Frit-Happens !

Hi guys, well would you believe it, having just mastered the art of striking silver glass properly and even managing to get nice colours out of my nemesis Terra 2, I decided to go back to Multicolour Dark, which I haven't played with for ages.  "Easy Peasy" I thought to myself..... especially after all that Double Helix malarky.

No such luck!!!!  I can't get the bugger to play nicely at all.

I am heating the bead hot in the flame, taking it out, wafting it around a bit to let it cool, and then striking it in the back of the flame.  So far, so good.  But what happens is that it immediately strikes so much that it goes almost pitch black in appearance to the naked eye. I have then encased it, and then continued reheating and striking, but that then gives me terracotta red tones ....  not a whiff of purple in sight at any stage.

Where the heck am I going wrong?  Should I not be encasing?  Do I need to work cooler?

I want nice purples!  >:(

I can't believe I can't work this glass, it's supposed to be one of the easier strikers!  Hrrmph!

I'm sure I had some success with Hades as a base, Hades seems to bring out the colours in anything like that and seems to stabilise them. I'm also pretty sure that it's not necessarily striking that fetches out the colour, it is rapid cooling after heating it really hard so it gets soupy (like 104  iris orange/raku), so colours come out when you roll it on a marver, and probably put it in a press, but if you then have to reheat to shape and remarver you lose the purples to more earthy tones. 

Helen, I can't believe it .. I've been doing exactly the same thing as you this afternoon!  After seeing someone's gorgeous pics
of multicolour purples I thought I'd have a go too.  I've managed to get dark purples, very dark actually - I can see them if I put the bead under a daylight lamp lol!

I'll be watching this thread with interest.  I would like to know what base is best for multicolour dark.  It's not that expensive to build the whole bead out of, but I'd like to know if any other base colour will help the colours pop.

I've been encasing too .. maybe I'll try tomorrow and not encase but press in a brass press and see what happens.
On the plus side, I have been getting some results from Double Helix for the first time so am quite chuffed about that.  :)
Hope I haven't spoken too soon - probably find they've all cracked in the morning!!

Bee - thank you so much, I'm glad it's not just me!!!!  I really was starting to think I'd gone completely mad!!

I'll cross my fingers for your Double Helix beads....

In the meantime, lets hope a Multicolour dark expert will be along in a minute to tell us what we are doing wrong....

I get some fantastic purples/ blues from multi dark, sadly they can only be seen in very bright light  ::)
prehaps a miners helmet  would  help .
To the naked eye in normal light the colours I get range from deep purple to deep purple with a whisp od blue, I used it in a disc yesterday( I read it likes to be worked/cooled lots) with green and other colours and you guessed it deep almost black,
so I will be watching this thread ith interest,
#sandy

Well I have to say ladies that I am mightily relieved to hear this!  Obviously not pleased that you are having the same issues as me, but it's reassuring to know I'm not the only one....

I used it for the first time over light red and it went a gorgeous purple.

I wish I had even a fraction of success with Clio  :(

Linda x

Over red?  What sort of red?   Transparent, opaque?  Spill the beans missus  ;D  There are desperate folk here who need to know these things  ;D

Quote from: Madam Steph on August 26, 2012, 08:37:03 PM
I used it for the first time over light red and it went a gorgeous purple.



Linda x

That's interesting Linda ... what red was it?  And what did you do to it once you had it over the red?   :D

LOL!   Cross posted with you Helen!   ;D

Quote from: BeeBeads on August 26, 2012, 08:58:13 PM
LOL!   Cross posted with you Helen!   ;D

See, I told her there were desperate folk here awaiting salvation!!!

was it deep purple or the elusive wispy blues and purples Linda?

Quote from: helbels on August 26, 2012, 08:59:38 PM

Quote from: BeeBeads on August 26, 2012, 08:58:13 PM
LOL!   Cross posted with you Helen!   ;D

See, I told her there were desperate folk here awaiting salvation!!!

Well it's nice to know we've set up our own support group Helen! 
My name is Bee and I am multicolour challenged ...  ;D

My name is Helen and about 2 years ago I wasn't Multicolour Dark challenged but now it appears I am and I have no idea how I got myself in this sorry state!  ;D

I'm convinced it's a batch thing!

