Lever2stackS's Progression Thread

**Lever2stackS** · 06-11-2012, 07:19 PM

What's up everybody name's Levi, I've been on the torch about a week so I figured I would start a progression thread. I've been having a blast melting glass this week I've just been practicing things over and over till I get it somewhat right here's what I got so far BRING THE JANK

.

This bowl came out alright but I forgot to heat up my claw grabbers and when I grabbed it I heard the dreaded tink and a big crack right around the bubble. The mouth piece came out the best of any one that I have done yet.

These mushrooms were going to be pendants but I keep messing the hook up so they are like oblong marbles now

A marble I made for my daughter

And a dabber

Well that's where I'm at for the first week lot's of jank for ya but I hope to get better in time with lots of practice. Tell me what you think melting pot all comments welcome

LEVI

**Chad S** · 06-11-2012, 07:51 PM

Hey you gotta start somewhere, looks good for only a week especially that marble. Keep it up, the learning never ends..

**B.C. Creations** · 06-11-2012, 08:31 PM

looks good for 2 weeks! keep at it and dont go to big. keep at the small stuff for a while and the nice stuff will be a breeze later on.

**kc-216** · 06-11-2012, 09:17 PM

ive been blowing glass a year and a half and your mushroom pendants look better then mine already ><

**Lever2stackS** · 06-12-2012, 02:12 AM

Thanks for the comments and stopping by guy's. I'm having fun with it that's for sure.

**Jestr** · 06-12-2012, 04:15 PM

Fuck yeah, mate, keep it up! Your marble there looks way more round than my first one, and your mushrooms look very well-formed. I still had trouble getting a rounded cap on mine until about a month or so ago.

Definitely dig around on YouTube; if you search "lampworking" or similar terms, that will give you much better results than "glassblowing", and you'll be able to find a wide selection of users and channels with all manner of tutorial vids. I should watch them more myself, but the problem is always knowing where to start. There's a lot of bad ones, but they're not hard to identify. I guess I'm saying all this assuming you don't have a teacher, which may not be the case though I'd still urge you to see as many methods as possible. Everyone's got a different way of doing things, it seems.

Shit, now I'm just rambling. Don't mind me.

Very elegant dabber, btw. Sometimes less IS more.

**Lever2stackS** · 06-12-2012, 04:36 PM

Thanks for the confidence booster, I was having trouble with the mushrooms at first then it clicked and I understood the science behind it now they are coming out like they are supposed to.

Thanks for the advice Jestr youtube is hit and miss for sure sometimes but it has been a huge help not to mention the vast amounts of knowledge here on talkglass.com. I've also been using glassq.com I became a premium member and there are some great tutorials on there. I'm hoping to find somebody close to me one of these days that can show me a couple of things in person.

**Lever2stackS** · 06-18-2012, 05:08 AM

Here's some pendants I've been working on, I'm finally starting to get my hooks right it is very tricky that's for sure.

Happy melting
Levi

**Jestr** · 06-18-2012, 07:42 AM

Good eye on the spacing for the ornamental dots on the first pendant there, looking pretty even which can be trickier than it sounds sometimes.

What are the dots behind the mushroom there, is that fume and cobalt or a strikey color?

Your loop doesn't look too bad either. If you feel they're getting too small on you, you might try just stretching the glass a tiny bit more before bending and bonding it. But just an if, there. Looks like a solid loop, even enough all the way around, big enough for a string, centered well enough that it should hang straight. At least that's what it looks like, to me, from here. Fuck yeah man, do keep melting.

**Lever2stackS** · 06-18-2012, 08:01 AM

Yeah the ornamental dots were a pain to get right I'm getting the hang of making things more symmetrical.

I'm not sure on the color since I'm using shorts but it is deff a striking color backed with cobalt the mushroom itself is GA Amazon night.

Thanks it seems the more I do the more comfortable I get.

**Lever2stackS** · 06-19-2012, 06:54 AM

Here's some more I worked on last night.

Some restrictions I've been practicing

18mm nails

Mini bowl with a maria

And some action shots

**Lever2stackS** · 06-22-2012, 05:21 AM

A couple new pendants.

