I am looking to play with some silver rods, preferably effetre. what would be recommend for a relatively new lampworker :)
Sarah x
The only "silver" Effetre is Rubino Oro which will reduce to a silver lustre but is more usually used as a cranberry pink colour. There is a metallic black in Effetre which oxidises to a pewter-like lustre - as does Dark Silver Plum, which is another Effetre, but I suspect these aren't what you're looking for.
I think the silver glasses you might be wanting to use are from the American manufacturer Double Helix - these are not Effetre but are compatible with the Effetre range, having a COE of 104.
You can buy direct from them at http://www.doublehelixglassworks.com/ or from the usual UK suppliers.
There are other type of "silver" glass from other manuafacturers - for example - Northstar do a 104 range and they have names like Dalai Lama, Picasso, Van Gogh, etc. Many people love them but for a beginner I would possibly say that the Double Helix range is easier to use.
So, your silver glass comes in two kinds - if you want a metallic lustre you will want a Reducer. If you want funky colours you will want a Striker. Many of Double Helix's colour seem to be very similar (to me, at least). I would recommend the following, as to me they are the easiest to use: - Triton (reducer) for blue silver metallic, Aurae (reducer) for gold lustre, Helios (another gold lustre). Psyche (gorgeous petrol blue lustre which goes blue when encased), Ekho (both reduces and strikes) and Luna (strikes) give nice purples and blues. Clio (strikes and reduces) for lovely transparent pinks, Kalypso (strikes and reduces) for opaque pinks and Terra for soft rainbow colours. But of course there are loads more. Might be worth buying a "selection pack" and having a play, but use them sparingly as they are much more expensive than the usual colours because of the high metal content and because they are, well, "Designer" ;)
If you do a search on here there is bound to be a post on what striking and reducing is so I won't go through the whole thing again.
HTH :)
oooo thank you so much! Thats some great info :) *heads off to tuffnells*
Sarah x
Hmmmm.....s'okay. :D So, now will you tell me what's in the fish? ;)
Effetre released what they thoughtfully called Silver1, Silver2, silver3 upto 5 beginning of the year (described as chalcedony colours). I tried it at Flameoff without much success, I'm not even sure if you can still get it.
Did anyone get anything pretty from this glass without mixing it with DoubleHelix?
I got given one at Di's to play with - but I must admit it didn't look very promising. The previous owner didn't get any joy out of it either. Thanks for reminding me - I'll hunt it out and have a play - though whether it is silver #1 , #2. etc. - I don't know.
They are more for use as a base glass I think, in the nature of silver cinnamon, rattan, etc
I did some pictures of a few of the silvers: there were two I liked quite a lot, will try and find the pics.
Silver #1, #3 and #4. Liked 1 and 3, this obviously isn't the way to use 4! Got very hot winding on, then shaped and cooled so any striking should happen, then reduced and encased in 006. I only have 1 rod of each.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8297/7993789764_3a269de909_m.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalorlo/7993789764/) (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8445/8001240106_b32c5bb231_m.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalorlo/8001240106/) (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8457/8001240226_90275a6b7b_m.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalorlo/8001240226/)
Quote from: Redhotsal on October 29, 2012, 06:20:50 PM
Hmmmm.....s'okay. :D So, now will you tell me what's in the fish? ;)
ooo now that would be giving all my secrets away :P
Oh Heather they are stunning! I especially like the first one.
Sarah x
I agree with Sal that you'd be better off starting with Double Helix, though! ;D
Yeah, I like the first one but probably won't ever end up with any more! I didn't get any of them when Tuffnell's briefly had them. (Do have plenty of others to be getting along with, though ;))