GlassConnoisseur's Progression [Archive] - The Melting Pot - Where All Glass Addicts Melt Together

GlassConnoisseur

11-02-2011, 10:24 PM

Alright, so i've been at it for about 1.5-2 weeks now. It's been a blast so far, i'm excited for what the future has in store for me.:D
I just killed my first oxygen tank today actually. So i would say i have around 20 hours behind the torch max. I'm working with a natty 3A and a oxy-4 tip. I'll be getting a 55 hole shelbo whisper tip on my next glass order. From what i've read they're basically the creme of the crop as far as natty tips go.
I'm 100% self taught, i havn't even seen someone other than my self blow glass in person before. I also plan on getting the contmp lampworking book set on my next glass order aswell. So far i've taught myself by spending countless hours on here researching and youtube videos.

The clear pipe that has the twist in the stem and the messed up bowl was my first attempt at a spoon ever, believe it or not the slightly resinated pipe was my second attempt. All of the fumed spoons are my most recent attemps, in order from older to newest. All of the spoons are made out of 22 mill heavy wall, it's the perfect size for "snowboard" or pocket pipe size spoons, but i'm excited to start working with the 26 mill extra heavy wall i have.

So far i've been having trouble "picking" my mouth piece holes, so i've just been lightly tapping the weld on the neck of my torch and about 95% of the time it comes off nice and clean. Then i go ahead and flame polish/ream.
Any tips/criticism is greatly appreciated. :bouncy:

Edit- i had to delete the pics of some of my first clear pipes, i didn't know that you couldn't post dirty pieces on here.

Sketchball

11-03-2011, 01:21 AM

Samson

11-03-2011, 06:47 AM

What Jet said about "picking" is dead on. I use to have a big problem with this until I found out it was me all along making the glass do opposite of what I wanted it to do. With what Jet said the only thing I'll add is to put only what your picking in or near the flame .... you'll be surprised just how hot you'll make more of the glass by not paying attention to what your actually heating up. Get that and you'll pop open pretty much any hole your looking to open. 8) GL

GlassConnoisseur

11-03-2011, 11:18 AM

It took me quite a while to get into spoons - it's good and bad that you jumped right into it. Looking great for the amount of time and the fact that you're self-taught.

Advice: Get the pipes with lines much hotter. If you want to leave that texture then I would recommend at least melting the ends of the lines in. And as for the mouthpieces.... use a pinpoint flame to heat up only the glass you want to remove, tear out of the flame and repeat until the area is super thin. The way I was taught to pick open a hole was to heat up the really thin spot with a tiny flame, perpendicularly sticking a punty into the thin spot and then rotating while pulling the punty out. The key is no not stick the punty in very far at all and to not touch the thick glass around what you're trying to tear out. Getting the tiny flame exactly where you want it to flame cut while you stick/twist/pull can be a challenge at first too. The whole process happens extremely quickly but it's something that just has to be practiced to really perform correctly.

What Jet said about "picking" is dead on. I use to have a big problem with this until I found out it was me all along making the glass do opposite of what I wanted it to do. With what Jet said the only thing I'll add is to put only what your picking in or near the flame .... you'll be surprised just how hot you'll make more of the glass by not paying attention to what your actually heating up. Get that and you'll pop open pretty much any hole your looking to open. 8) GL

Right on. Some of the pics are kind of crappy but the lines are melted in for the most part, besides my mouth pieces. I tend to not mess with the mouth piece very much, i usually just do my stretch then polish the the mouth piece a little and start working on blowing my bowl out. Honestly i don't really mess with the mouth piece because i don't have a blowtube/swivel yet, having to bring that super malleable mouthpiece/blowtube up to my mouth to blow and not getting it off-center somehow gets me a little. I'll get there eventually though, and a swivel/blowhose is on my list for my next order. I'll try melting everything in on the pipe i do today and post the outcome. Thanks for the tips on picking, when i first jumped on the torch i really learned my lesson about only heating what you want to remove.
Once again, thanks for the tips.

smolder holder

11-03-2011, 11:48 AM

Right on. Some of the pics are kind of crappy but the lines are melted in for the most part, besides my mouth pieces. I tend to not mess with the mouth piece very much, i usually just do my stretch then polish the the mouth piece a little and start working on blowing my bowl out. Honestly i don't really mess with the mouth piece because i don't have a blowtube/swivel yet, having to bring that super malleable mouthpiece/blowtube up to my mouth to blow and not getting it off-center somehow gets me a little. I'll get there eventually though, and a swivel/blowhose is on my list for my next order. I'll try melting everything in on the pipe i do today and post the outcome. Thanks for the tips on picking, when i first jumped on the torch i really learned my lesson about only heating what you want to remove.
Once again, thanks for the tips.

What they mean by melted in is smooth on the surface. Your clear rod where you can still see where you flamecut it from the rod you were holding onto is what they are refering to. It's difficult to figure out how to melt stuff in but an essential skill.

