Looking for heart mold

[xlconch]

I need to bend some rod to make hearts for wedding cake toppers. I remember seeing reference to a mold of some sort to form the bent halves that, when joined, form a heart. Like ( ) joined.

I've tried free-form bending, but one half is always wonky, usually both:)

Glasscraft used to cary one, but no longer.

Any help apreciated.

[somewhere]

This is a little hard to explain without pictures but I will try.

If you have a 1" thick piece of graphite and cut out the whole heart. That will be mounted to the table or on a jig mounted to the table. Then save the scrap cut from the top of the heart. It should look like a wedge if you cut it out correct. Here's come the building part. You want to have that wedge shape mounted on a rod going under the table. The rod needs to be on a pivot arm. Your looking to build a foot pedal that will push the wedge into it's place at the top of the heart. Then it's as easy heating the rod with the ribbon burner set it over the heart press the pedal in turn pressing the rod into the top of the heart. In one motion pull both sides of the rod back to complete the heart shape. While keeping pressure on the wedge shape.

I will try to take pictures of what I'm talking about later. I did not invent this heart jig just built what I saw at red baron years ago. You can literally make these in less then a min a piece.

Another option depending on the size hearts you want I could make them for you and ship them out.

[cc_bob]

A cheaper way...

You can take a piece of copper tubing, fill with sand (to keep from kinking tubing), bend to desired shape and then screw it to a piece of something fire-proof (stainless). Use a ribbon burner, heat up a few inches, lay it on the form and bend around the copper.

[Natedizzle]

For rod hearts I heat a long section bend it into a nice even cancer ribbon shape, then heat the center of the bend and curve back out until the tips touch.

[Aymie]

That's clever dizzle.

I was going to say that you could use a can, size depending on what size heart you want. Heat a section of rod and pull it around the can leaving on side long, coming straight off the can. Then repeat. Cut desired and appropriate length off ends and join the two pieces together.

[jahglass]

If your doing this with smallish diam rod, you can draw out the shape you want on a large piece of graphite or kiln shelf. Just tape your rod to the drawing surface and slowly bend the glass a little at a time using a hand torch following the line you have drawn. You do not want to get the glass very hot, just enough so that it will move for you. You can make complex shapes using this method- a heart should relatively easy...

[Swampy]

That's clever dizzle.

I was going to say that you could use a can, size depending on what size heart you want. Heat a section of rod and pull it around the can leaving on side long, coming straight off the can. Then repeat. Cut desired and appropriate length off ends and join the two pieces together.

That's how I do it. I made a graphite shape to bend it around, about 50mm diameter, after heating with a ribbon burner.

Gonna try Nate's method next time to see how it goes on.

Trying to receive the image you're projecting Sky but it's not coming through...

[NUBBLET]

chain link fence post , heat a gather and stretch as it gets to desired thickness bend around the post leaving one long side and the other close to the post. You will get a nike swoosh the add a second one and weld together.

You can do this in middle of stretch and slightly spiral it so its a teardrop shape but the tips are offset, do this twice and weld together for an infinite loop . Also a great wedding topper.

I did one with hearts inside the infinite loop(s) on each side with their initials on the hearts as they were solid and flat not rod bends.


They can easily cut a lil section off a longer post. No bending its about 2-2 1/2 inch across.


Also try and make sure both ends are aligned as a symetrical half and not a lopsided half or the end result will be off.