Hi guys
What type of glass is Black Nebula? How do you have to work it in the flame?
Hil x
reducing glass... works really well with hotheads, and obviously with dual fuel torches too... lots of silver - lots of reactions.. i can get it to strike like highly polished chrome very easily, which is funky....
as frit it is also useful to add "bling" on top of the usual suspects (ivory, clear, black, opal yellow)... there are quite a few pics lurking here - and on lampworketc too?..
Is this the same as intense black that I've read about or something different?
Its very very different to intense black and my golly it is stunning! Its a reducing glass and does funky things like this:
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2112/2299653471_61b003d935_o.jpg)
What gorgeous beads and colours! I need black nebula, who makes it?
Wow! I need some too (badly) !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Q's got some...... ;D
I got mine from Howaco glass (http://www.howacoglasssupplycompany.com ) and made use of the $=£ exchange rate so it was nice n cheap! :D if when you checkout tell her you dont mind her cutting the rod in half, she will pop stuff in a priority mail envelope - I bought black nebula rods, green envy rods and some tools and the postage only cost me £5!
hawaco glass is fantastic, i haven't bought any black nebula but Jamie Lynn is so helpful, my last parcel got stuck in America's slow post after christmas and i emailled Jamie Lynn and she was able to tell me very quickly exactly when she sent it and when and which airport it had left America from and when my stuff arrived she's added the free pot of bead release even though my order was $10 under the amount to get one, what a star!!!! ;D
Just had a quick peek at Howaco's website, looks like some good stuff in there (not come across them before - duly bookmarked to go back and delve deeper tomorrow) but there're a lo-o-ong way away! I need some very quick! :)
Who and where are Q's please? (sorry, I'm new).
I just did a search on "Q", there are lots of words and quite a few members with a "Q" in it. S/he isn't going to send me to an alternative dimension (a la Star Trek the next Generation ...)
Scroll up the page Soo, Q is Quinton of Glassworks ;D
He's part of the furniture round here and he thinks he's in trouble if we use his full name!
:D :D :D
Just bought some stuff from Howacos - pre-made stringers at very silly prices (about 20+ for just over $2 - compared to Martin's at 5 for £1) and also some of the effetre opal colours and some thicker mandrels for a play. While the postage was a bit pricey at around $30 - it still worked out very cheaply overall and I managed for some reason to slide through under the customs radar this time for a change!!!
Kaz
Thanks for the background info, Julie! :)
Gosh, it is expensive, suddenly I don't need it quite as badly as I did before! I want to try intense black first and wait til I have a good week on sales for black nebula, maybe I'll just get some frit and see what that does.
The only glass I have in my collection at the moment is Effetre - it'll all get mixed up when I move house soon so I am keeping things simple, will black nebula frit go with it?
Just looked up the COE and answered my own question (don't worry, I talk to myself all the time ....)
:-\
Quote from: *rowanberry* on March 07, 2008, 08:06:45 PM
Its very very different to intense black and my golly it is stunning! Its a reducing glass and does funky things like this:
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2112/2299653471_61b003d935_o.jpg)
WOW!!! I love these! Would a newbie like me be able to make them go this colour? Would I have to melt the glass in a neutral flame. Let the bead cool a bit, then turn up propane and flick it through top of yellow flame? Would the blues come then or in the kiln?
Soz if I'm being a bit derrrrr about this!!
Hil x
Yes, come on give us a clue!!!!! :)
My black nebula frit arrived yesterday ThankQ Glassworks!
So, I've had two days at it, I've only made 8-10 beads with it (some are in the kiln now cooling off) and all I've succeeded in doing (with my hothead) is making beads with black bits on them. Not unattractive in itself but nothing like the ones posted here.
I have managed to get some frits to reduce in the past but nothing I try on black nebula works. So far I have superheated it to the point of the glass gravity drooping so I've got lines not dots, cooling and reheating gently. Then I tried the same superheating, cooling and reheating fast. Heating normally, cooling down and reheating very gently (ditto and superheating at the end). Repeated heating, cooling, heating, cooling. I also made a bead melted the frit in and then flattened it and reheated; that's usually a sure-fire way for me to get some kind of reducing reaction but zero!!! How do you do it guys??
Are you OK Soo - sounds like you went into a bit of a meltdown there :o
Kaz
:) I must admit it I was in a melting frenzy this morning for half an hour but I'm fine now!
I don't seem to have the knack of reduction at all - it's normally an accident if it happens for me! I have read so many times that it's easy to do with a Hothead because all you've got is a reduction flame when using Propane, it's mildly irritating when it isn't easy! :D
It's probably one of those things that will just 'click' like stringers did.