It also drastically decreases the strength and durability of your finished pieces to have deep grooves and acute angles. Acute angles are your enemy.

Your shrooms are coming along and your loops look nice. Keep at it!

GlassConnoisseur

11-03-2011, 12:24 PM

Alright, i see what you mean boiseno. I run my 3A pretty low the entire time, that way i can be as slow and methodical as possible. I'm sure if i crank her up i can melt everything in a lot better, i just have to be a lot more careful.
And thanks, those are some of the first pendants i ever made, pretty sure the blue one in the first pic was my first creation ever on the torch. My shaping and loops are a lot cleaner now. Here a few pics of my more recent pendants, the one that cracked being last night. Got done torchin and realized i forgot my vermiculite can in the house, so i said fuck it and left it on my bench to cool. Won't be doing that again haha.:D

GlassConnoisseur

11-04-2011, 08:55 PM

Never ended up blowing any pipes yesterday, this is what i made today though. Trying to make my mouth pieces as clean as possible, hell of a lot cleaner than my other attempts. Chillum turned out pretty sweet, the bowl hole turned out a little bigger than i wanted but ohh well.

Chris Vargas

11-05-2011, 07:25 AM

Great job man. Its a good feeling to get on the torch and start raging. your first pipes look like my first pipes. It looks like the mouth pieces are better now, at least on the last one it looks like you got it pretty good. It also looks like you melted the stringer ends in much better, so props for taking the tips that were given. In my opinion, your loops on your pendants are a little thin. i try to keep my loops as thick as possible. When I first started I heard of at least a couple of mine that the loops broke. I try to keep mine as close to the diameter of the rod that i am using. I heat up about 1-1.5 inches of the rod and then just curve it around. It looks like while you are are curving you are stretching also, which is fine, but maybe just stretch less and heat up a little bit more glass to compensate. if you want that nice chunky loop though, there shouldnt be a whole lot of stretching involved, just heat and shape. also maybe melt the area where you connect on the back, and press down a little bit with the back of some pliers or something and flatten it just a bit. you said these are the ones you made "today"... do you have a kiln? if not, i definitely wouldnt try and use any color. If you have access to internet where you work at, there is a great small webcam community of people that might be willing to accept you :) , on the site http://www.stickam.com. this (http://www.stickam.com/vargdogg) is my stickam page, and ill be back on wednesday. if you have any questions feel free to pm me. Ill be doing a live marble tut for a friend soon, you can get in on that too. anyone else who might be interested can also feel free to pm me and ill make sure I let you know when im going to be doing that. Keep up the good work

GlassConnoisseur

11-06-2011, 04:59 PM

Thanks for the input Chris. I know what you mean, i gotta say that's one of the things that has kept me going so far. The only way i could really describe making my first few pipes is being high. It's a very rewarding hobby, you just gotta remember to keep your head up when things aren't going so well. Any yeah, i'm focusing A LOT more on melting my lines in/overall shaping and a clean mouth piece/hole. I don't do to many pendants but the loops have held perfectly fine so far. I've even dropped a couple and they didn't break at all. I'm sure when they're kilned they'll be plenty strong.
As far as my kiln situation goes, i do have have one. I got everything wired up and running i just need some fire blanket for my punty door and a pyrometer of some kind. Right on though, i'll hit you up if i have any questions.
Here's a piece i did today, one of my nicer spoons so far. If anyone is wondering what that dust on the inside of the pipe is, it's vermiculite dust.

TlkQ

11-06-2011, 07:40 PM

To keep your bowl hole from stretching when you push, give a little puff of air through your kit and hesitate for just a second when you touch the push to the glass. This cools the hole a bit and keeps it from stretching.

GlassConnoisseur

11-06-2011, 08:49 PM

I try to blow my bowl holes a little bigger than i want, so when i'm heating it and getting ready to push the bowl it doesn't close up on me. That one just ended up a little bigger than i wanted. Thanks for the tip though, every little bit helps.

TlkQ

11-07-2011, 08:48 AM

Are you using a blow kit? It's really easy to regulate hole size with little puffs of air through your kit.

GlassConnoisseur

11-07-2011, 01:40 PM

No, it's on the list for my next order though. Should i get the smallest size, 3/16? I use 9.5 mill heavy wall for my blow tubes.
Also i'm running my first kiln load today, i'm stoked. :D It's gonna be nice to actually be able to use some of the pieces i've made. Still no pyrometer, kinda eye-ballin it. The max temp of the kiln is 2000 degrees, so i figure if i put it on medium for an hour or so, then ramp it down to a notch or two under medium for half an hour, then let it cool down. I used my first crappier pieces to test my theory, no slumping so far and they looked like they where glowing a very dull orange with the lights off. We'll see..

