The Hot Head torch is the best single fuel torch on the beadmaking market today. If you mail order your kit, it will come "ready to set-up" and use, except for fuel. It is designed to run on Mapp gas, or any brazing fuel that burns at 3600 degrees. Mapp gas in a one pound cylinder is available to you at most Walmarts, Home Depots, or other home improvement centers. It usually retails for around $8-$10. A one pound cylinder of Mapp gas will usually last for about 4-5 hours, depending on how high you adjust your flame. It's always good to have a spare one on hand! Mapp (and its equivalent fuels) are safe to use and store at home. ( You could also use propane with your Hot Head, but you will find it to be slower, and your colors will probably be greyed out.)
When you find that you are going through a lot of one pound canisters of Mapp, it's time to graduate to a refillable tank! You'll need a "Hose for Refillable Tanks" to connect your Hot Head torch to a bulk tank that you will find locally. Finding a local source for bulk fuel can sometimes be a challenge, because many local welding supply owners don't understand what fuel we want or why. There is a lot of misinformation out there!
Your local propane supplier, who refills propane tanks, may or may not be willing or able to get you brazing fuel, commonly called PROPYLENE. Welding supply places are much more likely to be able to supply you with brazing fuel or propylene. It is called different names in different regions of the country. Mapp is a brand name and is not available everywhere. Often, where it is available, you cannot buy Mapp tanks outright, but they have a leasing program. Other names for brazing fuels are: Flame-X, Chemtaine and PCG (Pure Cutting Gas). I've had good results with all of these. Regardless of what it is called, you want a brazing fuel that burns at 3600 degrees, not propane! Bulk tanks are a great idea, because after the initial purchase or rental fee (which can be as little as $4.00/per month) your fuel can cost as little as $0.89 per pound! Cost efficient!
The sizes of bulk tanks vary. Sometimes, you can find little 6# tanks, which are nice because they are so portable, if you do shows or move your set-up. 11# tanks are still pretty light and last longer. 20# and 30# are the most common sizes. Never mix fuels in the same tank.
Always ventilate your beadmaking area when making beads! This could mean putting a fan in the window to pull the air outside, or even a stove vent installed over your work area. If this isn't possible yet, think about cross-ventilation to keep fresh air circulating. Any fuel may produce undesirable fumes, including carbon-monoxide, which is odorless. Carbon-monoxide detectors are readily available and would be a wise investment to help ensure that your work area is properly ventilated.
Using the bulk refillable canisters in your home is not recommended, and may be prohibited in some areas. A garage or porch area is a safer place for the big canisters. Some people secure their tanks in a homemade box just outside a window. That prevents a propylene tank stored outside from being tampered with while still allowing easy access so you can attach your hose and run the hose indoors to make beads! Always bleed (or burn off ) the fuel from your hose before shutting the torch down for the day! Ask us for directions on how to do this if you are not sure.
If you have any questions about your torch, setting up your kit, making beads, or anything related to this site or beadmaking in general, feel free to contact me, and I'll get right back to you! If you would like to see a topic addressed in "Tips", just let me know!
Visit this page often for more tips!
The following article is reprinted by permission from Arts & Media Inc., Publisher of Glass Craftsman Magazine
TWENTY TIPS FOR THE GLASS BEADMAKER ,
By Molly Heynis
What is more gratifying than making glass beads? Discovering shortcuts, techniques and tools that make the process even more enjoyable and expand the creative possibilities -that’s what! Some of the following tips come from the many gifted teachers who have generously shared their knowledge with me as a student, some I discovered on my own, and some have become “common knowledge”. Each of these tips still get “wows” from the beginners and intermediate level beadmakers in the classes I teach. I hope you’ll find a few of these techniques useful.
First and foremost- keep safety in mind. Ventilate your work area. Wear safety glasses or Didymium protection. Dress appropriately.
Bead Release Tips: We can’t make beads without it! At least not ones that come off of the mandrel.
