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Thick glass gets a bad rap for newbies

Everyone told me to use thin glass at first, but thick let me watch the heat change without rushing. It saved me from a lot of cracked pieces. Do you start with thick or thin?
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4 Comments
the_faith
the_faith4mo ago
Wait, that's not totally it though. The thin glass cracks because newbies hold it in one spot too long, not just from uneven heat overall. So @tylerj22, you gotta keep that rod moving constantly. Thick glass can make you lazy about that habit.
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the_hannah
the_hannah4mo ago
Yeah I read this blog post from a garage studio that said the same thing. They argued thin glass cracks because newbies heat it unevenly without even realizing. Thick glass gives you that buffer, like watching the glow move slower through the glass. Lets you catch a cold spot before it becomes a crack. That logic made me switch when teaching friends.
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tylerj22
tylerj224mo ago
Guess that explains why I kept cracking thin stuff early on, @the_hannah.
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the_jessica
Wait, but doesn't thick glass just let you hide bad habits longer? I started on thin and honestly it forced me to learn proper heat control day one. I'd mess up and a crack would show up right away, so I knew exactly what I did wrong. With thick glass you might not see the mistake until you're pulling a shape and the piece just snaps. That's way more frustrating than cracking a thin rod you spent five minutes on. Isn't the whole point of learning to make mistakes where you can see them and fix them fast?
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