TlkQ

11-07-2011, 06:36 PM

I like the largest size swivel. Allows more air to pass through it when condensing. My small one gets clogged fairly often

GlassConnoisseur

11-07-2011, 10:56 PM

Alright cool, this website is a great resource you saved me from having to order another swivel.
The annealing went smoothly, i sold my brother a spoon and a chillum and used one of the clear ones, everything has survived so far. I think my temps are right where i think they are, we'll see if i'm right when i get a pyrometer.
So i feel that i'm ready to step up to wrap N' rakes, or color of some sort. I'm having trouble getting a consistent string of color when i'm wrapping, does anyone have any light they could shed on this? Would i be better off to just pull stringers and rake them on?

Julian

11-07-2011, 11:38 PM

it depends, what do you mean by 'rake them on'?

It doesn't really matter whether you're using color or just clear and fuming - the task at hand appears to be getting the added glass melted in with the tube.

GlassConnoisseur

11-08-2011, 12:10 AM

Like raking a 4mm clear rod on, except using color that i pull out to around 4mm. I'll try it and post the outcome. And check out post #10, how much more do i need to melt my lines in? I'm trying to keep that look, it adds to the pipe. The ends are melted in pretty well, and there aren't any deep grooves or acute angles. A lot better than before at least..

funksizzle

11-08-2011, 01:22 AM

Nice Progression man. I'm learnin with ya but only with a hothead, beads, rings, pendants, sculptures, and stuff. Gotta learn the mini first! I'm thinking boro with a pinpoint flame, some actuall heat, and annealer is downhill soon. It already feels downhill, hope the same to your connesuirdism bud.
O yah, by countless hours of research, are we talking glassblower hours or human being hours?

Julian

11-08-2011, 01:30 AM

In wrap and rake, the longitudinal lines are 'wrapped' on, and the lengthwise lines are 'raked' through them. Just so we're using these consistently. Raking is pulling something (usually metal or glass) through semi-soft glass to pull it a bit, changing the color pattern of stripes or dots. It sounds when you say 'raking' sometimes, you mean to apply stringers, other times you mean what raking actually is.

You can lay on color lines like you're doing with the clear and then rake them. I actually do that a lot. No, it's not the common method for wrap and rake.

As far as light I could shed on how to wrapping, the best advice is to take a class, watch some videos, or try it for another day or two. I'm sure there are some videos on Youtube showing how to wrap on some color since it's been the first step in the most basic color pattern in pipe making for 15 years or so (that was covered in the second lesson I took).

I agree the textured look is nice, when it's done on purpose. You need to be able to melt it in all the way and shape the piece before you can move on.

funksizzle

11-08-2011, 02:32 AM

I think the technque is similar for beads, boro, coilpotting, encasing, overlays, etc..

Factors

1. Where your color rod is in regards to the your flame is. Just on the bottom of the flame, piece out of flame and under.
2. the diameter of your stringer. For small 1-3 mm you don't even hardly put into the flame, just heat pretty much. Or glow orange your stringer and do your pattern out of the flame
3. 45 degree, or 90 degree makes a huge difference. (youll use three times as much with aq 45 degree angle, and its harder to get tight up against your spiral.)
4. You kind of lap onto the side/top of your spiral to avoid gaps.
5. Twist your piece, keeping your color rod stationed in the flame. This is hard on hot head because it isn't hot enough to melt right away and make it all the way around like a oxygen setup can and is the hardest for me to take care of learning as is the stringer control.

I just Order Corrina's secrets of stringer control DVD from Franzt ArtGlass on sale this month for 10 bucks and it's 1 hour and 45 minutes so I'm hoping this has some excellent tips for me.

10 bucks will probably pay itself off the first day of flameworking man! Definitely for Boro.

She has to have some real good tricks for a 1 hour 45 min dvd is what I am hoping. It's seems like everything is about control, including quality, he he.

Julian

11-08-2011, 03:22 AM

The sort of technique you're referring to funksizzle, stringer application, is distinct to the way one applies stringers for the typical wrap and rake technique. Explicit stringer application, as in precisely drawn on lines, is it's whole own thing. In W&R usually one heats the tip of a larger rod, and spins the base to apply a thin stringer that is being created as needed during the process of application. It's a slick move sure to thrill the crowds.

G.C., if you can't take a class, I'd really suggest just finding a video somewhere of someone doing this technique. It should be pretty simple to pick up what you need to do to get it to work.

GlassConnoisseur

11-08-2011, 11:51 AM

Thanks for the tips Julian And funksizzle. I watched some vids on youtube and i think i know what i'm doing wrong, i heat the color up way to much before touching it on and creating a stringer. The stringer always ends up way to thick. I'll try touching my color right as it starts to ball up.
But yeah, bandhu's books and a shelbo tip are at the top of my list right now.

GlassConnoisseur

11-08-2011, 03:02 PM

Here's a little spoon i did this morning. The blue could have been melted in a little better and it's not fumed but it turned out decent. My carbs are evolving.. now instead of just popping a hole i get a nice size bubble going before i pop it.

GlassConnoisseur

11-09-2011, 08:40 PM

More progress. :D

GlassConnoisseur

11-12-2011, 08:55 PM

Some pieces i've done this past week. Still working with 22 mill heavy wall, about ready to step up to something a little bigger.

