Of the back of a conversation on this months colour of the month challenge I thought I'd ask...
What do you do when you get a rod that is hopelessly sputty? Not how do you get it to stop being sputty, there are some rods that still give grief after being re annealed and kept warm on the top of the kiln before they're used.
So what do you do with them when there is no hope?
(I say this after loosing well over half a prewarmed rod of Lapis in less then a minute this afternoon)
Anneal the rods if your kiln is big enough to pop them in. That should stop it.
Are we talking after you've annealed them? I generally cut them into small lengths, pick them up with clear and pull them into stringer. I've only ever had a couple of rods like this, but I did have a lot of devardi and became sadly expert in reusing the bits ..
Some of them will be shocky even if you anneal them because they often have trapped air bubbles inside them. It's often the "softer" rods like ivory that this happens with. You can preheat them but it won't actually help an awful lot.
The only thing pre heating the rods did today was mean that I couldn't hold it further down the rod and it still sputtered.
You're right Sal, annealing these rods didn't make any difference.
I like the idea of pulling them into stringer.
I plunge the bu**ers. That teaches them ;D
I have been known to pick up all the bits, (carefully!) melt it all together, and pull it into a fat stringer. but then the last one I did this to was clio, dont think I'd bother with cheaper stuff.
the only one I actually gave up on entirely was a rod of fremen which popped off little murrini sized chips.
I had a rod of rose filigree like that - actually tried using it as murrini and it fritted then! ;D
Quote from: Donna@Rockin' Beads on March 11, 2012, 09:11:32 PM
I plunge the bu**ers. That teaches them ;D
:D :D :D
The last time I had a rod like that the only thing I could do with it was hoover it up as most of it ended up in little bits spat out across the floor...bench...behind the bookcase... ::)
Quote from: MadelineBunyan on March 11, 2012, 09:34:13 PM
the only one I actually gave up on entirely was a rod of fremen which popped off little murrini sized chips.
I remember that batch. I was given a replacement but I haven't touched it since as I don't know which is the shocky old and which is the ok new one!!!
Scary stuff!!
Go in with.....a leather apron, scarf and a prayer, I am liking the idea of stringers though.
I put the offending rod in a bag with a load of its bits so I knew which it was, however I now dont know what to do with that, its living in my shorts tin right now.
the other rod I got at the same time was fine though, I pulled myself together the other day and tried it, it was much thicker so I'd been very wary! I think it came in one of those nice selections of CIMS that martin used to do, so I only ever had the two sticks.
He he I have a few little jrs with frit chunks - the latest being a rod of sunset.
There's stacks of seeded Lime/Teal/Green out there at the mo, seen quiet a few grumbling on FB about it, including one or 2 on Effetres page telling them to get there act together! I've got at least a 1/2 Kg of the Lime light/mid transparent that all has a bubble pulled the whole length of it. Serious frit on a stick.
Maybe we should start complaining to our suppliers instead of trying to use it, if the manufacturers aren't aware it won't get better?
.... Effetre has a FB page.... Must get myself on that.
I think that is probably the most constructive thing that we could do
I've been having no end of problems with them recently no matter what colour I pick up. But I can get mine in the flame soon as I have used what I need from the rod and take it out it splits (just like a thermal shocked bead) which of course means disaster if I need more of that rod. Yet for the most part the beads are fine. (So long as I stick to normal beads, goddesses have been giving me no end of trouble.)
I have no suggestions other than really bad rods tend to get flung across the desk in fustration.
It's interesting that none of you seem to give up and throw them in the bin...
Personally I seem to get mostly CiM sputting the only non CiM one seems to be effetre pistachio.
I was wondering if the weather change had affected my glass! I've had the same thing with most rods being spitty and cat like. But just as much with the effetre as the CIM, my desk was smothered in periwinkle and 068 black ::)
I torch inside next to the radiator. One of the best things about not having a garden and a shed. So I don't think it's a weather thing.
But yes I was pulling bits of lapis out of my foot yesterday (One of the not so great things about having a shed ::) )
the colder my workshops been the worse the glass spits and I can tell the difference by how cold the rods are. I'm inside but its the back room and of course our weathers really cold much of the time just now with a lot of frost. even with the heater on, its still been cold enough to chill everything. It also affects my bead release. :(
I didn't think of the weather because it's lots warmer now than it was and I didn't have a problem during the coldest times.
Effetre is my problem glass, the CiM is mostly behaving.
Now, I may be stating the obvious here but are you chaps slowly introducing the rod into the flame? I mean s l o w l y.
Have seen many a flameworker with many years under their belt throw the rod in the flame and say "aww, its a shocky batch, or this colour is prone to popping" me thinking, no, you're not working the glass right ::)
I gave up on that CIM blue colour, cos that WAS fritty nightmare and will prob go in the bin soon ;D
Calico is a little monster for me, but I love it so much I forgive her popping and throwing tantrums. hehe.
Really can't wait to getting back to all this full time ;D
S L O W L Y? Wassat then? :D
I have to admit, I am of the jam it in the flame and duck brigade, however, if it shouts at me once, then I treat it more gently, waving it at the end of the flame and carefully advancing. However, glass that I usually have no problems with is misbehaving at the moment, who knows why ... perhaps its picking up on my mood ::) :P
I normally work really slow, cus I enjoy watching the glass flow. You can see the seed in the transparents I've got!
Weirdly, having had 2 rods of Celadon frit in a stick, but liking the colour I grabbed a 3rd and 4th and not a spit out of them. Even in the same batch there must be diffrerences. Not looked in the kiln, with the way my week is going if they didn't frit and spit they've probably turned guano green! I do tend to wave the glass in the flame for ages before I start though, bit of a scaredy cat :)
I am having trouble with opal yellow, as it melts I can see into the rod and its full of air bubbles, and as I make the bead they surface and pop!
Its really annoying!
Anyone found Notos REALLY bubbly? It's like the scum you usually get on the end of a cut rod gone crazy, i have to pluck the end off every time i put it in the flame or it's just a mass of bubbles...maybe i need to give it a going over with glass cleaner rather than just the sleeve of my jumper/armpit ;)
Quote from: Special Kay on May 16, 2012, 10:55:12 PM
stand on a chair and drop them on the floor, it is soooooo satisfying
Ha ha ha!!
I have a really bad batch of Vet clear that bubbles like crazy. The plan is that I am going to slump it at uni and see if this looses the bubbles. If it doesn't I'm binning the lot!
So I 'fused' a rod of vet clear and it now melts like a dream... no boiling the moment it hits the flame, no sputting when it's re introduced. It's lovely. I'm not saying it's Laucha clear good, but it is now usable for beads that I would consider selling.
So just to clarify.
I have only done this with one rod of clear.
Vetro rod was put in a flat bed kiln (one at uni) and put in what is referred to a low firing for float fusing (not slumping) cycle. I put it directly onto fiber glass, but would say that if I was going to do it again I would put it in on fiber paper so that it comes out smoother.
Good luck to anyone else that is interested in trying this. I would love to hear what others find. For me this has worked.
Good tip Krysia.