RyanBaker's Progression: Journey Through The Wu

[KLAW]

That sucks you deleted your Article not knowing it was one and the same as the thread it was linked to and thus deleted your own progress thread by accident. Well keep posting up any old pics you've got. Might want to give a little bit of comments with them every so often (like estimated time frames of how long you had been blowing glass for by that piece and stuff like "first try at ___"...you know stuff like that) so that people get a feel for what was going on at the time a bit easier and get the full picture and don't get "overloaded" like TJ and myself

Keep It Up Man!!! Don't know if you have more pics/stuff to post because I hadn't seen your progress thread until it was an article and only saw a bit of it and then when I went back to finish looking at it all later on...it was gone. Keep on truckin' either way, I will be checkin' back in to see if ya got more.

[RyanBaker]

That sucks you deleted your Article not knowing it was one and the same as the thread it was linked to and thus deleted your own progress thread by accident. Well keep posting up any old pics you've got. Might want to give a little bit of comments with them every so often (like estimated time frames of how long you had been blowing glass for by that piece and stuff like "first try at ___"...you know stuff like that) so that people get a feel for what was going on at the time a bit easier and get the full picture and don't get "overloaded" like TJ and myself

Keep It Up Man!!! Don't know if you have more pics/stuff to post because I hadn't seen your progress thread until it was an article and only saw a bit of it and then when I went back to finish looking at it all later on...it was gone. Keep on truckin' either way, I will be checkin' back in to see if ya got more.

,

Thanks Klaw,yeah it sucks but theres nothing I can do about it besides keep kicking myself,so we move on,because we have to.

I tried to keep everything as chronological as possible,I cut down on the pictures a bit but mostly just different angles of pieces that are already posted. Usually whenever I post pictures I like to atleast add a short paragraph but because of the sheer amount of photos that wasnt really possible.

Everything in this thread is from 0-4 months behind the torch with the picture of the lynx being about the midway point,like I said everything I posted is in the order that I made it,so hopefully that helps.

[RyanBaker]

Sup everyone!

I havent posted in here a while because its just so depressing going to my progression page which should have 200 or so comments and like 10 pages of content and its just this wasteland of a thread.
Anyways though just because im not posting doesnt mean im not grinding it out just like always. Im still continuing to sling pendants left and right,im easily getting $40 on the frit implosions and $60+ on the vortex ones. I already have 2 events lined up in Boston later in the summer where ill have a booth to push my pendants,very exciting.

Still grinding through bowls but definitely not giving them as much attention as everything else,I started back up on slides a few days ago. With just over 10 under my belt they are already pretty clean and ive sold a handful of them around town.

But the biggest and most exciting news is that im heading down to PA in a week to go hang with our fellow forum member bugzboro for a two day lesson,if you havent checked out his work,do it,and you'll understand my extreme level of excitement.

I probably wont update this again until I get back so until then,happy melting guys!

[RyanBaker]

Hey everyone! I know it's been a bit since I last posted, and I said I would update when I got back from my lesson but I've been in a funk these past few weeks and haven't been able to produce anything too great.

However my lesson with bugz was awesome, he allowed me to record it so now I have like 20 hours of everything from wrap and rake spoons to millies and big ass bubs. I'm just having a tough time getting settled back into things, like after watching him make tube implosion pendants I can't seem to do any of my implosions right anymore.

Anyways, a few things survived atleast, but these few things are seriously everything that hasn't been whipped at the back wall or slammed in the trash can. It's been rough but I'll bounce back soon.

[dplaza]

cool man keep it up. that last pendant is cool, is that twisty cane coiled up? looks trippy. the condensing is pretty even on the neck of your frit spoon, i use way less frit when i make mine but they aren't full color like that i have most of the frit towards the front just to make em fast and easy. whats your method of gettin the frit in the tube?

[RyanBaker]

Hey guys just wanted to share real quick this little project I'm working on.

My buddy works in an office and wanted a bunch of 4-6in. twisty cane to throw in a cup as coffee stirrers.

He showed them around to a few people and now I have an order for 100 of them from various people around the office.

Anyone got ideas for what to do with twisty cane besides coiling it up?
I got pretty consistent with my pulls towards the end of these ones so after 100 more I'll probably be able to make them pretty quick. I just don't have many uses for them.

