Cleaning a Hothead Torch

Since I use 1 lb propane bottles, cleaning my torches is a frequent part of my bead making.  After running through a couple of bottles, the torch begins to run dirty.  I have read, this is because of the oily fragrance that is added to the propane gas so that you can smell it if there is a leak, since propane has no fragrance of it's own.  This oil builds up on the inside surfaces of the torch.

I did a search online to try and learn how to clean a hothead torch.  I ran across several suggestions. More than one of these was to take apart the torch and immerse it in acetone.  DON'T DO THIS.  It works great the first couple of times but the "glue" on the joints will finally be removed by the acetone.

I learned the hard way that the acetone eats away the compound in the joints that prevents them from leaking.  Now I am left with 2 worthless leaky hothead torches.  One leaks where the bent tube meets the base of the torch, the other leaks at the nut holding the on/off valve.  Now I am looking for a way to fix these leaks so I don't have to buy yet another torch.

Having been a TIG welder for most of 30 years I have an ingrained habit of checking for leaks before every use.  Good thing. But now I have no torch with which to make more beautiful beads  I will try to take apart those joints that leak and repair them with white electrical

Next time I clean a torch, after I buy yet another one, I will use denatured alcohol as someone suggested. 

I tried boiling it in soapy water but I still got those black deposits on my beads. 

If I lived where I could have a proper place to put a larger propane tank I would get a dual fuel torch "sigh", but I rent so that is  not an option.  Oh yes, then there is the expense of an oxygen generator or a tank on top of what a good propane/oxygen torch costs :(

How to center a lampwork bead on a thin wire

At first I had problems with my lampwork beads looking off center and wobbly when I strung them or used a head pin to wire them.  I like the look of metal with my lampwork beads so I wire them a lot and also mix them with chainmaille.

Ok  how to keep a lampwork bead centered on a thin wire?  Seed beads.  Yes, fill the hole of your lampwork bead with seed beads and it will make all the difference.  Simply string seed beads on your wire either before or after you have strung your lampwork bead.  Use enough seed beads to fill the larger bead.

I use the tiny tubular shaped seed beads instead of the donut shaped ones.

That's it.  Simple is it not? 

My first mandala style bead

Today I made my first mandala bead, not bad but dots could be more uniform, next ones will be better I will wear it but don't think it is sellable. This sucker took over an hour to make. It is 1 1/4" wide overall not counting the dots, 1/4" thick not counting the dots, and has a 3/4" hole.

My first bead using the ribbon technique

 This is my first ribbon bead.  I think it isn't too bad for a first try.  The bead is a bit wonky and I got one part of it too hot when applying the clear over the orange dots.  I will wear it as soon as I get some beads made to go with it.  Well.....after they are all annealed, that is.

Here are 4 images of it so you can see all sides, even the not so good one :/

End of March 2014, Some of my favorite beads so far :)

These pictures are of some beads that I took from sets that I made to make pendants.  I have more recently been working on making melted in flower beads and encased flower beads.  This is progressing well but I sure have made some mistakes, lol.  The good thing about mistakes is that we can learn from them.  I am currently working on making a batch of matching flower beads :).   Well, not matching beads so much as complimentary beads.  I don't like the look of all beads the same in a necklace so I make a batch with different beads using the same color scheme.  No matchy, matchy for me :)

I don't get to the torch for very long at a time and not every day so I wait until there are about 80 to 100 beads made before I fire up the kiln.  I only have about 20 made at the moment so it will be a while before I can post more pictures. 

Pendants don't have to be just one large piece.  I like to put two or more beads together to make one.

                                My favorite colors, orange and blue, in a three piece pendant

                                         Three beads I chose from a set, just for this pendant

                                   I like this one almost as much as the one pictured below.  See it used in
                                   a necklace in the second picture below.

                                   My favorite "so far" pair of beads.  See them below on a chain.

                                LOL don't pay attention to the date, my camera wasn't set right.  This necklace has a chain maille chain that I made.

                     Here are some charms I use for the pendant necklaces I made from my beads.

Some things I have made

Some of these are available on ebay.  Look for bellakjewelry.  More will be available soon.

                                                      
                          My favorite, I made the wire wrap on the pendant and the chain maille chain too
                          the chain pattern is called rosette.

 

Yeah I like this one too.  Purple is the color theme here.  I also made the chain maille here.  It is called eclipse. 