My first batch was super, greens,blues,pinks ,purple achieved simply by making a small spacer of MD then encasing, nothing fancy each one beautiful. I had a 1/2 kilo all made super beads. I have customers still waiting for this miracle to happen again!
Second  and subsequent batches all dark purple until, as Sandy says, you put them under super strength bulbs then you can see the cerise colours. I have found that if you pull stringers/twisties and then super heat some of the colours do appear, so I think it's a case of less is more with the newer batches.

Quote from: helbels on August 26, 2012, 09:24:42 PM
My name is Helen and about 2 years ago I wasn't Multicolour Dark challenged but now it appears I am and I have no idea how I got myself in this sorry state!  ;D

Oh no!  You were on the Multicolour Dark wagon and now you've fallen off .. that's sad.  Whereas I have never even had a
leg-up onto the said wagon!   ;D

my name is sandy and I am multi and multi dark challenged ,
I can get colour from chalcedony rods but not from the frit  ::) so am really special  ;D

It would make sense if its a batch thing,

Remember it's a kiln striker, what goes in doesn't necessarily mean that's what's going to come out. I've generally got more reddy tones from Multicolour and the bluer tones from Pandora. There are some in the kiln at the moment though......

I'm batch annealing at the moment - will it still kiln strike from being stone cold when I put it in?  Sorry if that's a dim question  ::)

Quote from: Magpie on August 26, 2012, 10:16:18 PM
Remember it's a kiln striker, what goes in doesn't necessarily mean that's what's going to come out. I've generally got more reddy tones from Multicolour and the bluer tones from Pandora. There are some in the kiln at the moment though......

Don't get me started on Pandora...... it allegedly kiln strikes..... well not in my bloody kiln it doesn't, it just stays snot green.  :D I've tried all sorts of schedules, repeated annealing, and bugger all.   One set of Pandora beads went through 6 annealing cycles before I finally admitted that it just was NOT going to strike!!

On the whole, I would say that over the past 3 years pretty much every bead I've made has come out the kiln looking very much as it went in, with the exception of Clio beads.   The multicolour dark ones went in looking reddish and if anything came out looking slightly redder.  Some people seem to have "magic" kilns... sadly mine's not one of them.

I've been playing with dark multicolour.
I found that if I heaed ited, let it cool than wafted to dark brown I would get purples. Encasing it when dark also brought out lovely purples after annealing.

Now I want to cry!!   That's exactly what I've been doing and I don't get any purples whatsoever at any stage.... My Multicolour Dark hates me!

Helen, I'm seriously thinking you must have a duff batch.  You get the most beautiful colours from silver glass (just had a lovely drool in your etsy shop .. your beads are gorgeous) so surely it's possible that you have a dead batch of Multicolour Dark?

Have you tried pressing it to cool it down quickly?

It's definitely nothing you are doing, it's a batch thing. I have a few batches and treat them as 2 different colours, when making notes or talking to myself I refer to them as medium dark multi and dark dark multi. I like both, but for different purposes.

Sorry..crashed out @ 9.00am last night and can't sleep now (5.30am).

It was a twistie with copper green and used over Effetre Light Red. I like this red as most of them go darker and heating brings it to a nice scarlet.

I didn't have to do anything special to the multicolour, i.e. striking etc..it just went blue and purple in the brass lentil press

Linda x

I, too, think it is a batch thing. I have Rods of Multi dark that are reddish on the outside and have greenish circles at the cut and. This works like a charm. And then there are the darkbrown rods which give me a very beautiful reddish dark brown...

Thanks for all the comments so far folks.  The fact that a few people are saying that it may be a batch  thing are reassuring. I will have a play again today and see I'd it does anything different with a press.

