Blow and cap

[Franklin Sankar]

I never got the blow and cap method to work for me. My blow hose works well . What’s the secrete of the blow and cap?
Franklin

[Shawn Everette]

Practice. You want a good amount of pressure in the pipe and your thumb ready to go. Try it on a cold plugged pipe, if you hear air move when you take your thumb away you did it right.

[Pete VanderLaan]

I would think that doing that with a hose was going to really require a good deal more pressure than just doing it with a blowpipe. Is that bad thinking?

[Warren Trefz]

Have the bottom part of you thumb pad resting on the mouthpiece almost covering the opening completely, so that you can easily seal it off, and then place the mouthpiece and positioned thumb in your mouth from the side. Blow and seal off the pipe while you are blowing. Should look sort of like you are playing a flute but with a thumb in you mouth also. As Shawn said practice on a clogged pipe by getting it hot and try capping. Hold it up to your ear and uncap it and if you hear a pop you had it sealed. When you start capping with molten glass it does not take a lot of pressure, the heat will do the work for you. If you are blowing bottle glass, which if I remember you are, it will take a bit more pressure for the capping puff. But heat does wonders.

[Shawn Everette]

You cant exactly do it with the hose. Blow, cap, bubble, then hose.

[Rich Simmons]

Try this Video -
https://www.glassblowersguide.com/bl...pping-a-bubble

I've never met Nikolaj Christensen, but I like his explanation.

[Shawn Everette]

Ugg, fat derlin mouthpieces.

[David Russell]

When I learned I found it helpful to excessively overdue the amount of air being blown before capping.

[Franklin Sankar]

Great video. He can teach well.
Thanks
Franklin

[Eben Horton]

Practice on a clogged pipe. Release the air near your ear to know if you got it right. The more you practice the easier it gets.

[Franklin Sankar]

Thanks for the replies. I will just have to practice much more. I blow and build up the pressure in the pipe but my seal seem to be weak so the air leaks out.
Blow hose works so good why more people don’t use it?

Franklin

[Eben Horton]

Originally Posted by Franklin Sankar

Thanks for the replies. I will just have to practice much more. I blow and build up the pressure in the pipe but my seal seem to be weak so the air leaks out.
Blow hose works so good why more people don’t use it?

Franklin

I use a hose all the time but never to start a bubble. Reason being that I put my starter bubble in when the glass is far too cold to put one in with a hose. The result is that I get perfect starter bubbles that are straight.

[Pete VanderLaan]

I prefer blowing into a round bowl on the floor lined with paper. I wander around a lot and don't like the hose. Not unlike the dog that can wrap its leash entirely around a single bush in a field.

[Franklin Sankar]

Eben by cold you mean after you maver and form a skin? And the inside still hot? If the glass get too cold why don’t you give it a little reheat. Can reheat replace your blow and cap step?

Franklin

[Eben Horton]

Originally Posted by Franklin Sankar

Eben by cold you mean after you maver and form a skin? And the inside still hot? If the glass get too cold why don’t you give it a little reheat. Can reheat replace your blow and cap step?

Franklin

Yeah mon. Cold skin. Hot core

[Franklin Sankar]

So reheat until I can cap and blow?
Franklin

[Eben Horton]

Originally Posted by Franklin Sankar

So reheat until I can cap and blow?
Franklin

That reverses the temps. You gather, block or marver for a bit and then cap and blow all from your gather heat. Again.. practice on a clogged pipe and it will all make sense. When I was 15 I took a pipe home and sat down in front of the tv and practiced cap and blowing while watching the Simpsons. DOH!

[Franklin Sankar]

Thanks for the explanation. I was blowing like hell and the blow hose used to pop out. Yes it makes sense now.
Franklin

[Art Freas]

Also it is very difficult if you heat shallow, you need some heat down in the pipe for it to work.

[Franklin Sankar]

Thanks
Franklin

[Franklin Sankar]

How hard do you blow.?
Franklin

[Scott Dunahee]

when I taught classes, I would put a squishy foam (disposable) earplug in the business end of a cold blowpipe. Then I had the students practice blow and cap over and over again until they could hear a consistent pssh when they released their thumb from the blowpipe near their ear. No noise, you didn't do it right. Rinse and repeat. Your furnace doesn't even have to be on for this one.



BSD

[Franklin Sankar]

Thanks Scott. I plugged the end of my pipe with a wooden dowel. Wil try the ear plug. I am doing it much better now but to guarantee a pssssfff sound I blow hard.
Franklin