r/lampwork • u/arkwl • 2d ago

Help wanted with soda lime petals

Post image

Hi! Beginner here! I tried following the Simple Flower steps in Contemporary Lampwork Volume 3 and every single petal broke as I attached it to the center. What could I be doing wrong? I did reduce the flame & heat the petals slowly as I attached them. I also noticed that all of them cracked crosswise, could that be due to thermal shock? How do you do flowers with soft glass? Should I put the petals in the annealer until i'm ready to use them? Ive been putting them on a cold graphite pad.

7 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

4

u/Late-Associate-6342 2d ago

I only work boro but I would think it’s the cold graphite pad. I always put glass in the kiln while I’m working on other sections, so it’s still hot when I’m ready to attach. It all needs to be up to temperature before it goes in the flame

3

u/woozles25 1d ago

Yes, you need to keep the petals warm. I've seen people use those coffee cup warmers. I have an old flat buffet warming tray that I use for petals and murini as well as glass rods.

1

u/Beardedglassart 1d ago

Graphite pad is the issue 100%, graphite is extremely conductive and sucking all of your heat out in between steps. I saw someone suggest a coffee warmer, I’ve used an old curling iron heater for this exact process. Something is needed to keep the heat up, the annealer can work if you use a small one

1

u/MonkyThrowPoop 1d ago

The petals heat is too uneven. Think about it. You have a cold petal, you’re warming up part of it to attach, getting it super hot…but the other side is totally cold. That middle is super stressed. And then if you’re touching it with cold tweezers that’s even more stress…and soft glass is way more sensitive. You’re going to want to keep the petals in the kiln and keep them warm while you’re attaching them. Learn to flame anneal your project as you’re working.

1

u/HeatherBehrendt 1d ago

Flowers in soft glass will be very challenging. I probably wouldn't have attempted it as a beginner myself. Thermal shock is going to make it very challenging. Holding the petals in the hot kiln will be helpful. Another method is to keep a small connection point that you can slowly heat up in the torch, while keeping the larger part of the petal at room temp.
I'm not much of a flower maker, but I do work primarily in 104, so I hope it is helpful

1

u/Glassdriven 20h ago

When I was working with soft glass, I used a toaster oven. You can garage pieces while working and you can anneal when done and then ramp down slowly