n00bz ask me anything....

Herb I've done it a few times by dropping a diffused down stem in from top of can like normal but instead of a hole at the bottom of the stem make ya a nice nipple about a centimeter long. Then when you shape and flatten your can make sure you tag that nipple to the flattened can and then break out the mini hand torch and melt the piss outta the spot where the nipple welds to the cans foot, then make sure she still stands sturdy and viola. This is only my method I'm sure there are others out there if you ask around

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As far as going in from the bottom I may need more info to help with your application

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picture a downstem, with a big hollow maria with 5 holes around the edge for a perc. This cant fit through the hole on the top of the can, but you could put it in through a hole in the bottom of the can thats just big enough for the downstem, you'd still want the nipple on the bottom that you could cold seal to. Then you'd have to match up the holes, and weld it in without pressure, and remove the punty. After that you gotta close up the bottom cleanly and melt it into the nipple on the bottom. Hope that made sense. Im just nervous to try and go in and weld it without the pressure. Shout out to A.I. for the knowledge (I probably missed some parts of his explanation to me.)

I have a couple questions, seeing as I'm extremely new.
1. As I said, I'm new: I've taken one 3-day class (~15 hours total) that covered the very VERY basics. Essentially I just made pendants the whole time and incorporated the techniques they showed to the best of my ability. We covered stringers and cold/hot seals, mixing colored and clear glass as well as twisty cane. Other than that I've not learned very much hands on. I'm planning on taking numerous classes within the next 6 months; what techniques would you suggest I ask my instructor to help me learn?
2. Along with classes I will be trying to rent studio time to practice and maybe experiment on my own. To do this I would need tools, which I've already started to aquire. So far I have a striker to start the flame, cup shears (actually just heavy duty tin snips), glass nippers, a set of picks and spatulas to use as shaping tools, and a set of a few tweezers (6 1/4 in at the largest). In addition I recieved some Kevlar gloves, diamond shears, medium claw grabber and a set of finishing tongs today as gifts (big ups to my parents for the support). What would you all consider as essential additional tools I should get? Also what tools do you consider not essential, but think could help a great deal in general.
Sorry for the long post. I feel it's better to put too much detail rather than too little.

Sounds like you have a good start on the tools, I have a couple different reamers, one small pencil sized reamer and two different sized octagon reamers. They come in super handy, also a bowl push if you plan on that sort of thing, I hear the ones with the specific sized tip (smaller point to keep bowl hole consistent) are sweet. Other than that you need shades bro, some eye protection is key.

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Originally Posted by James M

Sounds like you have a good start on the tools, I have a couple different reamers, one small pencil sized reamer and two different sized octagon reamers. They come in super handy, also a bowl push if you plan on that sort of thing, I hear the ones with the specific sized tip (smaller point to keep bowl hole consistent) are sweet. Other than that you need shades bro, some eye protection is key.

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Thanks for the response, man. Can't believe I forgot to put that I had glasses haha its the first thing I bought. Got some of the economy Philip dydinium with some shade 5 clip ons. May buy some shade 3 clip ons as well later on because from what I have heard from a few people the shade 5s are rather dark occasionally.

Ya I rock the shade 5s on the daily. They really are perfect most of the time, but occasionally I find myself looking over the top of my glasses and that's a really bad habit.

I have the shade 5 that go over my normal glasses and I often find myself looking over the tops, not cool. Learned the hard way one day when my eye felt like they had sand in them and they were all puffed up. If I had to do it again I would get 5's with a bit of 3 at the top.

I've got another question. Posted a thread about it but nobody replied so I figured I'd ask here. How do you guys carry your tools (if you don't have home studios or need to transport them, etc) I found a Husky 3 drawer toolbox that's a good size for carrying my stuff but it's pretty big so I'm tryin to find some alternatives

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^^^I jump from shop to shop a lot lately and I have tool boxes for some stuff but for my tools that could break easy I fill up a gun case.One gun case and I got the tools I need on the daily.They stay nice and safe in the case.

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Originally Posted by LRG

^^^I jump from shop to shop a lot lately and I have tool boxes for some stuff but for my tools that could break easy I fill up a gun case.One gun case and I got the tools I need on the daily.They stay nice and safe in the case.

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Thanks for the reply. Could you make some suggestions on tools that may be more prone to breaking? I'd rather find out in advance than to learn from experience lol

Anything graphite can break easy,my reamers are fragile so they go in there,bowl pushes,paddles/plates,my glasses got a spot in there.In a regular tool box metal tools bouncing off graphite tools will chip/bust them.The foam keeps the hand tools safe and sound for me.I use the 4 pistol case,has never let me down.

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Originally Posted by LRG

Anything graphite can break easy,my reamers are fragile so they go in there,bowl pushes,paddles/plates,my glasses got a spot in there.In a regular tool box metal tools bouncing off graphite tools will chip/bust them.The foam keeps the hand tools safe and sound for me.I use the 4 pistol case,has never let me down.

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Sounds good and doesn't look so expensive. I've got a shipment of tools on back order right now so I'll just wait till they get here to figure out how I'll be storing them. Planned on having the graphite tools in a separate drawer with a a liner under them and a thin foam thing on top. Probably will end up ordering that case lol

The same cases I sell my glass from,Been 13 year on this one and still going strong.K mark /big 5/wal mart..any kind of sporting goods place has gun case,there's two layers for stuff.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Plano-Prot...-Case/16662942

Very inexperienced noob here, working with boro

I'm having trouble controlling heat

If I'm too gentle, I can't seem to get glass joints to fuse

If I get a bit more aggressive, I get bubbles and sometimes distortion

I know it's a delicate balance. I would appreciate tips on how to achieve it

Mp,

The contemporary lamp working vol 1 talks about this. It is about building your heat base, which means not just quickly heating the outer surface of the glass, but slowly building heat throughout your working area. I often do this buy getting some heat on the surface, then removing the piece from the flame for a second letting the heat soak into the core, then repeat these steps until you have enough heat base to make your moves. This has helped a lot to reduce the amount of boiled glass especially in my welds. Just get it hot, take it out let it soak in and repeat.