Tips and Techniques: How to Deal with Shocky Glass Rods
I have been talking to a lot of beadmakers lately who are frustrated with trying to melt glass rods that are shocky and pop in the flame. I decided to make this blog about how I resolve or at least reduce this problem.
The quickest and easiest way to reduce the shockyness of certain glass rod colors is to set up a warming station for the glass rods that is within reach of where you sit to make beads. I personally have a hotplate set-up at my workstation that has a slab of metal on top of the hotplate elements that is set on medium –high which keeps the tip of the rods that I place on it at about 500F to 600F. The flat piece of metal can be steel, brass, or aluminum, about a 1/8th up to ¼ inch thick. This little bit of pre-heating reduces the shockyness a great deal and it shortens the time it takes the glass rod to reach melting temperature which really speeds up the beadmaking process.
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| Simple hot plate set-up for pre-heating shocky glass rods. | Hot plate set-up with large glass rods being heated. |
You can also stick glass rods in your bead annealing kiln to warm them up before you put them in the flame.
A Bluebird bead annealing kiln with glass rods being warmed.
If I have glass that is very shocky and difficult to use, I pre-anneal the glass rods in my kiln to take some of the stress out of the glass rods. Taking the glass rods up to a temperature of 960 F for about a half hour, will greatly reduce the shockyness.
The Italians have an interesting solution for pre-heating glass rods called a portaconna. A portaconna is an adjustable metal rack that is place in back of the torch flame, so that the glass rods can be placed in the heat wash that comes off the torch when it is on. It is a very effective way to pre-heat glass rods and works well even on thick 15mm glass rods.
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| An Italian style rods warmer that is called a Portacanna. | A Portacanna showing how the rods are placed on it for warming. |
I am sure there are several more solutions to pre-heating shocky glass rods, but the methods I have presented here have served me well.
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| Photo showing a Murano lampworker using a portacanna to heat the tips of his glass rods. | Photo of Vittorio Constantini working in his shop in Venice, Italy with a portacanna in foreground. |
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Dear Pat,
Thank you so much for your wonderful blog that is full of tips and inspiration!
I have a question about the Oct. 2, 2010 blog about pre-heating shocky glass rods.
When you suggest annealing very shocky glass up to 960 degrees, just how do you go about it with your kiln? I have Effetre Pastel 208 (anice or light white)- that acts like a machine gun when brought into the heat even at the end of the flame. Sometimes even after I have gotten it to melting temperature and am using it at a higher cooler place in the flame, it begins to break off and cause problems again. Should I put the whole batch of my pastel 208 into the kiln at once? If so, how should I ramp up my kiln up to 960 degrees?
Thank you for all you do for the lampworking community!
I appreciate your time and attention to this question.
All the best,
Nina Dusedau
Nina’s Notions
Hi Nina,
Yes, you put your entire bunch of Anise into the kiln (at that temperature it will not stick to anything) and ramp the kiln up to 960F over a two or three hour period and hold it there for 30 min. and ramp it down to 850F for 30 min. and then let it cool down to room temperature. If you have a ramping down cycle for your beads, that will work for the ramping down from 850F.
The super shocky machine gun type popping that you described will be greatly reduced from this kind of anneal treatment. It will probably to wise to pre-heat the rod tips in one of the manners I suggested in the blog even after you have done the annealing process, but it will make the glass much easier to handle.
Pat Frantz
Thanks for your clear response. Now all I have to do is try it out. When I do I’ll give you a follow-up to this trial.
All the Best,
Nina
Dear Pat,
I annealed the Effetre 208 Anice, and can’t believe the difference! The Anice glass melted like butter on a previously worked rod of glass where the end had already been removed. I decided to try an unused rod of glass and as you predicted the end piece popped off, even at the top of the flame. But then, it was a beautiful smooth experience! The end popping off was not a big deal at all, as so many colors of glass rods do this (and anyway, I always clean off the ends before using a fresh rod). I tried out different rods from the batch and got the same results. I am awed by the difference. By the way, I used my very slow ramp up pre-programed to 960 degrees. Then I went out for a while to do errands, so the glass soaked for about 2+ hours. I got busy at home after I began to do the very slow ramp down. By the time I went in to check to see if the kiln had reached 850 degrees, the kilm was down to 750 degrees so I just let it go. Luckily the glass took the hint and stopped behaving like a machine gun! This experience has been an education and it has opened up all kinds of avenues for me. Most importantly, I will no longer be intimidated by shocky glass! Thank you Pat!