Hi Soo,
I haven't yet had the joy of trying Black Nebula, but on my trusty hot head I used to have a tin-foil collar that I used to cover the air intake holes on the side of the torch. I made it with a tin foil handle on the side so I could slide it up and down to make a stronger reduction flame whenever needed. I think this is quite a common modification that I probably picked up from the lovely people on this forum at the time! I don't know if this would work on your Black Nebula, but it may be worth a try? Just be careful not to overdo holding it in a very reducing flame as you tend to get a very sooty bead that way :-\
Hope that helps. x
That sounds very interesting and a very useful tip, thanks!
I saw a photograph of a Hothead recently hereabouts - might have been yours! - and I nearly asked what was going on with the tinfoil. I want to try this NOW (I am a very impatient person!) but the kiln is cooling off from this morning's attempts. I'll give it another go tomorrow and report back.
Lol! Good for you Soo! I don't know if it'll be any good for your black nebula, but you could try the same tip on any reducing glass. Just watch out that you don't accidently touch the torch when you are fiddling with the foil for the last few flashes through!
Indeed! I have made my foil cover with a handle (excellent idea) so it's easy to pull on and off so I'm all set. (sigh) Why does a watched kiln never cool?!
Hi Soo - It sounds like you're trying to strike it rather than reduce it :)
If you're on a hothead then follow Hazel's advice with a tin foil collar :) Shape the bead first then just waft it in & out of the flame to get the colours.
If you're on a minor you can just turn up the propane (or turn down the oxygen) to get the yellow flame.
Sarah
The other way to get a reduction on a hothead is to put the bead in exactly the wrong place - the dark cone near the bottom of the flame. Works really well ;D
Gosh, I haven't put a bead there in months! Something else to try tomorrow, thanks all, watch this space!
Oooh, can't wait to see the results of your experiments! :D
I have achieved intentional reduction! I'm amazed how quick it happens! Either method is working for me (tin foil or putting the bead directly in the Hot head cone). I now have a variety of different shiny beads using black nebula frit on different coloured backgrounds. The amount of flashing (oo-er!) you do through the flame affects the colour? (or am I imagining it?) They're not quite as exciting as Hil's beads but who knows with more playing? I will take some photographs and post the evidence soon!
Off topic but a related query I have is that I quite often get an accidental unwanted reduction on my orange blossom frit (which I love unreduced) usually when I squish the bead for lentils/tabs and then reheat to get rid of the tool marks. Apparently (I read in the Kimberley Adams book) you can reverse the reaction a limited number of times by reheating in a neutral flame. I haven't managed to do that using my Hot head, I assume I will be able to when I move to dual fuel? Or is it the case that when I am using dual fuel, I won't get accidental reduction at all?
Quote......They're not quite as exciting as Hil's beads but who knows with more playing? I will take some photographs and post the evidence soon!
Wish they were my beads, but alas they're Claire's (Rowanberry's)!!!!
It's been an interesting read and I must get some of this glass soon.
Hil x
Soo... I can't really remember too much about working with a HH, but, yeh.... on a duel fuel torch you can 'clean' the bead by wacking up the oxygen for a bit and bathing the bead in the flame for a mo :)
xxx
Ooops! Sorry to Claire and thanks to Les!
I am going to try the oven glove trick to cover up the holes on the Hot head tomorrow (which I read about somewhere else on the forum yesterday - if I wasn't so lazy I would link to it!) to see if it gives any different results.
I haven't forgotten I promised pics ... had headache all day today so no beads or photographs (no sympathy please, it was my own fault!) ::)
I've taken some photographs of the results I got from the black nebula frit but they haven't turned out well. They're not so exciting that I think "ooo, must make a set of those" so believe me, you're not missing anything!
When I get my gas this afternoon, I am going to have another try at making some more beads with it.
I have had another go with my black nebula frit now I have my dual fuel system. I was never that impressed with what I got with my hot head. I got several sooty beads at first, I burnt off the soot and put them in the kiln thinking oh well, just black dots and lines then ...
I had a few more goes with the propane turned up a bit more and the beads got less sooty, in the end my reduction flame had to be quite big to get anything I was happy with - is this typical, do you have to have the flame going half way up to the shed ceiling (I was eyeing it nervously!)
One of the beads looked great when I put it in the kiln, I am so hoping it will still look as nice when it comes out. I haven't got anywhere to take photographs sorted out since I moved house about a month ago, this will be a good excuse to do it!