Just hit 50 hours on my torch without a single cracked gather

Honestly, I've been working with a Carlisle CC for about six months now and always had trouble with thermal shock early on. Tbh, I slowed my heating way down and kept my color rod in the kiln longer, and it just clicked. Anyone have a trick for keeping your punty seals clean when you're doing a lot of pulls?

4 comments

4 Comments

fiona_carr2629d ago

Ngl, "yank it and hope for the best" is basically my whole studio motto. My punty seals look like I glued them with campfire marshmallows and regret. Maybe I should try the beeswax thing instead of just angrily chiseling the gunk off later.

quinnm771d ago

Wait, you guys are using beeswax? I've just been suffering for years. My seals always leave that nasty crust and I spend forever grinding it down. So you just dip the punty tip in wax before you pick up? That's genius, I'm trying that tomorrow. My bench looks like a glitter bomb went off from all the tiny glass chips I'm constantly picking out of my seals.

torres.blair29d ago

That punty seal gunk is the worst. A tiny bit of beeswax on the end of your punty rod before you seal helps a ton (it just burns off clean). Also, giving the seal a quick flash in a cooler part of the flame right before you pop it off can make it release cleaner.

sarahp3429d ago

Okay the beeswax trick is a game changer. I always thought adding anything to the punty would just make more gunk, so I avoided it. But if it burns off clean that makes total sense. I'm gonna try that next time for sure. The flash in a cooler flame part is also smart, I usually just yank it and hope for the best.