Bowl push?

**e-jipt** · 05-25-2006, 09:02 PM

Any adivce on a good push or a way to improve a bowl push. The one at the shop I work at seems to push centered holes without me even trying, my one at home however seems to always make it a little lop-sided. I saw this nice looking premium graffite push with a wooden handle and tungsten pick in the center to help keep the hole centered. Those any good? The one at the shop is just a regular graffite push with a wooden handle and mine is just a bigass graffite rod smoothed and taper to a push. Maybe the wood handle just has a better feng shui to it.

**JANKYglass** · 05-25-2006, 10:51 PM

take a file and file around the center until you have a raised nipple in the center then file the sides smooth and your set,the nip will go in your bowl hole and hold it centerd like the fancy ones with the metal in it.

**somberbear** · 05-25-2006, 10:55 PM

biingo.... its all in teh nipple

**gotglass?** · 05-26-2006, 04:03 AM

my friend who taught me blows the nipple on the piece before popping hole, when he pushes his push has a small hollow on the tip that the glass nipple fills..... i personally find bowls made with this push to have small ridges at the bottom around the hole or even raised a little in the center.... most off center pushes occur for me when the glass isn't heated evenly or enough in the area i want to push....
you can have the best tools in the world, but if you do something wrong in the process of using the tool it's gonna show in the results attained.

**e-jipt** · 05-26-2006, 07:49 AM

Sweet thanks, it seems simple enough, nipples are cool

**alacrity024** · 05-26-2006, 07:52 AM

yeah the nipple thing really seems to be the way to go. i haven't managed to grind nipples into any of my graphite rods.. instead they're just rounded.. what i do is pop a tiny hole, heat it, then use a graphite reamer to just push it in a little bit. once it's sunken in just a tad, a regular graphite push will get it down the rest of the way.. but my bowls are still faaaaaaaar from perfect. i think i'm gonna have to make a little nippy mcnipnip..

**blazeoffire** · 05-26-2006, 07:57 AM

i have a snodgrass push with the nipple> i don't use it really . I now like just a 5/8 round push. I think you should just get the tool that you use at the shop what ever works best use that?!?!

**somberbear** · 05-26-2006, 07:58 AM

just get a peice of brass rod , then tap set , make a little screw with out a head then drill a hole in the very end ... then tap it. with the corresponding tap. then screw it in and trim as needed.

if your good you can chuck up a peice of rod in a drill and then use a peice or emery board or sand paper or small files and a vacume cleaner and you can shape it like that.

**Greymatter Glass** · 05-26-2006, 08:13 AM

Originally Posted by somberbear

just get a peice of brass rod , then tap set , make a little screw with out a head then drill a hole in the very end ... then tap it. with the corresponding tap. then screw it in and trim as needed.

wtf?

ENGIRSH MAN, ENGRISH!

Anyways, I second (third?) the graphite nipple.

**somberbear** · 05-26-2006, 08:26 AM

i no speak engrish ... i speak machinist...

you get rod the size of your nipple , then you take a die and put threads on teh brass rod. then drill a hole in the end of your push dead center. and then lightly and loveingly tap that whole with teh corrisponding tap to the die. then you screw said brass rod into the whole at the end of your graphite then trim off the rest of the rod.

its a way to do the same thing.

**Mr. "Awesome!"** · 05-26-2006, 04:03 PM

I just use a regular graphite rod, no nipple, thats been sanded to kind of a rounded point. Blow your hole and then heat the glass around it until it's collapsing, give it a quick puff and the air will cool the hole but the rest will stay hot enough to shape. Push and polish.

**Shatner** · 05-26-2006, 04:54 PM

Originally Posted by Mr. "Awesome!"

I just use a regular graphite rod, no nipple, thats been sanded to kind of a rounded point. Blow your hole and then heat the glass around it until it's collapsing, give it a quick puff and the air will cool the hole but the rest will stay hot enough to shape. Push and polish.

That's exactly how I do it.

**e-jipt** · 05-26-2006, 07:17 PM

yea, I was told the little puff helps a lot

**LTD** · 05-26-2006, 10:21 PM

I puff as I push. The shops I came up around laughed at folks who used nippled pushes, told me no nips allowed except the good kind. I just kept pushing till it came second nature. I use a slightly tapered push.

**e-jipt** · 05-27-2006, 07:51 AM

puff as you push? Could you shed some more light exactly on that? maybe why you found it works better than the other way

**HumanLathe** · 05-27-2006, 08:50 AM

I like brand new sharpened to a point 5/8's graphite rods if it has a nice point or "V" shape , makes shaping the inside of your bowl effortless. I find a round rod will push off center bowl holes. Balie is saying to puff while you push [LMAO] because it thins out the rim of your bowl making it easier to get the bowl down in there and insures that you wont crack your bowl. I like pushing my bowls in 3 steps
1. Pop hole at angle toward bowl
2. Push bowl in 1/4 - 1/2 way
3. heat rim and bowl but NOT HOLE!!! and finish the push and polish

By not heating the whole in the end you insure that your hole will stay the right size---Good luck

P.S. Remember what people here are saying are opinions and if you want to succeed you will find what works best for you and stick to it

spitfireglassworks · 05-27-2006, 10:33 AM

Yeah, I like mine shaped to a "V" as well. I bought a couple pushes from Generations Glass and tried to use as-is. LIke Matt said...the rounded ends would push off center. I finally just sharpened them to a point and like them much better this way:

**Kool** · 05-27-2006, 11:00 AM

Another thing you might try that I do sometimes:
Use a 5/8 rod with a V like Matt said. Everything else I normally do like he mentioned. But, sometimes folks want a bigger bowl. Instead of using a 3/4" push, I'll still use the 5/8 (which makes it easier to get the bowl deep). Then I'll heat around the bowl that has been pushed, staying towards the outside and use a 3/4 rod to widen the bowl. You just set it in there very gently and don't really push with the 3/4 rod. Anyway, if you want wider bowls than 5/8 allows, but still want them deep, as is the advantage to 5/8, I find that to be the best method for me. It's also easier to keep the hole centered with the 5/8 than the 3/4.
Also, if your hole is not centered in the end, use a thin sharpened carbon rod (like 1/4" or less rod) to pull it to perfect center. This is kind of hard to explain, but a key is to heat the bowl toward the rim, so you can move the hole without enlarging it. Like all glass work, mental telepathy helps, too!
K