· If your bead release or bead separator seems thin, try letting it settle and pour off some of the watery liquid. When thoroughly mixed, it should always coat the mandrel so that no metal is visible at all.
· We find bead separator can thicken between beadmaking sessions, so thinning it is often necessary. Simply add a bit water and mix well to yogurt consistancy.
· We like using a small whisk, but for larger bottles, we have dedicated a milkshake blender to produce smooth, non-gritty results quickly.
Mandrel Tips: Does size really matter? Mandrels come in a variety of diameters and lengths.
· Small 1/16” diameter are perfect for small beads and earrings.
· Medium 3/32” diameter result in multipurpose sized holes.
· 1/8” are best for bead pen and candlestick findings, larger beads and vessels.
· If you have a large holed bead, but then wish to use wire or other thin stringing material, the bead will wobble. Try filling the bead hole with seed beads, preferably strung on the wire, to stabilize it and center it on the wire.
· Coat just over half of a 12” to 16” mandrel with bead separator. Then, by building your bead at the center of the mandrel, both mandrel ends stay cool and you can
· Some beadmakers prefer to make their beads on the center of the mandrel instead of on one end. Coat just over half of a 12” to 16” mandrel with bead separator. Then, by building your bead at the center of the mandrel, both mandrel ends stay cool and you can hold either end of the mandrel, allowing for more control and better access to both sides of the bead with your primary hand! Mandrels 9” in length are a common size will fit in most annealers. You may want to try using 12” mandrels for very large beads which require more time to make and may radiate heat, or for detailed beads which you may want to access form either direction.
Removing Beads from the mandrel- Many beginners struggle with this, so we suggest:
Black Matt Background- If you are having trouble seeing your work, the flame or are bothered by glare from overhead lighting, try one of the following:
Paint your heat-proof workboard with black, matt enamel spray paint. Use your rod rest to elevate hot rods and be aware that a painted surface will not be a suitable marver. For better results, engine paint is heat resistant.
Place a dark ceramic tile or large graphite pad behind the flame to achieve a dark, light-absorbing background.
Ergonomics- Your body position while making beads may be hazardous to your health. You should do a thorough evaluation, but here are a few things to think about…
The simple round bead. Much has been said and written about making a perfectly centered bead. You will master this, grasshopper, when your mind can comprehend and anticipate the effects of heat and gravity on the molten glass. Of course, practice, focusing on what is happening and more practice will be your path to Round Bead paradise. Common mistakes we see in the early stages of learning are: not keeping the mandrel perfectly level as you rotate the bead, rotating the bead too quickly in the flame, and keeping the bead in the flame longer than necessary.
Dot placement can be tricky, so to improve your “target practice”, hold both your mandrel and stringer as closely to the working end as comfortable (heat-wise). Then try to stabilize your dotting hand on an elevated block beside your torch. Another effective stabilizing tip is to position yourself so that both hands can be on the same side of your torch, and then with your wrists and/or lower palms touching, you can place dots using small, precise movements while your other hand is carefully rotating the bead just outside the flame.
Aligning raised elements- After your bead is shapely, you can use stringer to apply pretty designs on your bead. If it doesn’t go on perfectly, use a utility blade tool or tweezers to adjust your patterns so that they look straight or uniform. Heat small areas of the raised surface decoration, remove the bead from the heat and maneuver the decorative element into the correct position with the tool. Do not put your tools in the flame. Bring the warmed bead close to you and try one of the stabilizing tips above to make gradual adjustments. Be sure not to overheat your design.
Plucking detail- There are times when we just get too much glass in one spot. This occurs when making patterns by overlapping stringer, or when you desire a tapered design, such as a flower stem. Using a fine tipped tweezers can really help pin point the extra glass to remove. Hold the bead in the flame so that only the excess you are plucking off the surface will become hot. Work closely to the flame, but keep those tiny tweezers cool by dipping them in your tool-squelching water container nearby.