GlassConnoisseur

12-01-2011, 05:55 PM

Been pretty busy lately, haven't been on the torch too much. Here's some of my new stuff though. Today i ordered a 55 hole shelbo tip and bandhu dunham's 2 book set. What are some other techniques i could use to add color to the surface besides the method i'm using (adding designs on the glass with stringers and melting it in) or wrap and rakes. The Bandhu books should help me out a lot, i'm stoked.

GlassConnoisseur

12-04-2011, 04:24 PM

Fritters. :D

TlkQ

12-04-2011, 11:47 PM

Need to work the frit in more. That mouthpiece on the first one looks bumpy. You want the inside to be smooth

The white one looks much better than the other

Julian

12-05-2011, 02:08 AM

frit frit

Yeah, you're getting it to work. As TlkQ noted you definitely need to go over the mouthpiece a bit more.

GlassConnoisseur

12-05-2011, 02:07 PM

Yeah i figured, i'll work the mouth piece a bit more on my next fritter. I have a shelbo 55 hole on it's way, should be a worlds difference from the oxy-4 i'm using now.
Here's my most recent spoon.

Julian

12-05-2011, 04:21 PM

Sweet, I'm sure that tip will help. I've never used one but they look very well made.

Your problem isn't more heat on the mouthpieces, though. Whatever you're using is clearly enough if you can get the other part melted in. You just need to go back and shape it all the way there.

Watch out on the connection for the marble globs there. The weird look and sharp air bubbles indicate they're probably not melted in enough.

GlassConnoisseur

12-11-2011, 06:13 PM

Thanks for all your advice and tips julian, it's much appreciated.
Here's my most recent spoon.

GlassConnoisseur

12-12-2011, 06:38 PM

Chillum. :D

leatherneck8541

12-12-2011, 06:44 PM

looks to me as if your deff on the right track, keep it up:)

leatherneck8541

12-12-2011, 06:45 PM

btw i always think its awesome to see peoples progress pix:)

CheeseNip

12-14-2011, 06:39 PM

GlassConnoisseur

12-14-2011, 06:58 PM

def. need to melt your color in more, and it looks like you have glass dust in alot of those mouthpieces. if your snipping open your mouthpieces keep em pointed down and tap all that shit out when your done snipping, before you melt the end again or it'll all stick in there.

Which pieces would you say the colors not melted in enough? besides my older pieces ofcourse. And that's vermiculite dust in the mouthpieces, i wash them out before i kiln/sell them.

GlassConnoisseur

12-15-2011, 05:12 PM

Well last minute i decided hell with the torch tip, I'm just going to put it towards a lynx or a redmax. I've heard good things about both, probably more the lynx than the redmax but regardless they're both good torches. I have a couple questions, how much more concentrated heat does the redmax have than the lynx? How do they compare oxy consumption wise? Someone with time on both torches try and sway me one way or the other :D. Either way I'll most likely buy it used, get a little more bang for my buck that way.

NUBBLET

12-15-2011, 06:55 PM

Lynx all day

Julian

12-15-2011, 07:08 PM

Like you said, there's a lot about that here on the forum. We couldn't even start to discuss it here. May as well note the opposite is the case, though - the Lynx is narrower (more concentrated) than the Red Max.

GlassConnoisseur

12-15-2011, 08:04 PM

I'll most likely go with the lynx. Around how many hours can you get on a oxy tank with the lynx? I should have enough money by the end of the month so if anyone watching has a lynx they'd be willing to part with and would wait till the end of the month shoot me a PM.
My comtemp lampworking books should be here Tuesday, pretty stoked on that. My progress so far is a good example of the knowledge that could be had using these forums, besides youtube everything I've learned has been from this forum.
Thanks for the input everyone. :chilling:

GlassConnoisseur

12-17-2011, 10:28 PM

Couple spoons i did today, my first attempt at a "snake head" style mouth piece.

GlassConnoisseur

12-18-2011, 10:01 PM

Newest bowl, not the best lighting but you guys get the idea. :chilling:

GlassConnoisseur

12-19-2011, 10:55 PM

First sherly. :D
Color isn't melted in as good as it could be right below the bowl because i was trying not to get it to hot near the claw grabs, next time i'll punty up and melt it in before i put on my claw grabs to do the stretch.

hashmasta-kut

12-19-2011, 11:07 PM

keep on meltin, getting better :)

GlassConnoisseur

12-20-2011, 11:16 PM

Got my contemporary lampworking books today, great books. Been sitting around for the last five or so hours reading, got through the first volume and about 1/4 threw the second one. Learned a lot of the basic information in volume 1 the past month or so with a lot of trial and error on the torch and with this forum, should have ordered these books a long time ago. Stoked to jump on the torch tomorrow. :D

Julian

12-21-2011, 01:01 AM

Contemp. Lampworking is excellent, as you know now... the boro textbook!

