.•:*:•. The Devardi Glass Tutorial Series .•:*:•.

by

Fine Folly Glassworks

www.FineFolly.com

HOW TO GET STARTED

What You Need To Begin, Tutorials, Glass Discussion, Tips,

Workarea Set-up, Cooling & Annealing Info

If you have been bitten by the 'Lampwork Bug' please allow me to say “Welcome to the

family!” I trust you will find that this unique art form is a never-ending challenge and a

thrill. I can tell you from experience that whatever you bring to this art form YOU will be

what challenges you the most. The skills you develop, the types of work that interest

you… just wait and see. The directions you can go in are endless and the level of

involvement is up to you. This can be a fun hobby or it may become a passion that

rewards your effort with gorgeous work and high-dollar sales.

First off, I want to encourage you to take the time to read all the way through this

Overview, and then practice and learn the basic skills of Lampworking taught in the free

Tutorials on the Devardi website. Learning to make round beads with and without a

Bead Roller is critical, as is learning to pull Stringer and work with it. You can find these

Tutorials on the 'TUTORIALS' Drop-down Bar on the Devardi website.

I suggest you look for these Tutorials and print them out. This Overview is meant to be

used along with the Tutorials to get you started and well on your way in Lampworking. In

the next section I list the Tutorials offered on the Devardi website at the time this

Overview was created. I think you will see how using this Overview with these Tutorials

will get you going. Learning basic lampworking skills is a must and will serve you as

stepping-stones to build on. If you don’t learn them now you will limit your ability until you

do master them.

I have known of Lampworkers who skipped the first steps and got right into making showy

Focal Beads. Focal Beads are exciting to make and can be worked up in an irregular

shape, and sometimes can be sold. But when the Lampwork Artist needed to make a

matching set of beads they were unable to make them. And down the line some of

those Focal Beads cracked and came back to them with unhappy customers behind

them. So they had to go back and learn the foundational skills that they should have

learned at the start.

Don’t let that be you - learn your foundational skills and then the sky is the limit.

This is a picture of my workarea and my glass storage. I have set it up to have almost

everything within arms reach as I work. As you plan your workarea I hope the things I

write about give you food for thought. I remember wanting to see how other people set

up their workarea when I was just starting, so I will ramble about my set-up for a bit.

I use a Creation Station to support my hands and arms. My Hothead Torch is mounted to

the old Desk that I covered with Paver Tiles for fireproofing. The desktop has framed-in

sides and a roof of sorts, set on top of it and covered with thin metal. This is for

fireproofing and to support the Paver Tiles around the sides and to hang the vent system.

You can see the exhaust ducting above my torch. It goes out to the right and through

the wall. The exhaust fan is in the box mounted on the wall. I have a small window

behind my chair on the back wall that opens to allow fresh air to be drawn in and past

me as I work. If I were to do it all over again I would raise the roof higher, but I have had

no problems with the heat and the height it is at. If I switched to a surface mix torch I

would want it higher and deeper to the back wall though due to the increased heat

from that kind of torch.

My worksurface and surround are covered with large Paver Tiles. In this picture I happen

to have gray poster board up because I shoot Tutorials frequently, otherwise you would

only see the tan Paver Tiles.

I have Japanese Annealing Bubbles in their tin box on top of my Annealing Kiln, and I

keep my Graphite Bead Rollers under my Kiln for their protection when they aren't in use.

In case you are curious as to why I have both a Kiln and the Annealing Bubbles, I use the

Annealing Bubbles for quick cooling test beads when I want to see how colors work

together. After about 10 minutes you can remove the bead from the Annealing Bubbles

and take a look.

My Rod Warmer is in the back right corner and it has a piece of fireproof Fiber Board (or

Kiln Shelf Board) to shield it's cord from heat since I have it close to the wall. I use a

medium sized nut can from Walmart, turned upside down, as a rod rest in front of the

Rod Warmer. It is just the right height coincidently, and helps support several rods at

once in the Rod Warmer. You can also see the pot of water underneath my worksurface

on a little stand (under the desk on the right side). It is a place to put hot, bad work that

needs to be put somewhere. When you are starting out this is very useful. And when

you are practicing wrapping round beads and make a bad start, just go ahead and

dunk it. Correcting a bad first wrap is very hard to do on a small bead.

