Could you show us a photo of your end cap? I don't get a good feel for how thick it is or how big. I find that items with uniform thickness fire best so that heating and cooling are uniform over the piece.

Hello, Candy. I don't have with me just an end cap at present, but here is a quick scan of a completed piece. The bottom and middle pieces are soldered and un-enameled - they show firescale and nice patina; the top piece (the two-toned green one) is enameled. Sorry for the poor photo quality - I used a scanner at work. But perhaps this will give you an idea of what I am doing. The tubes and end caps are uniform - stock sizes and thicknesses. Hope this helps! Thanks, Shirley