De-glassing metal tools- You probably know what happens when your tweezers, bead rake or any metal tool gets too hot while you are working on a bead…stuck glass! The tool squelching water container, which should be Pyrex or metal, comes to the rescue again. Since the glass is already fused to your tool, put the tip of your tool into the flame, and heat it until the glass is glowing hot…then quickly douse the tool tip into cool water and the glass should pop off, or can be easily knocked off when it cools completely.
Identifying dichroic coating- This tip will make it easy to identify which side of your clear glass is coated with dichroic. You will probably want to keep the dichroic coating away from the flame when applying it onto your bead, so it’s important to be able to tell which side is which.. Place your dichroic on a dark surface, pick up a bead rake or pointed tool and touch the flat surface of the dichroic coated glass with the tip of your rake. Can you see a reflection of the tool? It will help if the room is not too bright. If the reflection of the tool is touching the physical object, then this is the dichroic coated side of the glass. If you can see the reflection of the tool, but it is slightly removed from the point of the actual tool, then this is the clear glass substrate for the dichroic coating and the side which can “take the heat”.
A tungsten pick is a multi-purpose tool. It will not stick as easily to the glass, so it can be much closer to and even in the direct flame to achieve finer raking patterns, for plunging or to shape a loop or handle. In fact, you can heat the tungsten point to glowing hot and actually press it into warm glass to “bore” a hole creating a pendant.
A great way to use up all those short pieces of glass rod is to make your own frit. Have a clean heat resistant container of water handy. Heat a length of rod about 1’ to 1 ½” long. Use pliers if the glass piece is short. When the glass is glowing squelch it into the water and break up the fractured glass with stabbing motion. Pour the contents of the water container through a kitchen strainer and spread your frit into a coffee filter or paper towel to dry completely. Keep colored frit bagged separately or make custom mixes for different applications.
What to do when one of your beautiful round beads cracks exactly in half? Try gluing an earring post finding on the back to create a pair of matching earrings! Embrace serendipity.
Using palladium leaf is delightful if you have trouble “burning” your metal leaf. You can’t burn this stuff if you try! Looks great cased with dots or stringers of transparent colors. Also try it with raised surface decoration; palladium often gets subtle blue and purple effects if kept out of high heat.
Working with thin copper leaf won’t give your beads a copper look, but playing chemist can be fun! Two distinctly separate looks can be achieved with copper leaf. As a background, try making a transparent bead and applying a layer or two of copper leaf. It will look like cigarette ash when you go back into the flame, but go ahead and case it anyway with a pale transparent color or clear. The copper oxide may create a blue color and/or a layer of tiny foamy bubbles within the layers of glass. As a surface effect, make a bead and generously sprinkle a light colored powdered enamel over the surface of your bead. Make sure the enamel is compatible with your type of glass. Then apply a layer or two of copper leaf. When reheating the bead, ignore the ashy stage and you will find the enamel heats more quickly than the glass and provides a liquid solution which blends well with the copper oxide. The result will be patches of speckled blue unless your base color or enamel creates a new color blend. Be sure to wear a respirator when working with powders and extra cautious ventilation whenever metals are torchworked.
Reduction flame: There are a few colors in the Effetre/ Moretti glass line, such as 236, 272 and 456, which are susceptible to reducing while you are making beads. This only happens when the flame has too much gas or not enough oxygen. You may also be working too low in your Hot Head flame. Sometimes this silvery effect is desirable, but it helps to know that you need more oxygen in your flame to prevent it. Reduction frits have a high metallic content and create a dramatic surface effect when they are applied to a bead and then exposed to a reducing flame. A torch flame with a low oxygen content causes the metals in the glass to come to the surface. Once the reduction frit, or stringer made from reduction frit, achieves the metallic look you want, remove the bead from the flame and slip it into your annealer. Do not put the bead back into an oxygen rich flame or the metallic effects will disappear. If you are working with a Hot Head torch, simply work at the lowest part of the blue flame.