One tip on the sherlocks... don't do the bend with the claw on, that's crazy. Do it with a punty on the top, then push the bowl after you do the bend.

GlassConnoisseur

12-21-2011, 11:49 AM

My first thought would be to do the bend with a punty, but this is the way the Humboldt dude on youtube said how to do it. I've heard that he teaches bad technique, now i kinda know why haha.
Right on, next sherlock i do i'll do the stretch with a punty.

GlassConnoisseur

12-23-2011, 06:47 PM

Most recent work.

GlassConnoisseur

12-24-2011, 07:12 PM

Oil dish/dabber set. Hope everyone has a good Christmas.:)

GlassConnoisseur

12-27-2011, 07:08 PM

Latest batch. :chilling:

funksizzle

12-27-2011, 07:40 PM

Ahhh, the oil dish doesn't come with a digital hygrometer cryopreserver connect port (find a used craiglist cryopreserver for like 25,000 or something)for with a a oxygen vaccum, self healing nitrogen injection port, or a flash thawing mechanism with a mp3 player set to play "Can't Touch This". Or a lid!

No homemade bovida packets with recipes stolen from the scientist's locked file cabinet who originally came up with the idea while working in a R&D labratory for General Mills Food Corporation?

I thought you were a connesuir!

I'm just kidding, I've enjoyed yours and everyone's progression and I too just bough contemporary lampworking but I'm all over everything so I haven't been as dedicated to each book. Nice progression, and color choices. My state has also got a free library exchange thing that I just started using, so I should eventually have read every known glass book that any library carries! No shipping charges, or anything just patience. There's tons of catalogs, collectors guides, and everything as well to get some ideas. Check yours out for scientific glass books.

Or try WorldCat.org It has books from every library in the United States, and more I believe.

You do not have to be a student to go read and study from college's library. No student ID or sign in needed, just walk in and find the library. If you are in the same state and a student of any state college you can have it shipped for free to your schools library. If you can find a ride I would suppose.

Good job bud, I just felt like spitting some ballerism.

GlassConnoisseur

12-29-2011, 12:40 PM

My first attempts at a bubbler and a honey comb.
My welds can use some work and the bowl is kinda small because the downstem was to long but it came out pretty decent. Still rockin the 3A with oxy3 tip.

GlassConnoisseur

01-04-2012, 12:02 PM

Not much new progress, the oxy valve on my natty went out awhile ago and my gas just started recently going out. I decided to go with a gtt cheetah and needless to say i've had very little to no luck finding one. I've had someone trying to talk me into getting a bullet burner, don't really want to drop $700 on a torch right now but it might just be one my only choice. I'm sure i could get a cheetah if i waited awhile but like i said the valves are dead on my current torch and i want to get back on the flame. I'm about to call around a little bit more on the cheetah but for some reason i kind of doubt i'm going to find one.

01-05-2012, 04:47 AM

Hey dude, I'm that guy who was trying to talk you into a bullet. 700 is hella steep, I got mine on eBay from abr for 550 I think

Bunyip

01-05-2012, 06:57 AM

Your work is looking great. You're clearly on the right track.

Grab a torch and keep melting! You can always sell it and upgrade later. Don't stop your progress and lose momentum.

Suggestion # 1
Lynx for sale on LE: http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213848&highlight=lynx
This is a great deal and it's a good torch. It's also the centerfire on the bigger GTT torches, so when/if you upgrade to a bigger torch you're already dialed in on the centerfire. I love the GTT Triple mix flame, it's great for really penetrating heat, especially good for heating solid masses of glass like marbles and pendants right to the core exactly where you want the heat.

Suggestion #2: Bethlehem Barracuda
http://www.talkglass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=642491#post642491
the cuda is a bigger, hotter torch, but it is also more diffused - the heat doesn't laser in like on a GTT. It is definitely more forgiving and easier to work larger hollow forms with this torch, but if you're on a premix you may find it seems slower in some ways as the heat isn't as penetrating.

I have both torches, and I think they're both excellent - each has different strengths. Currently I have the Lynx on concentrators for my GF to make soft glass beads with, and the 'cuda on tanked for me.

One more bit of advice - start saving up for a bigger torch NOW even after you buy new. There's a bit of a lead time if you want to get a larger GTT...

GlassConnoisseur

01-05-2012, 01:15 PM

YES! Gtt finally got back into contact with me. They'll have lynx's ready to go by within the next week, so it looks like i'm going to be buying a lynx now and eventually here in a few months i'll sell that and get a cheetah from Gtt when they become available. I'm really glad i can get these torches new.. after reading about how people burn up these triple mixes it makes me somewhat leery to buy them used.

Bryan i was wondering who you were on here haha, yeah dave said he could do $650 shipped on a new bullet but that was before i figured out i could get a gtt, i'm dying to try out a triple mix.
Thanks for the info bunny, yeah i'm going to have my name put on the cheetah list very soon. I have a feeling i'm going to love gtt's torches but the availability gets old very quick, especially if you need one asap.