I use 2 inch wide PVC Pipe cut on the diagnal for storing individual colors of rods and

stringers. Cutting on the diagonal makes it easier to get the rods out. I store stringers in

the upright cardboard box on the shelf unit (and I need to cut more PVC tubes to store

more stringer). My Transparents and Semi-Opaques are stored in tubes on the shelf

below them. Above my torch area I keep my Opaque colors. On the top shelf I have

Mason jars to hold tall rods and other COE. COE stands for Coefficient Of Expansion,

and it relates to the expansion of the glass and what is compatible. Do not mix different

COE's, unless it is to use some stringer or murrini or frit. It should be less than 15% of the

bead content to get away with it, and sometimes it still will crack due to incompatibillity.

The lower the COE number the stiffer that glass generally is.

Frit, Pixie Dust and Murrini are kept in the little 3-drawer plastic unit and in small trays

underneath, and brass tools are lined up within arms reach. As you can see, I use a

metal shelf unit because it can hold the weight of glass and brass better.

I encourage you to think about your set-up and plan it. Even if you can't build it at the

moment it will make a difference to develop your ideas about it. Plan to have a place

for everything and consider the storage needs of your tools and glass. One can never

have too many tools or too much glass it seems!

I am going to suggest a list of commonly used equipment, tools and some of my favorite

types of Devardi glass to get you up and going, but please feel free to substitute with

tools and items that interest you. You can see my worksurface above and my upright

unit for tools and glass storage below. The rods and stringers are being stored in 2 inch

wide PVC pipe that has been cut on the diagonal.

A Work Table That Has Been Fireproofed, A Hothead or Generic Torch & A Mounting

Bracket With Screws, An Approved Gas Hose And A 20 Lb (5 Gallon) Tank Of Propane

(Or No Gas Hose/5 Gallon Tank And Instead Use Small Bottles Of Mapp Gas)

A Good Ventilation System With A Source Of Fresh Air Behind You

A Rod Warmer (Ceramic Heater Stove) & A Rack To Set Hot Rods & Stringer On

Bead Cooling/Annealing Equipment (In Order Of Effectiveness From Least To Best):

Fiber Blanket

Vermiculite In A Crock Pot

Japanese Annealing Bubbles

Annealing Kiln

Mandrels & Bead Release

Basic Tools: A Graphite Marver, Long/Needle-Nose Pliers, A Flat-Edged Stainless Steel

or Brass Tool (For Shaping & Manipulating Glass), A Long Pair Of Tweezers (4 to 7 Inches

Long), A Steel Dental Pic Or Rake/Poker And A Sharpened Graphite Rod In A Holder

Of Some Kind (Because Graphite Immediately Transmits Heat)

A Small Bowl With Distilled Water Placed Near Your Torch (To Cool Hot Tools With)

A Stainless Steel Pot Of Water (For Hot Reject Work)

Other Optional Tools: Graphite Bead Roller(s) and Brass Bead Press(s)

And Last But Not Least, A Variety Of Devardi Glass Rods & Stringer

I have created a list of some of my favorites and they are on the next page.

This list is sorted by glass type. Opaque glass produces a solid color. Semi Opaque glass

colors can have a hazy or less opaque appearance, but on the Hothead Torch they can

also turn opaque, especially after annealing. Transparent colors produce the same

clear color as the rod. This is by no means a thorough list, they are just colors that I know

and like to work with to get you thinking of colors you would like in your collection.

The rods in these pictures present a visual sample by glass type. The actual glass lists are

colors that I have tested and worked with on the Hothead Torch and like. Devardi offers

so many colors that one could collect and test them as a profession! I encourage you to

always test your colors alone and together before making up a complete set of beads.