My first try at a wig wag it came out alright I think

All comments are welcome

**Lever2stackS** · 06-29-2012, 06:13 AM

So I put the color down for now and have been practicing making spoons with clear and silver fuming. I've been working on my heat base and condensing the tubes down and pulling my tubes out even so much fun.

Little mini clear bowl I think it came out good

I did this chillum out of a piece that broke.

This is one of the pendants that I'm making out of the leftover teardrops on my bowl pulls

And this is my best piece so far I Think did a little to much fume on her but she is straight even and thick. I am most proud of this piece.

**B-Rye-oNeR** · 06-29-2012, 05:50 PM

Keep em coming , ....Blk&mild wood tips FTW.

**Matt P** · 06-29-2012, 11:17 PM

looking good man! And yeah, black and mild woodtips ftw, for sure!

In my progression thread on the first page is some great advice on fuming, and also pushing bowls at a more user-friendly angle. The people that posted the tips are much more eloquent about it then me, but here goes.

Basically, with silver fume, less is more, usually. The gorgeous blues are attained with very little silver fume. I generally over fume just a bit, and by the time I'm done working the piece they look about right. That being said, I know some people who really like that cloudy, milky fume, and have bought pieces like it from me. So, its not overfumed, its just not that nice blue that you can attain! "over-fumed" i feel is a subjective term.

And on the bowl, if you pop your bowl hole in the center of the bubble you generally can't see in the bowl while smoking, but I'm sure this isn't new to you

If you can pop the hole further back from center, more towards the stem, and then push it on an angle they come out real nice and like I said, "user-friendly". I actually push the bowl straight down, but like many people have my blowtube or point held upwards.

Wow, hope some of that helps, you progress is looking great though, keep posting the photos! And trust me, if you bust out a few dozen clear/fume spoons, you'll have such a better experience when you start using color. I haven't done a LOT of color work, but I'm just really getting into it, and its been a nice transition. Shaping the piece is a natural part, I just worry about melting in my color work.

**Lever2stackS** · 06-30-2012, 02:04 PM

Hell yeah that's right B&M wood tip FTW baby!!!! I tell ya'lll what I am totally addicted to melting glass I was up till 3:00 A.M. raging. I made about 5 or 6 pipes last night but by the end they either cracked or broke but all the practice paid off I did 2 perfect mouth pieces in a row. I think I got it I'll know for sure tonight when I go to do some more.

Yeah rookie your thread hippi's and a couple other's help out significantly. I know what I'm supposed to do in theory but making it come out in the glass is a different story. I know I get a little more confident with every piece that I do, even if I mess it up I try to finish it if I can to get the practice in.

Thanks for taking a look I'll be raging again tonight I'll post some pic's of what I come up with.

**Matt P** · 06-30-2012, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by L3V3R2ooo

I know what I'm supposed to do in theory but making it come out in the glass is a different story. I know I get a little more confident with every piece that I do, even if I mess it up I try to finish it if I can to get the practice in.

Wow, I know exactly what you mean lol that's how I feel with many things I try in glass. In theory, I know the steps and technique I'm trying to accomplish, but the practice and repetition isn't even close.

**Lever2stackS** · 06-30-2012, 11:32 PM

Alright so this is what I came up with tonight,

First one had a crack that I melted out but the top of the bubble is all wonky from it, I like the fume I did on it

How you like that burn

The second one

The last one I did everything was going all good till my blow tube weld cracked and it dropped and cracked when I tried to melt it out the marbles collapsed it

The collapse

I need to work on popping my bowl holes back towards the mouth piece and getting a even heat on my bowls so I get a nice even bowl push, And my blow tube welds aren't much to be desired ATM but I'll be back at it tomorrow

**HoneyCombOver** · 07-01-2012, 08:25 PM

Coming along nicely. Keep at it and watch your pieces get better and better.

**Lever2stackS** · 07-01-2012, 08:48 PM

Thanks WuTribeRoots

It was my nieces boyfriends birthday today so I had him come over and I made him a pipe. Its a little wonky on the bubble but I think the fume came out really nice. I was going to make a couple more like it but my propane ran out sux

I'll be out tomorrow to get some.