GlassConnoisseur

01-13-2012, 10:11 PM

Little update for anyone who's interested. My glass order will be here Tuesday, and my lynx should be here same day if not Wednesday. Kinda crazy to me that i've made it this far with only 3 5' lengths of 5,8,12 mill rod, and about 20 feet of tubing, give or take.
Besides the 5 mill i have most of the rod left, as well as most of my 9.5 mill blow tubes. In the time i've been off the torch i've done some work on the studio, built a hood for my ventilation, put up shelves for storage, and messed around making various tools. Been off the torch for maybe 9-10 days now and it feels like it's been months:twitch:

Julian

01-14-2012, 01:13 AM

Sweet! You'll love the Lynx, I'm sure. Don't be fooled by the size when you see it. I made that mistake with my Phantom, thinking 'huh, this is it?'. If you need tips on how to do anything with the Lynx just ask.

GlassConnoisseur

01-15-2012, 12:03 AM

I have a feeling i'm gonna dig the triple mix, but then again how could i not after working with a 3A with a single hole tip for so long lol. Don't get me wrong though, the natty did a great job getting me to where i am now on a pretty tight budget.

Yeah she looks tiny but the fact that people that have owned both a redmax and a lynx say they're both basically in the same category says quite a bit to me alone. The max is a beast, if it wasn't for the drastic difference in fuel consumption i would have went with a redmax. More heat, waay easier to find, and i've read red maxes are better for hollow form work, which is basically my focus. I'm glad i went with the lynx though, if i like it my next torch will most likely be a phantom. I'm in no hurry though, gots me some greenbacks to hustle up and lots of hours on the torch till then. Thanks man, my only real question for now is how do people burn them up, i assume running it without the blue nob atleast cracked?

Julian

01-15-2012, 03:30 AM

The damage issue is for the outerfire on 2 stage GTTs. The Lynx is pretty fool proof... not different than other torches. The only time I've seen someone screw on up, it was a tiny. Flame without much (any?) blue valve, nd it was so small it was heating the face, which got clogged with carbon?melted (it had been glowing). The same flame would have damaged a minor burner.

Do keep a bit of blue cracked at least. Otherwise carbon builds up in those little tubes.

funksizzle

01-16-2012, 07:30 PM

Ya, I'm gonna be startin on the cricket for stringers, beads, all pendants, small sculptures, with a 5lpm oxycon for that stuff. Then I'm learn the flames on the Phantom, spoons/chillums on side with cobalt to get a sense for heat base better, practice mini welds with blowhouse right off the bat. Boy am I glad I got the money for the stuff I got.

Just live like your a 1989 king! It also helps to not keep up on technology at all, so that you get a computer with internet and you can actually open 30 windows at a time on a walmart budget for 250!

I hear people that have mirages, delta's, and Kobukus just bend their 60 mil 3 footers over their knee marvers in their spacejets and wind up with heady pieces in like 3 minutes of bedtime story reading though. (O shit, one of em just buzzed by me and threw a sherlock at my window, and the other one he threw out will be back here, o shit there it is. Friggin Miragers, quite hatin on the hotheads, cuz I make better beads than you. I bet you wish you worked as slow, and with such a elderly wheelchaired handicap technique on your beads like me)

this doesn't sound to hard)(you just gotta play, and keep that seriousness of not screwing that flame up on your torch. Blue for the flame characteristics, is what is helping me figure it out.

I haven't even ran my torch up yet, but here's my plan to get down on all the flames.
Reduction, Dragonflame, oxidizing, slightly oxidizing, magic feather flame, pinner candles, tight beam, sooty, just over sooty (thanks to gnome for most of this knowledge), soot eliminated but barely over that, Note each flame, how they work, and what they are good for. Practice a few flames out, note how about how many turns and stuff it takes for your specific torch. (everyones is a little loosier, or tighter than others according to temp, and oil, etc).

Each flame has their purpose, so come up with names, take notes, and study em up, and quiz yourself.

This is why I will love the phantom off the bat, so many flame options. But I will start just as you are with a lynx for a center fire.

Good luck on the lynx, if ya can find one. Patience, if ya can't find one, there may be something else that will be better if you weigh your options out right looking at your hand through the right perspective.

GlassConnoisseur

01-16-2012, 08:16 PM

Already found a lynx thank god, gettin it brand new from gtt. They just did a lynx run, they said the cheetah run would be done by the end of feb but i didn't want to wait. Kinda glad i went with a lynx, but the extra heat the cheetah has would have come in handy sometime soon i'm sure. Tube pulls will be a beezy if i can even pull it off on a lynx, we'll see. But yeah.. it's gonna take a while to get used to the lynx's flame characteristics, my torch should be here Wednesday so i'll start doing my research tonight or tomorrow night.

