2015 - October 17
Cabochons - Karen & Larry Barefield
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Karen and Larry Barefield brought their custom cabochon mandrels, and Karen demonstrated making both round and square cabochons at the torch. Larry showed us some of the beautiful jewelry he'd made with Karen's lovely cabochons.
Photos and brief descriptions are below, then more specific notes follow.
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Karen dips just the face of the mandrel in bead release. She uses Dip N Go Sludge.
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She spins off excess bead release in a small jar, careful not to touch the glass.
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This is the prepared mandrel face.
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Karen dries the bead release in the flame, or warms a pre-dried mandrel.
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She begins adding glass from the center of the mandrel, spiraling out to the edge.
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She flattens the glass by pushing down on a marver, and is careful to create a smooth layer over the entire surface.
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Karen begins creating a flower design on the face of the cab.
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After swiping on petals in striped pink cane, she adds green calyx cane. She removes excess glass with tweezers.
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Here's Karen's lovely completed flower cabochon just before it goes into the kiln.
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Karen begins a square cabochon mandrel in the same way as the round, spiraling on glass from the center.
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She adds dots of glass in the corners to ensure complete coverage.
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She marvers the cab flat from time to time as she works.
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Karen makes sure the edges are straight and aligned with the mandrel.
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Here's the completed base cab.
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And here's a the cab once Karen
has added a lovely blue flower!
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Making Cabochons on Custom Mandrels -- by Martha Fuerst
Larry Barefield
makes custom
cabochon mandrels in
a variety of shapes
and sizes.
They can be ordered
from Karen at
l.barefield@comcast.net.
Karen uses “Dip N Go
Sludge” bead release
because it seems to
hold better than
others she has tried
on the cabochon
mandrels.
First, dip the
entire head of the
cabochon mandrel
into the bead
release. Then gently
spin the mandrel
inside a can or jar
to remove the excess
bead release from
the mandrel.
Then “season” the
mandrel in a flame
until the bead
release is dry and
the mandrel is hot
so that glass will
adhere to it.
Melt the tip of a
rod of glass and
[gently] apply it to
the cabochon
mandrel. Begin in
the *middle* of the
cabochon for best
results. Gently
“roll” the glass
onto the mandrel.
Avoid pulling the
rod of glass as this
can break the bead
release! (If this
happens, you must
start again with a
freshly dipped
mandrel.) Heat the
cabochon so the
glass is red hot,
then press – gently
– straight down to
flatten the surface.
Work your way to the
edge of the surface
of the mandrel but
do not put glass on
the side of the
mandrel. When the
surface is covered
with glass, heat and
gently roll the edge
to flatten the
cabochon edge.
Decoration can then
be applied, however,
be sure to avoid
“pulling” the rod of
glass.
The nub in the
middle of the
cabochon is 1/8th
inch. Apply your
glass base and
decoration so the
the nub is not
evident on the top
surface of the
cabochon.
www.buttons.com
is a web site where
button backs can be
purchased. Use E6000
glue to put the
backs onto the back
of the cabochon.
This glue works
better on glass and
metal than superglue
which tends to be
brittle.
If the cabochon is
square-shaped, you
should still start
in the middle and go
in a circular
pattern, but also
you must cover the
corners of the
mandrel. To
accomplish this:
A. Heat the glass
in the circular
patter to red hot,
press straight down
to flatten, then go
back and dot a small
bit of glass onto
each of the 4
corners. Heat glass
to red hot again,
and press straight
down so that the
entire surface is
flat.
B. Get the edges
even with the
mandrel by getting
the glass on each
edge hot.
Repeat steps A and
B, if necessary, to
get the surface and
all 4 sides even.
Notice that a
diagonal flower or
design on a square
cabochon mandrel is
more attractive to
the eye than a
vertical or
horizontal design.
If you've made some beautiful cabochons using Karen and Larry's tools and techniques, please send your photos and notes to your Web Mama, and they'll be posted here for you!! |
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