looking for advice on my first pipe repair

[AdamTaranGlass]

I am hoping that this one is pretty simple, my first fix for a friend who dropped this spoon (10 years old) and it broke in half pretty clean. There is a crack that goes up the side on the bowl end, I think the little torch will take care of that.

but I looking for some advice from you guys on the best way to fix this silver fume IO spoon. It has a pretty neat butterfly murrine marble that is impossibly thin (around 1mm) inside the clear lens. It appears to be pretty well made, with a smooth inner wall, and even wall all around.

1. what garage temp should I bring this up to before I start? how long should I garage it?
2. should I use a punty on each half, a blow tube on the handle end?, or just hot gloves to handle the pieces? I have both 400F and 1000F kevlar gloves.
3. should I fix the large crack before trying to connect the 2 halves?
4. if I can get the 2 halves connected and the seam welded is there any way to really condense and make the repair invisible without having to rebuild the entire spoon or should I just be happy getting it connected and crack free?

any input would be appreciated, this is my friend's first and all time cherished piece.

Thanks!!
-Adam



69497

[windupdevl]

1. 1050F. Give it a little while. Make something else first.
2. Use tweezers to pull mouth piece from kiln and attach a cold seal blow tube to the end. Put back in kiln. You can use claw grabbers or a punts for the end, though I'd suggest claw grabbers.
3. Yes, fix the crack with your hand torch while still in the kiln....slowly...carefully. The crack may want to let go and you'll lose the piece. This is the most crucial step to success on this one.
4. Use a piece of ceramic blanket to plug the carb hole so you can blow with some back pressure. It looks like there is a section missing, could be the pic. You'll always have a scar. Just be happy if you successfully work it back into a useable piece.

[BORO]

1100 + .... Imo, if your going to work a repair out of the kiln.

If you pull it at 1050 , by the time you get the crack in the flame , it may spread. 1100, it will melt in/vanish... Any time I do a repair... I like it a little warm for a buffer... ( if you can fix the crack when in the kiln ,w/hand torch , that's a bonus )

If you don't want it shorter , inclamo a small additional section, ( inclamo that looks like a band aid?) it will hide any scars that would otherwise be there. I would use scisors to square up the break(if adding a glass section) I would cover
over the carb hole w/ a thin coat of clear, remove it right before you pull the handle from the mouthpiece.... Don't be afraid to puff and condense the connection , so it doesent close up on you. Don't be afraid to pull it all longer /strait at the end , so it still flows like a single piece.

[hashmasta-kut]

depends on the flame tho, if you use the big dragon flame far enough away it wont spread most likely, but i agree a hotter kiln is better, i set mine at 1077 for mild stress removal, or if i have a crack i am going to fix. i fixed a mouthpiece yesterday that was a disc almost cracked all the way around, and it closed up nice.

for that repair, it may leave a hairline scar depending on the breaks cleanliness. if a piece breaks and you get it back together immediately, it can be virtually indetectable, but most things i have had sent fixed to me will have a hairline, just because over time the crack edges get dirty, maybe even oxidize or something i dont know. so maybe clean the crack edges with iso or something before attempting the repair.

[Nomad]

Sorry to say but that piece looks totally broken. I would not attempt to fix it. You will run into other problems.
I have taken small pieces of broken pipes and heated them up in my kiln then encased them into marbles for sentimental reasons.
But the advice you are getting is good advice if your going to attempt to fix it. It is just harder then it appears.

[hashmasta-kut]

i would totally fix that. it shouldn't be that hard really, Nomad, fixed things in much worse condition, much larger pieces.

[Nomad]

It would take me less time to make a new spoon though.
Plus you would be able to see the imperfection where it was welded back together.
Take some pics once you try to repair it.

[Kaizen]

All advice here is solid. What I would critique is the cold blow tube seal. Grab mouth piece end from cracked side and hot seal a new blow tube. Re kiln and proceed.