GlassConnoisseur

01-18-2012, 10:40 PM

Lovin the lynx, i've only blown one piece so far though. Did a smoke test and my hood works bitchin', gonna get some aluminum tape tomorrow for the top/edges to get it nice and sealed up. Also a pic of some rollers i made, still not finished i gotta find some matching bolts for the rollers and put a set screw on it for the height adjustment.
And last but not least my first piece on the lynx. :bouncy:

01-19-2012, 06:12 AM

yea yea!

Rowdy

01-19-2012, 07:05 AM

You'll never regret getting the Lynx, it's the center fire for every two/ three stage GTT torch they make and you'll use it a lot! Probably the most used flame out there! Don't be afraid to open it up and go big with it, don't under estimate it. I've seen quite a bit of really cool work off one.

Good luck, Peace

GlassConnoisseur

01-22-2012, 09:04 PM

Latest work, needless to say i'm lovin my lynx. The triple mix flame seems to be super harsh on crayon colors, got quite a bit of boiling on the rasta piece. Gotta make sure to encase my color before applying next time.. also i'm not being so stingy with my glass anymore so they're all substantially thicker than my older work on the natty 3A.
After putting a tank through my lynx there's no doubt in my mind my next torch will be a phantom. :D

Julian

01-23-2012, 08:21 AM

GlassConnoisseur

01-23-2012, 03:27 PM

Cool, looks like the Lynx is helping a lot! Not surprisingly. Definitely want to treat crayon colors differently. Your options are to either encase them, or if unencased to work with a soft reducing flame or an oxidizing flame (as either one is less hot than neutral).

Yeah the extra heat makes a huge difference.. although now i can really see why the lynx is better for solid work. Regardless i'm still glad i went with the lynx though, for the amount of glass you can melt with it the fuel consumption is pretty damn good. After a little research 8-9 hours off a 150cu tank sounds about right. I would have never thought an oxidizing flame is cooler than a neutral flame, especially on these triple mixes. Right on, next time i use crayon colors i'll both encase and experiment with reducing/ oxidizing flame environments.

B-Rye-oNeR

01-23-2012, 06:00 PM

try working the crayon colors in the outer part of the flame as well. keep pushin.

Bunyip

01-24-2012, 08:24 AM

For crayons you can set a "soft glass" flame and it will work fine too... Non-aggressive, quiet, neutral chemistry flame about 6"-8" in length, you can even go a bit reducing, make sure you have the blue cracked open just a bit so the face doesn't heat up. Work in the back of the flame and crayons should melt like butter just watch to make sure they don't glow too much.

Julian

01-24-2012, 08:41 AM

Yeah, back of the flame os a good point. When I coil pot unencased crayons or touchy colors like satins, I turn up the oxy pressure, set a hissy flame and work way in the back of the flame, where it's cooler.

GlassConnoisseur

01-29-2012, 08:49 PM

Thanks for the tips on working crayon colors Julian, BeeRye, and Chris it helped a ton.
Little update.. switched over from welding on blow tubes to points. Definitely not going back to blow tubes any time soon..
Not to proud of the sherly bub at all, i know i can do better. It was just one of those days where nothing seemed to be going my way. Although i learned a handful of things i'm going to do different next time.
Also been playin with sandblasting a little bit.. used masking tape lol. Didn't turn out to bad though.. just gotta keep the pressures low or it starts to eat the glass up a little bit like it did on the rasta one if it's even noticeable in the pics.

funksizzle

01-29-2012, 10:30 PM

Hey, wad you make those rollers and base out of? I'm curious as to what that material is bud. What did you use for wheels too?

GlassConnoisseur

01-29-2012, 10:53 PM

Hey, wad you make those rollers and base out of? I'm curious as to what that material is bud. What did you use for wheels too?

The base was a hunk of steel i found laying around.. not sure exactly what it is, then i welded a steel tube with a 1/2'' inside diameter onto that. Then fabricated a "V" for the rollers out of steel plate and welded that onto a 1/2'' bolt. I made the rollers with 1/2'' aluminum plate and a 2'' hole saw, then gave everything a good coat of wrinkle red/black and polished the rollers.

GlassConnoisseur

02-12-2012, 09:26 PM

Most recent work, thanks for looking.

GlassConnoisseur

02-16-2012, 10:16 PM

My work from the past few days. The frit piece cracked.. either it's because i didn't let kiln long enough or i took it out too early. I let it soak for a good hour at 1050 so i'm thinkin it's because i took it out too early , i've read that you should leave ISO pieces in the kiln to cool overnight so i assume the same rule applies to frit.
I took it out when it was still pretty hot so i guess i got what i was asking for. :tongue2:

Also a shot of the evolution of my sherlys, top one being my first ever and bottom being my most recent.
Gettin' a little faster, i can do a 5'' fumed w/r spoon in about 25-30 minutes. Also starting to bust out 2 pieces minimum per session to be economically feasible about running the kiln every day, i got way fed up with cleaning the vermiculite out of pieces and cracking issues in general.