D108 Opaque Lemon Yellow

D120 Opaque Army Green D146 Opaque Violet Blue

D123 Opaque Frog Green D147 Opaque Deep Lapis

D125 Opaque Dark Marine Green D149 Opaque Teal

D128 Opaque Light Lilac D159 Opaque Burgundy

D130 Opaque Lilac D162 Opaque Light Gray

D141 Opaque Light Blue D165 Opaque High Density Black

Opaque Indian Marbled Butterscotch

NCN Opaque Dark and Medium Brown (and other Browns)

Semi Opaque White

NCN Misty, Midnight Misty and Lt. Green Misty

D73 Semi Opaque Light Pink Plum

D74 Semi Opaque Plum

D83 Semi Opaque Moonstone White

D87 Semi Opaque Light Peach

D38 Semi Opaque Dark Baby Blue

D109 Semi Opaque Light Baby Blue

D113 Semi Opaque Tropical Green

D113a Semi-Opaque Dark Tropical Green

D123 Semi Opaque Light Jade Green

D144 Semi Opaque Violet Blue

Semi Opaque Dark Marine Green

D7 Transparent Dark Rose

D11 Transparent Cranberry

D13 Transparent Medium Ameythyst

D23 Transparaent Marine Blue

D33 Transparent Light Green

D51 Transparent Ice Blue

D66b Transparent Dark Violet

I'm going to ramble for a bit and cover as many topics as I can think of. Please consider

coming back and reading this again after you have started lampworking. See what you

missed and what is of use to you then, and it will likely be different. At the end of this

Overview is a section titled 'A Quick Overview'. It covers information on mandrels and

Bead Release, making a bead and cooling or annealing it, and then how to remove it

from the mandrel. It is meant to be a quick reference but should be used with the

Tutorials and videos on the Devardi website.

So here we go with some rambling by topic.

Glass Has No Memory And Is In No Hurry… Someone once said that glass has no

memory - you can work and re-work it to your hearts delight in most cases (unless it is a

particular glass that is prone to devit). Sometimes as we work WE start getting stressed,

and then we need to remind ourselves that glass isn't on a timetable and it isn't going

anywhere, in fact it's in no hurry at all unless you overheat it and make it 'run' if you

pardon the pun. This can be a big help to remember.

When you feel yourself getting stressed and hurried just stop, continue to patiently roll the

bead higher up in the flame to keep it warm and take a few breaths… then start in

again. You can continually settle yourself and advance your work and skills by doing

this. Rolling your work 'higher up in the flame' means holding it 6 to 8 inches away from

the torch-head in the flame. This distance will keep it hot but not melt in details unless

your torch is set to high.

I will discuss this later under the Hothead Torch section, but your torch flame should be

set as low as it can be without going out for your normal working flame when using

Devardi Glass. Then you would do most of your work 3 to 4 inches from the torch-head.

You should be able to hold your palms and work with your finger tips 2 to 3 inches away

from the sides of the flame when it is set at this level. You can turn your flame up to heat

some glass faster, or to melt in things if the glass can handle it, but then you should turn it

back down to this basic working flame.

In hot weather your torch will stay on easier at a low flame than in winter. This is because

gas expands. In winter some people actually put a heating pad on their propane tank

outside if it gets very cold and they have trouble with the flame repeatedly going out.

Others put a Regulator on the tank to stabilize the gas flow. Your geographical location

and your set-up will affect your torch performance in winter.

On Your Work Surface… Torches get hot and glass turns molten, so you need a fire proof

work surface for safety. You can use a variety of materials, but my preference is the

large, inexpensive Paver Tiles you get from a Home Improvement Store. You can use

them as a work surface and as a wall surround to your workarea.

For examples of why you need such protection consider these two possibilities.

Sometimes when you are introducing a cold rod into the flame it will shock and send a

piece of hot glass (also called a shard) flying. Hopefully you are holding your rod with

the end pointed directly away from you like you should, so that the hot shard goes

forward. That is why you need a fireproof surround on around your work surface. You

don't want that shard landing where is could burn something or start a fire. Another

concern is that if you are new to glass work you may let your rod get soupy hot and it

may drip, and so a fireproof surface protects your work table and your lap.

