I made 7 beads tonight of varying degrees of naffness ;D
Some had lovely clear lines differentiating one circle from the next, but with others, the circles had sort of "bled" into the colour underneath creating a sort of feathery effect.
What causes this bleeding and how can I avoid it going forward?
Is it working the bead too hot for too long?
Thank you oh wise sages of the Frit Happens forums ;D
I don't know about being a wise sage, more a sort of wild oregano myself, but check out the fritipedia, there's all sorts of techie stuff and know-how on there. I keep a printed list of which colours react, which are soft colours, which bleed etc.
I don't often look at the wretched thing though, perhaps I should. Would save a few from the fuglie jar!
Any hoo,
the fritipedia is at the tip of the page, under 'VISIT THE WIKI HERE'. Sorry I can't add a link, I'm not that clever.
K
Colours react together for different reasons. The copper in turquoise reacts chemically with the sulphur in ivory giving a dark line. Opaques are softer than transparents, so will react physically - the opaque will generally spread on transparents, but use it as the base and it will swallow the transparent. There are lots of different reactions, you just need to try to learn them!
i think the reactions are the best bits ...i love it when ....''ohhhh did not know it was going to do that '' happens ;D
For me this was and still is one of the most fascinating, frustrating and exciting things about working with glass in the flame. The fritipedia is a great source of info but the best way is too play/experiment yourself. You can minimise reactions by working the glass slowly high up in the flame or use it to your advantage and superheat it to accentuate the reactions. If you want to use reactive colours together without reactions then sometimes using clear in between them will prevent the reaction happening.
Hope that helps and have fun ;D
as you go along you will learn tips that will help - eg - when you make a vine cane using pea green and black - you encase it with clear which stops it spreading.
Sometimes it's frustrating, sometimes useful .......