Btw yes that pendant was made using twisted up cane, I thought I would get some awesome spiraly spikes but just ended up with that mess, still kind of cool. As for putting frit in tubing I just pour it in a funnel down through the blowtube.

[BurntHands]

Coil potted up latticino's can look awesome, there was a guy doing one piece sherlocks on here for sale for $25 and they looked killer. I thought it was a good price, they're kind of time consuming. Someone was calling it the boulder basketweave, so if you search that you should find 'em. Inpired me to make a bunch, they're super good practice and they're fun, and a good way to use up shorts.

I make lattys on 19-25mm rod and I get 24-30" of 7-8mm cane, I'd be stoked to get an order for 100 4-6 inchers.

[Nipnaps]

coil pot the cane and cap a spoon or try your hand at inside out work with your twisty cane!
Here's a great video for ya! Shows how to make three different types of cane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtwkEt9uNAg

[RyanBaker]

Sup guys!
Been working on pendants recently, specifically the dot box disc flip in the latest glassline. Its actually been going pretty well, attempted about 5 or 6 caps so far.

The disc itself takes me about 4 hours but I still haven't done one right yet. I either get screwed up on blowing out the bubble or melting it back down into a disc. But I think it all stems from blowing out the bubble poorly.

The first few ones I did were all on heavy wall so I wasn't able to evenly heat the whole colored section plus a couple inches behind it. I tried blowing out the back end first, then the cap first but I could never blow them both out evenly and eventually swapped to some 26x2 I had laying around and that still didn't really help.

I also didn't realize through the first few that I was supposed to end up with just a thin disc to encalmo. In glassline it looked like after he melted in the lip he had a pretty thick pendant. But I actually had the chance to talk to him on Instagram and its supposed to just be a disc like a retti/filla. However the first one I did (the red and white one that cracked) was actually really thick so I just figured that's how it was supposed to look.

So I have a couple questions, how big of a section of clear should you heat behind the pattern when blowing it out?
Also how hard is it to encalmo a single colored hollow section onto a disc? Encalmos seem advanced but only if you're doing multiple sections stacked on top of each other. Wouldn't I just need a small chunk of colored tube to seal onto the disc and then to condense that tube down into a disc?

[ApeironCreations]

So I've been working a lot of implosions recently and I've found a few things out about them that might be helpful to you.

"How big of a section of clear should you behind the pattern when blowing out"

I've found that the answer to that is dependant on a few things.... Such as, how thick or large is your disc face? Have you blown it out already or have you condensed it first?

As far as my projects have gone it seems I get my best results from having a large enough bubble to fit my work along with enough glass behind that to work the disk to the inside of the tube without having to blow out extra glass for the gathering process.

And about the encalmo... I would think it far more difficult to try and make a "Tube Encalmo" than it would be to just draw your design down into the proper disk shape and then simply add a colored backing. Unless your literally looking to have a sort of "Lip" on the edge of your disk of another color. In which case you might be well off just coil potting to the edge of your disk and being very Conscious as you melt it in.

If I didn't answer satisfactorily ask me more questions I'd like to help

[ApeironCreations]

Also I'd like to point out the first one actually looks like it turned out properly, though it may have come out a little thick the pattern is clean. And if the pattern is clean that's really the part that matters.

[RyanBaker]

Disc flips are a little different than implosions,you blow out the bubble last after everythings melted in and also the end result is a paper thin disc that can be used for a cap or you can encalmo on the back of to make a pendant.Also the design has to be flipped 180 for it to look right. Its like doing a retti with a different pattern.

[ApeironCreations]

"You blow out the bubble last after everything's melted in"

Boom that's the part I needed, so when you go to flip your image and you need to blow out that bubble for your flip (like a retticello as opposed to a implosion) I would say you need acleast an inch or so to blow out and clean up the edge of your disk.

Big thing about blowing out that bubble for the flip is to make sure your not heating up your image. And if you are you want the heat base to be more in the clear and blow into your tube while pointing up a bit. It forces the bubble to squat down and flattens the image automagically, Punty to the bottom flame rip off.

[RyanBaker]

Big thing about blowing out that bubble for the flip is to make sure your not heating up your image. And if you are you want the heat base to be more in the clear and blow into your tube while pointing up a bit. It forces the bubble to squat down and flattens the image automagically, Punty to the bottom flame rip off.