About Ventilation… If you are using a Torch indoors you must have adequate ventilation

(notice I used the word MUST). This means that your exhaust or ventilation fan creates

enough draw to clear the room of fumes and draw fresh air in at the same rate. You

should have a source of fresh air behind you that is at least the same size as your exhaust

duct, so that clean fresh air flows past you into the ventilation system at the same rate.

There are many articles and information on this on the Lampwork, etc. Website if you

care to research it there.

If you do not have adequate ventilation you can poison yourself. Toxic fumes are

nothing to play around with so be sure you have adequate ventilation before you start

working on your torch, or set up outside until you do have a good ventilation system.

The Hothead Torch… The Hothead Torch or it's generic equivalent is truly a wonderful

invention. It allows us to work glass for a very reasonable price - simply the cost of

propane (or the gas we use). There are many who feel one must have a mixed torch in

lampwork, but that is not so. Almost anything can be done on the Hothead Torch, and

it's bushy flame is a big help to new lampworkers and glass sculptors.

When needed, you can turn it up higher to melt glass quickly, but to do general work

and detail work on the Hothead Torch you need to set the flame at the lowest setting it

can have without going out. That is your basic working flame. You should be able to

hold your palms or work with your fingers 2-3'' from the sides of flame if it is set low

enough. The usual working area (or Sweet Spot, as some people call it) is about 4'' from

the end of the Torch Head. People usually have the tendency to move in to close to the

Torch head. Watch for this and try not to do it. Closer than 3'' from the Torch Head is a

propane-rich section of the flame and can dirty your glass and make it change color.

For detail work with stringers, preheat your bead surface and then hold your bead to the

side of the flame, right where your stringer just starts to relax or 'gives', or does what you

want for your detail work, and then move back into the flame when you need to flamecut

your stringer or rod.

When you are switching to some new task on a bead (like adding another color or

picking up or putting something down) continue to roll it higher in the flame (6 to 8

inches above the Torch head) as you get what you need with your other hand. You can

keep your work warm this way and take as long as you like. Yes, you read that right,

there is no hurry and no need for the anxious feeling that you must get back to the bead

immediately. Keep turning it in the higher flame and take your time getting what you

need for your next step, or putting things away when you finish a step.

When you are ready to turn your torch off it will benefit you to bleed out all of the gas

first. I turn the gas off at my propane tank, and then sit in front of the torch and steadily

turn it higher until it goes out. Then I hold a lit Bic Lighter under the torch-end to burn the

rest of the gas that continues to come out. Finally it will flare up once before it is done.

Then I know I have the vast majority of the gas out of the line. That way leftover gas in

the line doesn't separate and cause gunk to form. If you don't bleed out your line this

gunk will collect in your hose and eventually will spit out on your work at some point.

To clear out your hose I am told that you can unhook the hose and hang it over a trash

can with a liner in it, and let it drain over night. Because I burn out my gas every time I

have never had to drain a hose (so far).

How Hot It Is… New lampworkers tend to be anxious about the flame. If you are new to

the world of lampworking I would encourage you to get aquainted with your flame and

work at getting free from what I call 'Flame Anxiety'.

If you know you are anxious about your flame, turn the Torch on low and sit with it. Just

sitting with your torch with the flame going (on low) may cause stress at first. See if this is

true for you. For some reason many new lampworkers feel an anxious need to be busy if

the flame is going… it causes stress and haste and makes for a slower learning curve.

You need to see that the flame is like water running in your sink. It can be wasteful, but it

is simply a tool in use. It is neutral. Sit there and do this or that while your flame is going,

and get used to being around it. Respect it's range of danger, beware of your hair and

hands and clothing. Beware of reaching forward to get something and leaning your

face to far toward the flame. Develop a sense of where the flame is at all times and

learn to live with it as you work. If you putter around while your flame is on you will start

learning this safe range and way of moving and reaching. It's easier to learn this way

than learning as you actually are working, and making mistakes with work in progress.

Next hold your palms open and alongside the flame and see how close they can

comfortably be. Then do the same with the tips of your fingers. They shouldn't get hot

and you should be able to hold them 2 to 3 inches from the sides of the flame. Let

yourself play with glass rods or Stringer just to see where they start to bend or give in and

near your flame. The Torch is your greatest tool and toy in this exciting new adventure.

