Foil tearing

[art]

When burnishing foil on the face of heavily textured glass the foil want to tear in the indented (recessed) areas. I tried warming it up a little with a 100 watt lightbulb to no avail.  I assume it must be a common problem, but does anyone know of any tricks?

[Graham]

When burnishing foil on the face of heavily textured glass the foil want to tear in the indented (recessed) areas. I tried warming it up a little with a 100 watt lightbulb to no avail.  I assume it must be a common problem, but does anyone know of any tricks?

Don't press too hard. It's nice to have foil nice and flat on the glass, but it's better to have it undamaged. If it's not absolutely perfectly flat - no problem - as long as it stays in place through the soldering process.

[Gary]

You may want to go up to a heavier gauge foil (1.5ml) if you are using 1.0 or 1.25ml.
The other option is to not burnish with a tool and rather tape your fingers up with strips of duct tape and press down really well.

[jekk217]

I don't know how new you are to foiling but if you follow the same procedure that you would with a sharp inside curve in the glass it should not tear. I use a paddlepop stick once I have burnished onto the cut  I move back and forth gradually stretching the foil into the curve on each side of the glass. I hope this helps. I find it very hard to put into words what I mean   

[e hilton]

gradually stretching the foil

I find it very hard to put into words what I mean

You said it pretty well. 

[art]

OK.  Thanks to everyone for the help.  Art

[landover1]

I usually use a couple different tools as I burnish the foil. I use to use the handle of a tooth brush and my foil crimper but I also started using the dowel handle of a sponge paint brush. The dowel works well to gently mold the foil over as you work around curves. its size give better grip and there is just a bit of give with the wood.

[educate86]

Although I do not have one I have read that you can grind the edge with a ripple bit which will reduce the height of the peaks.  If keeping the "peaks" is not necessary this may work for you.  Some one else may weigh in on this with additional info or clarification.

[jekk217]

Although I do not have one I have read that you can grind the edge with a ripple bit which will reduce the height of the peaks.  If keeping the "peaks" is not necessary this may work for you.  Some one else may weigh in on this with additional info or clarification.

Thanks for reminding me I do that as well but only a little bit when the peaks are sharp.

[Vitrailleur]

When burnishing foil on the face of heavily textured glass the foil want to tear in the indented (recessed) areas. I tried warming it up a little with a 100 watt lightbulb to no avail.  I assume it must be a common problem, but does anyone know of any tricks?

When that happens I just cover the tear with another piece of foil crosswise (back to front) and trim off the excess.

[QuickRN]

I have so much trouble trimming my foil on a ripply surface!  Is there a trick?  I try to make absolutely sure it is even on the textured front surface so all my trimming is done on the back flatter surface.....though it doesn't always work out like that!