LOL  my first icicles,  not too bad for starters.  :)  It took a few before I got the hang of making the loop.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be.

And here is my first off mandrel pendant.  I decided to try it after I had learned how to make the loop while making the icicles. 

This is a lanyard I made for my daughter-in-law.  It still needs the clasp and a split ring at the bottom to hold her clip.  I used the eclipse chain maille chain here too.  I really like the way it turned out.

I made my own bead rest for inside the kiln

 Don't waste your money buying bead annealing racks from someone else, you can do it yourself with the tools and materials you are likely to have already. 

Here is a bead rack I made using a 1/16" stainless steel mandrel.  It comes from 1/16" stainless steel welding rod.  If you buy your mandrels already pre-cut, I urge you to check out your local welding supply store for 1/16" and 3/32" stainless steel welding rod.  It comes in different grades.  You want 308 308L.  These will take a lot of heat and last a long time.  I use a hothead so don't know about the heat from a dual fuel torch.

To make the rack I used 3 of my 1/16" stainless mandrels.  Be aware that stainless steel is strong so it will give resistance.   I first made a bend a little off center using my round nose pliers.  Then I made another bend beside it.  After that there is one more bend to make the other leg.  Then bend the legs as shown.  These first three bends are the middle where the straight mandrel rests.  See the picture for an idea of where and how much to bend the legs.  The legs must be bent as shown so that they won't tip over under the weight of the beads.  I would say to make about a 45-60 degree angle.  I made my mandrel that will hold the beads just short of 9" to fit my kiln.  I have a table top model that was made by The Glass Hive.  I got the short guy :) and I love it.  This isn't a plug for them, just saying that my kiln interior measures 9" across.

Ahhh, now I have to make 6 more rests.  Then I will be able to anneal more beads at one time than my other, purchased, rest would accommodate.   I batch anneal because I do not work at it full time.  I usually get from 8-16 hours a week at my torch so I only anneal when I have a full load. 

I have an idea that a taller and a shorter version of this bead rest could be made to create two more tiers of racks for better utilization of space in the kiln. Wow!  I could have 100-150 beads in there at once.  That means I would have to spend more time at the torch, it's a good thing :)

Good ways to practice lampworking

I have been trying to learn lampworking from online tutorials and youtube videos.  There is a lot that is left unsaid by the posters of these lessons.  I don't fault them for it because it is wonderful that people are willing to help others learn.

I have learned how to make beads of approximately the same size.  I found that if I make several of them in one sitting I am more successful than if I take a break in the middle of making a set.  Any beads that don't match in size get sorted out, then I have a nice set of graduated beads :)

Making icicles of the same size is also challenging.  I have all sizes of them now and no two match, but they are pretty :)  What the heck, they don't hang on the tree next to each other anyhow so I don't see it as a major problem.

The small things that people take for granted are things that we have to learn for ourselves and lots of practice is the way.

I wanted to learn to make icicles so I watched some videos on the subject.  Then I thought through the process for a couple of days until I had it in my head how I was going to do it.

I learned that making icicles is excellent practice for learning heat control, how to heat just a small area such as working on the hanger end, and how to work off-mandrel using tools to hold the piece.

Lesson # 1
Always preheat any tool that you are going to hold your piece with.  If you don't, your piece will likely crack and/or break in two.  You don't want the tool hot, just warm enough that the temperature isn't a shock to the glass.

Lesson #2
Don't get the glass too hot, it will boil and be ruined.  I already learned this from making beads but in making the gather on the first few icicles, I kept the molten ball (gather) too hot for too long.  I soon learned to keep it at the coolest part of the flame that would have enough heat to shape the ball.  The best way to avoid boiling the glass that I have found is to work in the flame for a little while then move the ball farther away to cool it down a little.  Keep working back and forth like this.  At least it works for me. 

making my own striped stringers

Yesterday I was making some stringers and decided to apply stripes of 3 different colors to a clear rod.  The rod was about the thickness of my little finger.

I first made stringers with the colors I wanted to use, then I heated the clear rod and applied the stringers in stripes of about 1 1/2 inches to the end of the clear rod.

Then I made a fatter stringer out of the striped end of the clear rod and applied that to a small bead I made using the clear glass.  It turned out looking like a stone bead only with bits of clear between the stripes.

This is a pic of some beads I have made so far.  The striped ones are at the bottom,  I made 2 of them.