Don't make it all about production and having to 'make something'… give yourself the

gift of play and learning things out of curiosity and interest. Have fun!

Your Habits As You Work… I want to encourage you to have a particular place that you

set each tool on your work surace. Have a rack for your glass rods and Stringers and so

on. Make it a point to return each thing to where it goes on your work surface every

time. Once you develop the habit of doing this you will always be able to put your hand

to what you need, and you will not be burning or sticking yourself accidentally. You

won't have to try to remember where a thing is because your mind subconsciously

knows, and your hand will head toward that spot. It will make all the difference in your

ease of working as time goes on.

After using a rod or stringer in the flame, always set it down on a rack that is the farthest

forward of your items on your worksurface, with the hot end facing away from you. That

way you always know which end is hot and you can't bump into a hot end while

reaching for something near it.

Clean Dirty Glass… Get in the habit of cleaning your glass before use. You can use

Alcohol and a cloth or some other cleaner. People who are very serious about it use a

Dip or hot Pickling Solution, but for our level of work just cleaning the glass is a good start.

When I get new rods I wash them in a two-step process, first in hot water with liquid Dish

Soap, and then I rinse them and spray them with Window Cleaner, and then rinse again.

Then I dry them on a paper towel. They come out nice and clean that way. To clean

my Stringers I dip what I need in a bottle of Alcohol and wipe with old T-shirt material

before I start. Whatever method appeals to you, do clean your glass. Wiping off the

grime and oil from your glass's past life is important. That grime will transfer to your work.

Keep Your Rod Ends Neat… As you finish using a rod of glass or a stringer, take a second

and roll the end on a marver while it's still soft and before putting it down to cool. It will

be ready to work with the next time and the end will be neat when you put it away.

Devardi offers a huge array of colors at fabulous prices. You get intense, color saturated

glass, but realize that it is hand-pulled. The hand-pulling means that rods will come in

many thicknesses, some too thick to use directly on your mandrel. When you want to work

with a very thick rod you will first need to pull thick stringer to use, so thoroughly preheat

the end of it in your Rod Warmer. Then use pliers to pinch the end into a cone shape

and then pull it into thick stringers to use like a thin rod. Your first free Tutorial exercise

after learning to dip mandrels is how to pull stringer. It’s not that hard once you get the

knack of it, and it will introduce you to the flame and how quickly glass melts or cools.

Some Devardi glass colors must be worked VERY cool in the flame or they get stiff and

start to devitrify. Because of this I have listed the colors of glass that you should use in

your exercises or Tutorials. Learning on ‘friendly’ glass is very important. Learning to work

the challenging colors can come later. Devardi glass offers a terrific price and savings,

but it has it’s own requirements for workability, as does every type of glass. Devardi glass

is very heat sensitive, so as a beginner, if you don’t have a Rod Warmer I urge you to

work with Stringers until you get a Rod Warmer.

The last thing I will mention is that some colors will hold their coiled-on shape on the

mandrel no matter how long you heat them in the flame. Therefore, if you just continue

to heat them without shaping manually you will bring the glass to a state of devit, and

then to blistering in the flame. This aspect of the more sensitive Devardi glass colors

makes using a Brass or Stainless Steel shaping tool and a Graphite Bead Roller an

important part of working with these more delicate glass types. Other brands of glass

also have this same aspect when being worked on the Hothead Torch or it's generic

equivalent, like Effetre Anice White, and CIM Orange Dreamsicle.

Devardi’s stiffness in the flame also makes for very promising sculptural use, but that’s a

Tutorial for another day… these Goldfish were made with a Semi Opaque White base.

Using a Rod Warmer to preheat Devardi glass rods makes all the difference in the world

in preparing them for the flame, so if you don’t have one I STRONGLY encourage you to

get a Rod Warmer. They are not that expensive and they are available from Devardi or

can be purchased online from Beauty Supply sites (they are called Ceramic Heater

Stoves).

