Now that I'm managing to get beads a fair shape (thanks to all the help I got here on this forum) I'd love to try some fancy glass. I tried Iris Orange but I only made it look like poo apart from one that looked like poo with green bits in!
I'm tempted by Reichenbach Magic and 591065 Silver Black - do these make the colours easily or is there a real trick to it?
I'd like to try one double helix as well, love them all but whats the easiest one to get the colours from?
I have a minor but not tried reducing anything yet!
Avoid Magic - it's really hard!!!
Silver Black is easy, and if you want a DH glass, go for Triton, Aurae, Helios or Psyche - all very easy.
That's what I'd recommend anyway!
Brilliant, thank you
I thought those colours in magic were probably way too good to be true for my level anyway! Saved me some dosh and disappointment but will defo have a go at the others
Thanks again
Helen
I have exactly the same promblem... what to try first ???
I've just received some goodies from Tuffnells and all I can do is stand and look at them with awe.... :-\
Every time I step forward to grab a rod to play with I change my mind... it's a bit like a chocoholic faced with a box of Thorntons Continental! :D
Good luck trying to make that all important choice!
I'm personally convinced that the person who took the piccy of the rod of Magic on the Tuffnell's site is the only person, ever, to get those colours from it. I had another go the other day and managed to get some greens and blues, but it was still distinctly underwhelming!
I forgot to say that another good one is Reichenbach Dark Multicolour - it's a striker, but a nice straightforward one x
yeah i agree with Helen, avoid Magic! silver black and all the DH glasses she recommended you should find easy enough to work on your minor, i have a HH and i manage with all of them so i'm sure you'll do wonders with them! ;) Remember, have fun!
Thanks
Dark multicolour goes on the list too!
Hx
I have always found aurea the easiest silver glass to use ........maybe not as stunning as the others but a lot less faffing about and some nice reactions with ordinary glass :P
i also love copper green .......
I will add aurea to my wish list, it does look nice and if its not too faffy thats what I need! I have seen lots about copper green as it looks like it reacts with other colours but cant see it on tuffnels, where would I get that?
Hx
So far.....I have found Triton the easiest DH to get a result from. Dark Silver Brown is quite a good but cheaper alternative to DH glasses.
I recently got some Copper Green - from Off Mandrel - and they sell glass by the single rod which which is good for 'testing' out some of the more expensive glasses.
copper green ....its an effetra special/hand pulled ....so if tuffnels has not got any off mandrel has it .......and i think they are comming to flame off ...they where there last year
I found Triton and Aurae easy to work with - you don't get quite the same amazing spectrum of colours as with some others, but the results are invariably pretty :)
think of silver black not as a reduction black, or indeed a silver black, think of it as an interesting texture and metallic black, I call mine meteorite black. its not quite what you think, but it is yummy
as others have said, raku no, magic no (magic as far as Im aware is just a lighter, harder to do anything with version of raku)
multicolour dark is a big fat yes, ordinary multicolour, not so much
I pretty much don't to anything to multi dark to strike it, I maybe make a twisty with it, goldstone and black, base bead of black, put on twisty, encase, smooth off, in kiln, get colour, no faff at all. it is nice unencased also, usually quite dark though, but I get better colours encased (I use reichenbach clear)
silver brown, I wouldnt bother with that much at this point, it still hates me, yet others can get nice things out of it.
psyche would be my choice for a first DH, you can reduce it and leave the surface metallic, or you can reduce and encase, both are lovely.
though if you want high shine surface stuff nice and easy, then tritons the one (not tried helios yet)
Yup yup - Reichenbach multicolour dark and Double Helix triton and psyche. They're all easy to get good results out of.
If you reduce triton multiple times you can get different effects out of it, then you can encase it or not encase it... Psyche is a little bit purplier and I really love it.
This is soo helpful, thank you all so much. Cant get to the flame this year, maybe its just as well as I'd probably 'need' everything I saw. I will go next year though and by then I might have a better idea what I'm doing!
I will also have a look at off mandrel, didnt realise they do single rods so thats a big bonus for trial runs without breaking the bank, they do bullseye (Hubby fuses that and is after a few rods) so I have a ready made excuse too!
Thanks all
Hx
Great tips, I was just going to ask the same thing myself :-)
What can you do with copper green? I have a (thick!) rod of it and I can only make it go a dull silvery grey colour.
put rubino oro with it!
make a base bead (I use my scummy clear) then a layer of copper green over that, then some dots of rubino, melt in flat, try them alternating so they go to triangles.you may need to strike the rubino, or it may have already struck itself at this point, the rubino pushes the green into 2 shades, hard to explain, just go and play!
the aim with copper green is not to reduce it, but to use it to encourage reactions out of other colours.
you can make a twistie out of rubino and copper green, put it on a copper green base (or copper green over cheap base glass, wouldn't wanna waste it now!) swirl it on randomly and melt in, yummy!
the copper in the name is more to do with what's in it than what colours you are meant to get out of it I believe.
I have to vote for DH Terranova. It has to be one of the easiest striking colours. Use over white, preferably thinly, this way you get the rich reds & purples. Shape bead as you want to before starting the striking sequence. When you have your finished shape, let the bead cool to the point where the glow just goes (you will need a dark area to see this, under bench is good), now heat the bead to the point where your terranova is so hot that it turns translucent. Once you do this, remove from flame and let cool until the glow just goes. This will take anything between 15-30 seconds so hold your nerve!!! Once cooled, put bead back into flame to strike the colours. Heat the bead normally and watch carefully until you start to see dark colours appear. Once you see the dark tan colour, this is the start of your colour sequence. Remove the bead from the flame when you see the dark tan appear. Very important bit - once you remove your bead from the flame during striking, ALWAYS cool the bead (glow just goes as before) before putting back into the flame. As the bead is cooling you will see colours appear, it is now up to you to strike the bead until you reach your desired colour. You can start the whole sequence again at any time by reverting to the stage where you heat until translucent etc.
I guarantee that you will see results with this glass so if you don't, let me know and I'll help you to get fabby colours!! Hope that helps. XX ;)
Thank you, I'll have to try that :) I haven't dared to use my rubino oro yet since I seem to have a tendency to overheat striking glass and rubino is expensive, but I have to give it a shot now :)
start with a twistie then, that way you wont use lots!
I love copper green. Just etch it once its out of the kiln and you get a fantastic turquoise green. Its nice with silver foil, raku silvered ivory....
These are copper green and ivory.
(http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1116/4720137539_6a571699d5.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29161864@N08/4720137539/)
Sun, sea and beads. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29161864@N08/4720137539/) by Josephine Wadman (http://www.flickr.com/people/29161864@N08/), on Flickr
I agree, Triton or Psyche are fab. I also like Magic, hadn't realised it was unpopular - it reduces to a nice coppery shine. If you want colours it's best to keep the bead slim, and keep it hot for a good while whilst raking it for interest. Don't leave the flame quickly, move it out to the end really slowly to keep the colours.