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Thread: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

  1. #1
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    Default Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    Well I don't to torch very often , just hurts to much but some days I go out to the shed/shop and spin for a few and every now and then I actually can work through the pain and make something. So this is the first cup I attempted to make in about 4-5 years reason being is I don't really have a torch anymore for making hollow wider forms let alone flaring nice feet . I made the cup on a Bobcat and keep finding myself amused at what this tiny little torch can pull off. You kind of learn heat bases all over again when you go from working a delta mag every day to not blowing glass for four years to working only on a bobcat LOL kinda reminded me making retarded huge stuff with a Victor single hole welding torch ! I was very pleased I was still able to blow round glass and flare round feet for cups.

    Only camera I have is POS phone cam so pics are shitty sorry. When I saw how bad my cam pics were I didn't bother taking more pics of the other two cups but I did take a pic of a pendant I made the other week.
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    ~FlowerMatt

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    Glad to see you on the torch again. I dont know if u remember me but i came up to your house for a class when i was living in ashland back in the summer of 08 and it waz a honor to have met u and watch u work. I have always been. Hugh fan of ur work. Sorry to hear about the pain but ur work will always be respected by me and im sure many others. I hope to see u back on the torch full time again someday

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    Looking good! It's really nice to see you posting some work. i'm right behind you, just never as brave hehe.
    ~Misha

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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    nice foot...
    i always have trouble getting an even foot...
    any tips you want to share...?

    -the dude

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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    Quote Originally Posted by innervision View Post
    nice foot...
    i always have trouble getting an even foot...
    any tips you want to share...?

    -the dude

    First rule of thumb is, outer rim should always be hottest part of your heat base.

    I like to start by first getting the hole at the end of the tube the diameter of the tube, in other words all the way open. The hole should be square to the length of the blank, the rim of the hole should be even and consistent with the tube wall. I like to spin it against my L-marver while going at it from the inside with my reamer.

    Now you want to build your heat base, basically think of it as a gradient, the rim always being the hottest otherwise instead of an even flare the middle of the tube section will belly out. The hotter you go the easier it is get it flat like Matt's.

    That being said, you dont want that rim to go soft prematurely unless you want a fat lip.

    When I do them, as soon as I see the rim start to move, I start spinning faster while keeping in the flame just a little longer to keep that heat base. I prefer to spin the foot out without using a reamer to avoid chill marks, its almost impossible to get rid of them without deforming the foot once they're there.


    Oh, and I usually go with 31.7x4 for feet, do some practice on that or some 25x4 something in that range till you got it. about 1-1/2 to 2 inches is all you really need in most cases.


    Hope this makes some sense and helps, its hard to put into words without visual help.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    Good one Matt, thanks again for the tips I picked up from your posts along the way. Glad to see you back on the bench.
    It ain't where you're from, it's where you're at.
    Really.

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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    Nice cup. A great example for newbs of what you can do on a smaller torch. Hope the pain lets up more often so you can spend more time out in your shop.
    Peace bro.

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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    thanks for the tips.
    + 1 rep

    I'm going to light up the torch and give it a try...

  9. #9

    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    Oh wow, nice work! For a bobcat?

    I've been hoping you'd post more work. I remember it from back in The Day lol keep it up!

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    Unfortunately my pain isn't going anywhere but up, but on good days I will be putting in as much torch time as I can. I still do lessons and demonstrations for fun in my local community but I truly miss melting big glass .

    I actually think the key to a foot is watching how soft glass workers prep their flares. Watching large scale glass workers can really open your eyes up to how poeple have been making perfect round glass for 100's of years. In flame working if you prep your flare properly all you need to do is spin and it will open from a pin hole to a perfect round foot just from simply spinning. My favorite thing about glass is there are so many ways of achieving the same shape or pattern. Sometimes there is no right or wrong way just the way that works for you.

    For a flat round foot I blow a bubble on the end of a tube not round but more wide bubble.


    I then Marver the bubble on the end at a very steep angle until it has a little bit of thickness to it and comes to a steep cone like point perfectly in the center of the bubble. The widest point where you marvered the glass is just below the equator of your bubble. The thickness is to ensure control of your flare when the heat turns up on the final stage of flaring. What happens to a lot of blowers is they go to spin out a flare and hit a thin spot in the middle of there prepped bubble and the flare goes all floppy and sends their shape off round or collapsing on itself.


    When its just right shape attach rod to end and make sure its center.


    Then marver down the other side at a similar angle so that you can open her up, before I close my bubble off the blow tube I like to get a nice symmetrical shape to work with.


    This is where everyone has their own way of getting the hole popped center, myself I use the back pressure from the glass being closed. If you heat the cold side of your closed bubble for one rotation it will be enough heat to pop your hole and keep pressure blowing on your tube if it starts to suck in flash the cold side quickly to keep pressure blowing while you are cutting off and popping your hole. I pick my holes I don't break them so this is a "to each his own situation" After getting my hole popped I then use a soffietta to puff out the open side of my bubble a little bit. Not the hole but the bubble itself. I think its important to keep your whole small until you are ready to open 1/4 in or smaller.[pending on the size of the piece of course].


    I then marver the open side to the same angle as my puntied side keeping my hole centered and round.


    When the shape is right I rest my rod on my table yoke and start my heat at the lip of my hole slowly letting it soak into the center of the bubble never heating near my punty. Once the piece is nice and warm turn up your heat a little and spin it open focus your heat on the outer third or less of your foot that should keep the glass spinning open.


    BOBCAT POWA!
    Last edited by HumanLathe; 07-29-2012 at 12:12 PM.
    ~FlowerMatt

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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    the pics are a bit big, can you resize?
    ~Misha

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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    yeah wierd stupid drop box made them all wierd .I'll try to resize they load really fast when I upload them to forum. But I can't host them anywhere else. So I cant link them in the right place or don't know how to if I upload to forum.
    ~FlowerMatt

  13. #13
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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    use our flickr...i'll pm you the info. i have to go login to it so i remember it lol.
    ~Misha

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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    Ok so the stupid adobe wasn't saving my resize they are fixed now.
    ~FlowerMatt

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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    I like drop box its linked to my phone heh and my gmail and free
    ~FlowerMatt

  16. #16
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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    cool, those are so much easier to see now.
    ~Misha

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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    HumanLathe,
    Dude thank you !!
    The pictures help a lot..
    I'm gonna get my torch fired up right now.
    Thanks

    The Dude

    +1 Rep

  18. #18
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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    No problem man . This video is probably one of the first videos on the web of the GTT monster now labeled Viper torch, The Python while Fun to look at was quite hard to work on due to its very long barrel. Which is why I'm sure they now have made it much shorter and easier to work on [Viper] The video shows mike plane in the final flaring process using similar techs to open a very large foot on the Python.
    http://www.talkglass.com/forum/videos/footflare.mpg
    Last edited by PyroChixRock; 07-29-2012 at 02:22 PM. Reason: you linked the video as an image, fixed it for ya.
    ~FlowerMatt

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    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    welcome back sir! blessings on your bench
    "Scientists proposed that male lion's skill at ambushing prey in dense vegetation was previously unknown because of scientists' fear of being ambushed by male lions in dense vegetation." Harpers, findings, may 2013

  20. #20

    Default Re: Been a while..Hi everyone :)

    Maaaaatt. Good to see you, man.

    I can't imagine not blowing glass. That's gotta feel good melting stuff again.

    What happened to mike plane? After seeing him flare a huge piece in 2000? I knew where I wanted to go with my glass career. Now I do similar stuff daily.

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