Making a finial for a lamp? It’s just like making a bead, only it will be on the end of your mandrel, so it will not have a hole. Be sure to measure the diameter of the threaded screw on the top of your lamp first. If you do not have a mandrel that is thick enough, enlarge the mandrel by tightly winding the finest steel wool (0000) that you can find around the end of your mandrel. Dip the mandrel, including steel wool, in thick bead separator and let it dry. Dip the mandrel one or two more times in bead separator and again allow time for each coating to air dry. You can even sand the final coating to give it a uniform shape. The coatings of bead separator will enlarge your mandrel also. Determine how deep the hole needs to be within the finial. When the component is cooled, clean all of the bead separator out of the hole. You can secure the finial by wrapping steel wool around the screw and applying a thin layer of silicone glue inside the glass finial. The finial will be secure, but not permanently attached.
Glass tipped head pins are fun and easy to make in the flame. Use any type of wire, head pins or eye pins. Hold the metal wire with pliers and attach a small amount of molten glass. Do not heat the wire any more than necessary. Hold the pin vertically so that the glass forms a teardrop shape. These make great coordinating dangles on earrings and in your custom jewelry.
It’s important to keep your torch clean. The cleanliness of propane and propylene can vary from region to region, and dirty fuel, among other things, can affect your torch’s performance. If you notice a drop in the efficiency of your torch, contact the manufacturer or your dealer to find out what steps to take to keep your torch functioning optimally for years to come.
Making a Leaf Bead with a Pattern Impressing Pliers: Use can use any size mandrel and any amount of glass. The more glass you use, the larger the leaf it will create. Wind the glass evenly onto your mandrel. Be sure the round or donut bead is smooth where the holes will be. Leaves work better when the initial bead is not too wide, compared to the total volume of glass used. Keeping the mandrel horizontal, allow the bead to droop very slightly...like an egg, but if you let the glass really drip, the leaf will be very elongated, and other distortions may occur. The most important thing to watch for at this point is that the base bead still has enough glass around the mandrel to visually and structurally support the leaf. If too much glass flows "off" the mandrel, or you didn't have enough glass to start with, the edges or the wall of the base bead may thin and weaken, and the droop may get too far from the base bead. Immediately after the glass has drooped slightly and is glowing hot, squeeze the drooped part firmly and quickly with the Leaf Pattern pliers, being sure to align the vein of the leaf pattern right in the center of your bead. You'll need to work quickly so the bead doesn't cool too much. The straight edge of the top of the pliers should be PARALLEL to your mandrel (unless you are creating a leaf with the hole orientation facing you). I begin to engage of the top of the pliers "just" below the mandrel. When squeezing, I use a light pressure a little higher on the droop (level with the bottom edge of the mandrel) and gently drag the glass a tiny bit before fully pinching to make a smooth transition between the base bead and the leaf. Remember not to disrupt the integrity of the base part of the leaf with too much pressure, especially near the bead release. Do not pre-heat the pliers. Brass, like any metal, will stick to hot glass if it is too warm. As soon as you have squeezed hard and the glass is as smashed as much as it's going to, release the pliers. Practice all your moves ahead of time until you get the rhythm. After the leaf pattern has been impressed, immediately introduce the leaf back into the flame. Slowly, reheat the leaf, including the base part. If you overheat the leaf, you'll loose your vein pattern! If you hold the leaf perpendicular to the flame, it will be easier to get the entire leaf evenly heated. If you want to alter the shape of your leaf, use tweezers to gradually stretch and/or twist the very tip of the leaf when the whole bead is softly glowing. Do not isolate the flame on just the tip of the bead if you want the whole leaf to respond to your tweezer manipulation. Keep the tweezers out of the flame. Thoroughly reheat the entire bead before blanketing or putting your leaf into an annealer.