Etching question

Fingernail polish or liquid paper both work.

Or, you can just get the etching paste instead of the liquid and paint it on to the areas you want etched.

I use Elmer's Glue. You know, the white runny stuff in the squeeze bottle. I squirt a little out on a paper plate and use a little detail brush to paint on a thick coat. Let it dry for 24 hours then dip in your etching solution as usual. The etching liquid won't dissolve it, but once you're done and run the bead under water, the glue turns white and just rinses away. If it gets into any crevices just use a little toothbrush to scrub it out.

I knew I was forgetting one!!

Thanks, Jerri and Dawn! I think I'll go with using fingernail polish because that's what I have on hand. Son stole my Elmer's glue and the Lord only knows where my micro paint brushes are. lol

I want to etch the wings because I found some Czech opaque/matte glassshell beads with striations on them that match the lines of the wings on the heart bead. When I finish it, I'll try to remember to upload a photo so you guys can see what I did.

Thanks again. You're both sweethearts! :)

Wow that sounds cool

Becki

Well, the necklace is not meant to be... as I finished wire-wrapping the small shells and started attaching them to the winged heartwork lampwork bead, I dropped it and one of the wings broke off. It only fell on carpet! And two layers of carpet at that... the installed carpet and another rug I have on top of the carpet. :((((((((((((((((((((((((

So now I need to find out how to grind down the broken wing... part of it broke off very cleanly from the heart bead, leaving only a small portion of the wing at the top of the bead that's really sharp.

Perhaps my Dremel tool would be able to grind down the broken part of the wing? Then I can etch the whole heart... err... the lopsided, one-winged heart. lol

Ah, well.... another bead for the trash bin. But it's killing me cuz the wings on the heart were so pretty!! :(

Oh that SUCKS!! Sorry to hear that Linda. :-( They sound really cool!

Thanks, sweetie. I am totally bummed out about it breaking... and it only fell about 12 inches to the floor!

But I might just go ahead and glue it together and maybe string some SS wire with more beads around the crack that will show after I glue it. I really don't want to grind down the glass with a Dremel... I'll prolly hurt myself the way my luck goes. lol "You'll put your eye out with that thing."

If you're worried, send it to me. I've been drilling through glass for years (sea glass!) and it won't phase me. ;-) Email me if you'd like me to and I'll give you my addy. I'll send it back when it's done.

I hate it when things have flaws. And usually don't see them right away.

I got a free-style goddess bead, that turned out to be more of a vessel. And then I saw cracks in it. I figure the thing to do is fill it with some kind of glue to stabilize it, probably E6000, and wrap it because it has no hole. Actually the wire-wrapping seemed like a good design idea before I saw the problems.

A week or two before, I had gotten a set with another bead with a crack. That one seems sturdy enough not to be a problem for breaking. I guess what I need to do is drop it a few times to find out if it will break.

Tina

Hi, sweetie. :))))) What a lovely offer! I'd love to just grind off the whole wing of that part of broke off.... I can then do some wire-wrapping over the ground down wing thanks to Tina's idea. :))))

I'll email you later.

Sorry to hear about your Goddess, Tina. :( Try putting the other bead into the freezer and see if it breaks when you take it out... I heard that tip awhile back when I wanted to check on some cheap Indian lampwork that I had.

And your wirewrapping idea is fantastic! I'm gonna have to borrow that when I get around to working with the broken winged heart. :)))))

That shouldn't be too hard. :-)

Ok, then. :))))) I just emailed you about a set of beads on your website, too. :)))))

got it! Looks like we're in synch right now. lol!

Oh man, that's awful! It was sounding so promising. Do you have any photos of it anyway?

Oh, I know.... I was just sick when it happened. :((( And no, I took it all apart, so I don't have pics. But Valerie is kindly going to try to grind down the broken part of the wing, and if it survives that, I'm going to be wirewrapping it again and embellishing the heart ... maybe with other Czech glass hearts, to hide the broken off wing part. We'll see...

So many plans, so little time!! :)

I hope for the best :-) It's funny, sometimes the best solutions come from the worst problems.

Hehe! I need more lives to accomplish the lifetime of stuff!

Best, Christine