I quite like mixing it with silver glasses, seems to bring out the colours a bit in it (not always admittedly!), also MD and intense black twisities encased look very nice, this might work becasue the glass is getting hot when you make the twistie and then cooling again before use?  Good luck, does sound like a batch thing to me though too after what everyone else has said. :) :) (Oh and don't mention Pandora to me either, that definately hates me too!). :) :)

I find it the easiest of the reactives to use ;D I don't even bother to strike it, just make the beads and put them straight into the kiln.
(http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6108/6253499837_ccf91585e7.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheekycherubdesigns/6253499837/)
IMG_1104 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheekycherubdesigns/6253499837/) by Kaz ~ CheekyCherubDesigns (http://www.flickr.com/people/cheekycherubdesigns/), on Flickr
I agree there are different batches but the effects I have found are just different amounts of blues, greens and purples.
I have even devoted a flickr set to my love of this glass....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheekycherubdesigns/sets/72157629837183410/with/6253499837/
Kazx

Watching with interest as I just braved up and got myself a batch of this.!!

If it's any help - my 'good' batch is dark reddish brown with the smallest of olivey core

Linda x

Colette's right, dark multi loves brass. Press, marver, pokey tool. whatever. Just cool/ reheat on something brass a few times ;)

Quote from: Madam Steph on August 27, 2012, 09:46:38 AM
If it's any help - my 'good' batch is dark reddish brown with the smallest of olivey core

Linda x

Thanks Linda.  My batch appears to be very dark brown with practically no core, certainly not olivey.  It's very difficult to see a core, if there is it's just brown! 

Quote from: lampworklover on August 27, 2012, 02:07:45 PM
Colette's right, dark multi loves brass. Press, marver, pokey tool. whatever. Just cool/ reheat on something brass a few times ;)

As easy as that?   ::)  :D

Quote from: BeeBeads on August 27, 2012, 02:51:28 PM
My batch appears to be very dark brown with practically no core, certainly not olivey. 

My batch that is so difficult to use looks just the same.

Quote from: afina on August 27, 2012, 03:09:58 PM

Quote from: BeeBeads on August 27, 2012, 02:51:28 PM
My batch appears to be very dark brown with practically no core, certainly not olivey. 

My batch that is so difficult to use looks just the same.

Thanks Verena, that's reassuring!  Like Helen, I've tried everything with this batch.  I have managed some purples and greens today but nothing exciting and it's been a lot of hard work coaxing the colours out.  I think I'll put it away now and go back to practising with my DH.  (That's my double helix, not my husband  ;D )

Just to confirm that my horrible batch is also dark brown with no visible coloured core.... I smell a big bad rat!

Quote from: BeeBeads on August 27, 2012, 02:51:28 PM

Quote from: Madam Steph on August 27, 2012, 09:46:38 AM
If it's any help - my 'good' batch is dark reddish brown with the smallest of olivey core

Linda x

Thanks Linda.  My batch appears to be very dark brown with practically no core, certainly not olivey.  It's very difficult to see a core, if there is it's just brown! 

Quote from: lampworklover on August 27, 2012, 02:07:45 PM
Colette's right, dark multi loves brass. Press, marver, pokey tool. whatever. Just cool/ reheat on something brass a few times ;)

As easy as that?   ::)  :D

well it was on a Hothead, haven't played with it much on Hel's old Cricket  ;). Mine is brownish in colour, quite an old batch I think as I got it at least three years ago.

I got mine last Friday!

My torch is a Cricket  :)

Linda x

Quote from: BeeBeads on August 27, 2012, 03:59:51 PM
I got mine last Friday!

Ditto.... sounds like it might be the new stuff that's iffy.

Quote from: helbels on August 27, 2012, 04:09:36 PM

Quote from: BeeBeads on August 27, 2012, 03:59:51 PM
I got mine last Friday!

Ditto.... sounds like it might be the new stuff that's iffy.

Well there you go.  I suppose it's small compensation that it isn't the same price as DH!

It's definitely a batch thing  :( The first batch I got, a couple of years ago, was much lighter - I was getting colours like Kaz's. The last two have been much darker and they stay that way, no matter what I do. The two beads on the left here are MCD and I used a brass stamp on them.

(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/Spookyjewel/Untitled-8.jpg)

Quite pretty...but not what I wanted. I loved this glass, so it's really disappointing!

you have some lovely colours there Amber,