Good luck

[AdamTaranGlass]

thanks guys...i need to get a ceramic to cut up and plug hole with. there is no glass missing (thankfully). in the picture the pieces are rotated 180 degrees, once I align them up they form a tight fit.

I also have a rosebud tip with 12" extension on the way so I can reach into the kiln to work the crack.

cheers!! I'll post up results next week.

[hashmasta-kut]

It would take me less time to make a new spoon though.
Plus you would be able to see the imperfection where it was welded back together.
Take some pics once you try to repair it.

i am not surprised, but i think it has sentimental value, is why its being attempted to be saved.

[Greymatter Glass]

1. what garage temp should I bring this up to before I start? how long should I garage it?
1100ºF or a bit more, it looks thick enough you can hold it a good long time at a higher than annealing temp. At 1150-1175 the small crack may heal on its own (you'll still need to re-melt it a bit, and anneal it)

2. should I use a punty on each half, a blow tube on the handle end?, or just hot gloves to handle the pieces? I have both 400F and 1000F kevlar gloves.
Punty on the head, blow tube on the mouth piece, then re-attach them in the flame. I would consider either closing off the carb and re-popping it when the break is fixed, or cold seal a small marble over the hole, and knock it off later and fire polish. Good luck plugging the bowl... a plug of ceramic fiber wool can work... get it wet and press it in (before the piece goes in the kiln) and hope it doesn't blow out... the other option is to completely rework the entire head by sealing up the bowl hole and blowing it all back out and re-pushing the bowl.... you run the risk of deforming the murrine lens, and it's a lot more work, but it's an option, and it would also be by far the best way to deal with the crack.

3. should I fix the large crack before trying to connect the 2 halves?
Yes. probably. It depends. How you're going to deal with the bowl/carb, and if you need to hit it with flame or if the crack goes away on it's own... either way, you have to re-melt the cracked area, but you have to kind of feel it out as you go - there's no set rules for repairs.

4. if I can get the 2 halves connected and the seam welded is there any way to really condense and make the repair invisible without having to rebuild the entire spoon or should I just be happy getting it connected and crack free?

There will always be a scar.

[BORO]

Yup^ punty , and blow tube...

I would place the two halves together so it looks complete.....right before/into the flame.... Heat the crack where the two come together...

If you heat the halves separate, then attach. They will distort shape, and no longer fit together perfectly.

I have had great success holding two (hot from the kiln) halves together ...

[AdamTaranGlass]

Success!! I fixed all of the cracks in the kiln - garage temp was 1,000F. I puntied up to both ends with pretty cold seals and following BoRo's advise pressed the cold halves together and heated until they stuck. Put back in the kiln and used tungsten pick to move glass around to fill hole where a small piece of clear broke off. Took off both punties and flame polished the marks. I did not use a hot seal blow tube instead I used claw grabbers to hold pipe to heat the crack and used a sofietta to puff into mouthipece (bowl and carb were plugged with fiberglass cloth I cut to fit). condensed and puffed 3-4 times.

Sofietta worked great for this one.

Added some clear dots to cover up some air bubbles that were trapped in the cracks. all done!!

thanks for the advice everyone, this was actually pretty easy to fix. I just need a 12" little torch extension still even with kevlar gloves repairing in the kiln was hot on the hand.

glass life :-)


69955

[istandalone24/7]

sweet!! some say, it's now what you can make, it's what you can fix.

[AdamTaranGlass]

yeah its not the prettiest spoon ever now but this one has sentimental value to my friend. I guess the person who gave this pipe to her passed away a few years ago.

[istandalone24/7]

hey, you succeeded in what you set out to accomplish, that counts for something!

[Nomad]

Sweet! I still would have sent them away. Takes too much time to repair stuff. But maybe I will try it sometime.

[AdamTaranGlass]

Sweet! I still would have sent them away. Takes too much time to repair stuff. But maybe I will try it sometime.

I just do glass as a hobby and it was my girlfriend's best friend so it was no hassle for me, plus I scored major brownie points.