A Rod Warmer reaches 800-900 degrees, so you will rarely ever experience shock or

shattering if you use one. Some people use a small Teflon coated Grill or Hotplate

successfully by spending the extra time to make sure the rod is heated slowly in the flame

at the start, but these don’t come near the temperature of a Rod Warmer.

You can take the time to wave and roll your cold rod in the high, back-end of the flame

to warm it, and then ever-so-slowly bring it forward, rolling and heating it until you can

bring it into the actual working area of the flame, but most people don’t have the time

or the patience to do this successfully on each rod. And it’s really not cost effective to

spend your time this way either. Even after doing this some people still experience shock

or shattering, despite their best efforts to adequately pre-warm rods.

As you can see in the picture of my workarea, I use a medium-sized nut can (from

Walmart) turned upside down to rest the ends of the rods on. It is just the right height

and width. The Rod Warmer gets very hot, so I wrap a piece of Fiber Blanket around the

cord at the back to act as a heat shield between the Rod Warmer and the cord

because I have the Rod Warmer in the back corner of my worktable and this traps heat

there because the Ceramic Tile is behind it.

Devardi offers an inexpensive steel plate for the inside bottom of the Rod Warmer. It will

protect the bottom from glass rods that get put back in the Rod Warmer to hot. They

can stick to the ceramic bottom and sides if you touch them together in a molten state,

so be sure to roll your rod and cool it before returning it to the Rod Warmer. The top of

the Rod Warmer makes a great surface to preheat Murrini on before applying them. I

have the Murrini sitting on a small piece of steel plate, also available from Devardi.

To work Devardi glass with the greatest ease and productivity… put your rods in the Rod

Warmer about 2” deep. You only want to preheat the rod end, so that you can hold it

normally and work it in the flame. When you first turn on your Rod Warmer plan to

preheat your rod(s) for 5 to 10 minutes before you use them. Then, after each use, roll

the tip of the rod on your marver to shape and cool it before you return it to the Rod

Warmer. A glowing rod end will stick to the Rod Warmer and to other rods. Keep

returning the rod to the Rod Warmer so that it is ready for the next use. Cool rods can be

put into a hot Rod Warmer without shock and used when they are fully warmed (about 5

minutes on average).

Please print the Tutorials on the Devardi website on pulling stringer, and making a round

bead using stringer or a rod with and without a Graphite Bead Roller. You should

practice with these Tutorials until you can make round beads consistently, and then

enjoy learning to shape or decorate in different ways.

You can also combine Devardi Glass with effetre and other COE 104 glasses, just test

your combinations before making a finished project or set to be sure they play nice

together. This is especially important if you will be encasing your work.

You can feel free to copy any of the items shown in these Tutorials or Overviews. They

are here as examples and can be made and used for yourself or to sell.

If you do not have a bead-annealing kiln to put your work in after you finish it, then

you probably use either Fiber Blanket or a crockpot full of Vermiculite. You might

also use what are called Japanese Annealing Bubbles.

I have used each one of them, and for the size beads I tend to make I have found

that the Annealing Bubbles were more effective at slowly cooling my beads. I used

to wrap my crockpot in a fleece blanket while set on high to let my larger beads

cool slowly, and then turn it off after a few hours. That is definitely not

recommended and can cause your crockpot to overheat - as you can see by the

faded paint on the crockpot in the picture above!

Each of these methods of cooling are risky and inadequate for all but smaller

beads, when it comes right down to it. If you continue in lampworking you need an

Annealing Kiln.

Devardi offers a Rod-Warmer sized Mini-Annealer. It would be the least expensive

option to anneal and cool beads. Another option you might like to know about is

The Glass Hive. They allow you to put a kiln on layaway and take as long as you like

to pay it off, and that is what I did. You can see their ‘Short Guy’ kiln in the picture

above. It’s a great little kiln. The Glass Hive is online at www.theglasshive.com if this

interests you. They frequently have sales where they reduce the price or pay for the

shipping, and they pre-program the kiln for you.

To locate Annealing Bubbles, do a search for ‘Annealing Bubbles’ online and find

the best price for them in the large Tin. They need to be in metal to work best and

the larger Tin lets you put many beads in it during a work session at the torch. The

supplier I got them from is www.artcoinc.com