends together. Then just go about pulling my points. I always make sure the "weld" is going to be on one of the handles of the point and not right in the middle.

Alternatively I make a T punty like u talked about, tag it to the open end, and pull that last point and pull of the punty before shit cracks.