I think this might be what im missing,but just to be clear you know that when I go to blow out the bubble nothing has been blown out before right? Like I lay the pattern down on about 2-3 inches of an unaltered 26x2 blank.Ive tried not heating the pattern at all and blowing out behind it and that went miserably. Also these things are BIG like 6 inches in diameter.

[ApeironCreations]

That changes things a bit yea. If that's the case I would assume you need to melt in that pattern acleast a little bit then probably puff lightly to bring the tube back to its original diameter. When you go to blow out if you have an even diameter through your clear and your added image you need almost equal parts of "Dotted up front part" and your clear. And once again big thing bout that even heat base turn and blow as you look upwards round a 45 degree or so

[RyanBaker]

That changes things a bit yea. If that's the case I would assume you need to melt in that pattern acleast a little bit then probably puff lightly to bring the tube back to its original diameter. When you go to blow out if you have an even diameter through your clear and your added image you need almost equal parts of "Dotted up front part" and your clear. And once again big thing bout that even heat base turn and blow as you look upwards round a 45 degree or so

Yeah I think its just about finding the right heat base and holding it at that upwards angle while blowing it out. But yeah the whole pattern is fully melted in before the blow out.
Could be having some issues with my wall thickness by the pattern as well because once the patterns on there you can no longer see the walls. Ill have to give them a couple more trys,I think I was pretty close with my last one I did (not pictured) I just didnt have enough clear behind the pattern and I wasnt holding it at an upwards angle. The angle should be very easy to achieve thanks to my swivel and blowhose.

Thanks for the tips bro!

[Mattypo]

Good to see you posting again! Those canes are sweet man. I like the IO frit spoon too looks super thick. I'm trying to get those down myself.

[RyanBaker]

Alright so a couple things,First I think I have the disc flip all figured out now, I just watched the natey+eusheen fillacello disc flip webinar and it all makes a lot more sense now. Eusheen slightly puffs out his pattern after melting it all in, then gathers up and blows out probably 2-3 inches of clear from behind the design and then slowly puffs out the pattern until it matches up with the clear before finally sinking it in and giving it a nice rounded profile.
Can't wait to give them another go,I just need to see if my only option is to encalmo because after watching the one in the eush webinar itsa little more complicated than I imagined. Be kind of a bummer to have this real nice disc just starring at me with no where to go.


But anyways, Samson is having a show over by me (witch dr. salem MA) tomorrow and sunday which couldnt be any better timed because if you've seen his work the guy slays rettis,fillas,and dotboxes all day long. So I should get some pretty great insight from talking to him for a bit. Theres usually some local talent there watching (big surprise) so I figured ide pull out all the stops tonight and really push myself to see if I could make a sweet pendant to rock while im there.

Ive never done any attachments on my pendants before besides when I put like 3 tiny dots on a super early implosion I did lol so this was a pretty huge step for me.
I wish the vortex came out cleaner but I really cant be mad with all the sweet atachments I got on there,wicked happy that I got a tube bail on there too. Me and my hand torch were becoming the best of buddies out there thats for sure. Can't wait to rock this and more importantly start making more like them

[DIMBW]

Leave a bit of space between your lines when making a vortex and then melt them in nice before puntying up and twisting. This will help with trapping air between color.

Also if you leave a bit of the cone on the back and add a good lens you will get a lot more depth out of your vortex's

Remember with a vortex is almost all about the termination, its better to sacrifice a bit of color for the termination.

[RyanBaker]

Leave a bit of space between your lines when making a vortex and then melt them in nice before puntying up and twisting. This will help with trapping air between color.

Also if you leave a bit of the cone on the back and add a good lens you will get a lot more depth out of your vortex's

Remember with a vortex is almost all about the termination, its better to sacrifice a bit of color for the termination.

Thanks for the tips! I usually do 4 lines opposing each other but experimented with this one and covered the whole thing in color,it doesnt really look like a vortex but it has a nice effect to it.

I usually end up with a bit of color up on the front like in this one,any idea how to avoid that? I thought it was just about not drawing the lines too far down the cone but that hasnt seemed to help much. I also dont usually lens my vortexes, I try to achieve a completely 2 dimensional spiral with tight lines. A good example would be the green and black one I did,thats easily my favorite one ive done.