After much deliberation i'm gonna get a m-15 and run it in conjunction with a 20-30 gallon trey cornette holding tank. The only way to get better is to practice and i've only been able to torch a little over an hour a day give or take with my current oxy budget. Which isn't THAT bad but i'd love to be able to torch as much as i want, not to mention lugging tanks around gets old pretty quick, or running out of oxy on a Friday-Saturday night and having to wait till Monday to torch again etc. Then later down the line i'll get another m-15 or two and a compressor when i upgrade to a phantom.
I love glass. :bouncy:

Plum Tuckered

02-17-2012, 08:13 AM

GlassConnoisseur

02-17-2012, 03:06 PM

I love you sherlock progression. you can really see how you're growing.

I use oxycons myself and they are awesome...except when the power goes out in the middle of a 50x5 vac tube pull and it splinters friggin everywhere :( I am currently figuring out how to add an oxy tank so that if it ever happens again i can just open the valve on the tank and keep going.

Right on, i appreciate the love.
What kinda oxycon setup do you have? If i was you i'd just have tanked oxy for emergencies and crack that baby open as soon as the power goes out like you said. That would freakin suck though having that happen right in the middle of something important like that, seems as if that's how shit like that always goes down though. Never fails..

Julian

02-17-2012, 03:50 PM

GlassConnoisseur

02-17-2012, 04:04 PM

Even if you have oxygen, lighting and ventilation are pretty nice. If something like that happened, I'd probably anneal it in the propane flame for a while and stick the piece in the kiln. Or if it's on the lathe, just leave it spinning in propane for a while.

That's a good point julian. I guess one could always run a backup genny for the lighting and ventilation, but you'd still be pretty dead in the water without a kiln to utilize. Your suggestion would be the best way to go about this situation for sure.

GlassConnoisseur

02-27-2012, 08:10 PM

Some of my latest work

drew1492

02-27-2012, 08:52 PM

Nice Progression I like how everything is coming along. What is that thing with the o ring arnt there supposed to be ground joints attached?

GlassConnoisseur

02-27-2012, 09:12 PM

Nice Progression I like how everything is coming along. What is that thing with the o ring arnt there supposed to be ground joints attached?

Thanks, it's for a grommet style water pipe.

eb4evr

02-27-2012, 09:57 PM

looking good man, nice watching your progress :) leaving me in the dust with my little oneies, but bills gotta get paid!

drew1492

02-27-2012, 10:02 PM

Thanks, it's for a grommet style water pipe.

Sorry that was my lame attempt at a joke :D

Any of the clear dots on the side of the pipes marbles yet?

GlassConnoisseur

02-27-2012, 10:26 PM

Sorry that was my lame attempt at a joke :D

Any of the clear dots on the side of the pipes marbles yet?

Lol i was gonna say, this dude should know whatsup..
And nope no marbs yet, mainly because there's no sense in putting a nice marb on a w/r spoon. Now that i'm playing with ISO though i'll throw a implosion marb on one of my next spoons. :bouncy:

GlassConnoisseur

04-02-2012, 06:47 PM

New stuff

kc-216

04-02-2012, 09:30 PM

And nope no marbs yet, mainly because there's no sense in putting a nice marb on a w/r spoon. Now that i'm playing with ISO though i'll throw a implosion marb on one of my next spoons. :bouncy:

the problem with w/r spoons is that the market is over saturated with cheap badly done w/r s. I personally enjoy useing w/r sections or useing them to make marbles. I plan on trying a w/r millie at some point once I get any kind of mille to turn out, and I currently have a bet with a shop mate that I will make a 100$(wholesale) w/r only piece. the piece is only unworthy of a marble if you didnt make it up to the standard of a marble, not because you believe the technique is unworthy.....

GlassConnoisseur

04-03-2012, 03:13 PM

the problem with w/r spoons is that the market is over saturated with cheap badly done w/r s. I personally enjoy useing w/r sections or useing them to make marbles. I plan on trying a w/r millie at some point once I get any kind of mille to turn out, and I currently have a bet with a shop mate that I will make a 100$(wholesale) w/r only piece. the piece is only unworthy of a marble if you didnt make it up to the standard of a marble, not because you believe the technique is unworthy.....

I wasn't hating on w/r's with that statement, they keep me paid and for that reason alone i can't complain about em. It takes me about 20 minutes to make one, and it takes me about 5 minutes + to make a nice implosion marble. Instead of making that marb i could have another w/r spoon 1/4-1/2 way done already. I get $11 a piece wholesale for my w/r spoons which i think is pretty fair, i just don't see it worth my time to put on a nice marb for a couple extra bucks. They're cheap for a reason, people don't want to shell out big bucks for a wrap and rake, and i don't really blame them. One could put 4 $3 marbs on a wrap and rake spoon if they wanted, but that doesn't add $12 to the finished product. So with all that said, i don't look down upon the the w/r technique i just don't feel it's worth my time to put a nice marb on w/r spoons atleast, i could see myself putting them on bubs or more complex w/r pieces though.