Warning: I was getting terrible bubbles in my clear pulls until I tried a different way to heat the gather

For months, my clear pulls kept coming out with tiny air pockets right at the base where I attached the punty. I thought it was a dirty pipe or bad glass, but cleaning didn't help. I was working on a series of simple tumblers and ruining about one in three. A guy at the studio in Portland said to try heating the gather for a full minute longer than I thought I needed, but to keep the pipe spinning slower. I gave it a shot yesterday, and the difference was huge. The extra heat and slower spin let the glass settle more evenly before I started the pull. I made five pieces in a row without a single bubble. Has anyone else found that a slower spin during the initial heat makes that much of a difference for clear work?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamie77012d ago

Interesting. That slower spin gives the heat more time to even out the whole mass. It makes perfect sense when you picture the physics of it. Glad you found a fix.

hannahsingh12d ago

Been there with uneven heating, it's so annoying. Slowing it down was a smart move. Makes a huge difference when it actually works right.

clairen8511d ago

But is it really worth the extra time just for some heat?