The whole 'cold seal' versus 'hot seal' debate for attaching punties has me thinking

For my first five years in the studio, I was taught to heat the punty tip red hot and then press it onto the piece. My old mentor in Portland swore by it, saying it gave a stronger bond. But about two years ago, I watched a demo where the artist just warmed the punty and the piece to a dull orange and gently tacked them together. I tried it on a series of small perfume bottles and the difference was huge. The cold seal method left way less stress marks and the piece popped off cleaner every single time. I still go hot for big heavy stuff over 10 pounds, but for 90% of my work now, I'm team cold seal. It just feels more controlled. Has anyone else made this switch and noticed fewer cracks at the seal point?

3 comments

3 Comments

irismartinez20d ago

Wait, you were taught to heat the punty RED hot?

masonm7020d ago

Yeah, @irismartinez, red hot was the only way we learned. It felt like overkill until I saw a punty snap off a piece because it wasn't hot enough to really fuse. You need that full heat to get a solid seal, otherwise you're just asking for it to drop at the worst time. It's one of those safety things that seems extreme until you've had a close call. Now I never skip heating it all the way.

finleyh898d ago

Oh absolutely... I learned that lesson the hard way too. My first punty was just sort of warm, and the piece went flying across the studio like a comet. Scared me half to death. Now I heat it until it's practically glowing... it feels like you're melting it into the piece. Better a red hot punty than a cold one and a broken project on the floor.