Optic Mold Directions

Think Safety:

Be proactive about safety. Take classes, do research, and talk with experts. Actively work to identify, and then reduce or eliminate hazards. You are responsible for your own safety and long term health.
Always use the correct filtered glasses to protect your eyes.
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear.
Always work with proper ventilation. Talk with an expert about your situation.
Set up and operate your torch system safely. Take a class or get an expert to show you.
Keep your workspace clean and organized. Set up your tools and glass so you don't need to reach over or around the torch.
Be careful with water. Putting hot tools or glass in water can generate steam. Long tubes can create jets of steam.
Watch out for repetitive strain injury (RSI). Take breaks, watch your posture, and cushion your elbow rests.
Always remove and clean your beads while wet to minimize bead release dust in the air.

Optic Mold Safety:

The mold will get very hot with use. Don't try to move it or touch it with your hand for 30 minutes or so after use.
Be careful pushing the glass into the mold. Don't use excessive force or your hand may slip and touch the hot mold or the glass break and cut or impale your hand.
If your glass gets stuck in the mold DO NOT wiggle, yank or attempt to pull the mold off. Wait a few more seconds for the glass to cool and shrink some more and then lift gently.
If the glass simply will not come out, leave it, and remove it after it has fully cooled by turning the mold upside down and carefully pushing the glass out from the bottom.
This mold is for lampworking or flameworking only, not fusing. It will melt in a kiln.

Preparation:

Place the mold with the larger end of the cavity up on a heat proof surface, preferrably graphite.
Put it in a place that is easy to reach with the hot glass.

Using Your Optic Mold:

Heat the end of a glass rod and melt a gather.
Press the gather down into the mold and hold for a couple of seconds.
Lift up gently. No wiggling of jerking movement is needed.
If you need to enlarge the shape, heat the gather further and re-press. You will be adding more glass by pushing the rod of glass further into the gather.
Repeat until the gather fills the mold or reaches the desired size.

Trouble Shooting:

If you try to press too large of a gather, you can get build up a large rim of glass that won't go into the mold. Avoid this by pressing a smaller gather.
As the gather gets longer, it will tend to grow in diameter as you re-heat it. Glass wants to form a sphere. If it gets too larger in diameter, it can cause the built up rim as described above.