Wanting to get started.. Bris Australia

[Dodie]

Hey peeps,

I'm hoping to get started in the next month or so. Interested in mainly making pipes and goblets, probably make some marbles, beads and pendants too. But who knows what I'll prefer until I get behind a torch?

Been watching a few youtube vids and ordered Passing the flame and Contemporary Lampworking 1+2, though the dodgy twangers only sent vol 1. :wes: so I'm on the lookout for Vol 2.

I'll probably keep reading and watching for the next few weeks while I get all of the gear sorted, teach myself the basics and then try to find some decent courses, pretty much all of the local ones are focused on beadmaking unfortunately.

[Aussie]

hey Dodie,
I somehow missed this post, welcome to the Pot, it's a great resource!
Who did you order Bandhu's book from? I always recommend direct purchase from salusa glassworks. I also should add that unless you paid for both books and lost your money, don't stress too much, there is plenty in vol 1 to keep you busy for a couple of years.
I ran a class at Canberra Glassworks a couple of months ago and it was great fun, although it was a hugely mixed skill level class which is a much more difficult proposition for most teachers as more time needs to be allocated to the less advanced students and I always feel like the more advanced people miss out. There are classes on tube work sometimes and Gail at goglass in Sydney often brings people out for them. My class there fell through, she is moving location and very busy atm. I can let you know if another one comes up but I have a couple of shows to get out of the way before I'm free to run another class.
Finally, be aware that there are a lot of hack videos on youtube, it'll be difficult for you to judge, but try not to absorb bad ways of doing things from there.
What sort of a torch do you have?

[Dodie]

Thanks Aussie, there sure looks to be a wealth of knowledge around here..

I bought Bandhu's book from an Amazon seller, ended up with a 50% refund, but I e ordered both volumes again from Amazon (not a private seller), so it looks like I'll have 2 copies of volume 1, might come in handy.

It'd be great if you could let me know when you'll be doing a course. I was hoping to keep it local, but it seems that my options are limited around here, flights aren't too exy from Brisbane down there too.

Would you have any preferences for Youtubers? I've been watching Timiaglass, and the 'Burn and learn' guy. Timia does seem more professional and the Burn and learn guy is a bit of a passionate character.

I've got a Barracuda Bravo coming. I was originally aiming for a GTT, but gave up due to the wait/customer service. Also have to buy all of the other gear, once the torch arrives all get all of the fittings and regs locally then buy tools some glass and set up a work space. Hopefully I'll be melting in a couple of weeks.

[Aussie]

I don't trawl youtube for lampworking, generally, I just remember coming across a few vids in the past that made me facepalm. Definitely avoid Sindbad's channel, he does some worrying stuff, can't remember his youtube name, though.
You may want to find some DVDs made by reputable and great lampers such as Robert Mickelsen (I think he has how-to vids out there) and Steve Sizelove, just to mention a couple. I'm not a big fan of the Essential Lampworking DVDs, I saw them once and there is some misinformation (undoubtedly unintentional) on them.
Let me dispel a couple of myths fight off the bat:
Hard glass (boro) in its cold state is actually softer than soft glass (soda) in its cold state. There are hardness tables out there which will verify this, or you can just scratch a boro marble against a soda glass marble and see which one gets the more pronounced blemish. I prefer to say boro and soda glass instead because it avoids this misconception.
You probably saw the thread out there, but to reiterate: the flowing glass myth is not true in a practical sense. Whether you hold that glass is a liquid or an amorphous material, cold glass flows to such an insignificant extent that it is negligible in the real world. Antique glass panes are thicker at the bottom for reasons of manufacture, not reasons of flow.
Yet these two myths are incredibly persistent!
You should not be put off by the unreliability of GTT but buy from a reseller who has them in stock, instead, if you want to upgrade in the future. There is no discernible benefit from buying directly, the price is certainly not cheaper! Notwithstanding GTT's shenanigans, the GTTs are truly great torches.

[HOSS]

There's one youtube guy I like, used to be called sunfireglass but it looks like it's changed to "Crazy4glass". He does traditional sculpted figures and such, mostly in clear. Its not the best camera work but I can follow it, he helped me learn to make horses.

Anyway welcome and good luck! Definitely get some class time with Aussie if you're able, he's probably the best glass artist on your whole continent, and I'd personally rate him as one of the best in the world.