I recently played with some bicarbonate of soda on a light pale grey Effetre opaque and while the bubbles formed the were large and left great craters. What I'm wanting to achieve is more of an aged pitting effect. I want to etch them too. Grateful for any suggestions.
Gay x
Could you roll it on spikes and then heavily etch the bead?
I have poked at glass in the past, but it's not the look I'm after. I might try tumbling with stones?
Found this
http://www.anndavisstudio.com/scavo.html
Wow Trudi, thanks for that, that's just the sort of thing I was after. X
That "scavo" method looks great - thanks for posting the link. Who's going to enter one of those in the current monthly theme challenge? I was going to suggest simply tumbling with coarse silicone carbide grit - that's what I use to get a more pitted finish - a more authentic sea-glass effect - as compared to chemical etching or tumbling with fine grits. But scavo looks a lot more fun!
I also discovered the Ann Davis tutorial when I wanted an aged effect on beads. I wanted to hear about how other lampworkers got on with it, and discovered this thread on Lampwork Etc:
http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9579
I know it's an old thread, but after reading about how dangerous heating potassium nitrate can be, I decided that my poor old lungs would be better off without this technique.
I can sometimes get a pitted surface using enamels (often unintentionally!) and tumbling with coarse grit helps as well.
Jane
Might be worth asking Josephine about these - I don't know if it's the sort of look you were aiming for?
http://www.frit-happens.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=36353.msg583699#msg583699
It's good to get the warning about potential safety issues... Thanks for that Jane.
I wouldn't necessarily rule out using it, but I'd want to do some more research first and find out exactly what the hazards are. The same goes for etching solutions (active ingredient Hydrofluoric Acid - look it up if you don't know it). These things can be used safely, but you need to inform yourself in order to protect yourself.
I'm interested in the idea mentioned in that Lampwork Etc thread of using silicone carbide grit on the bead in the flame - that might be worth looking into...
Quote from: mizgeorge on May 20, 2014, 10:43:12 AM
Might be worth asking Josephine about these - I don't know if it's the sort of look you were aiming for?
http://www.frit-happens.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=36353.msg583699#msg583699
I did this course, (brilliant!) and we used bicarb. For the little black pitted bits we made fine frit (heat a blob, mash it, heat it and dunk it in a dish of water) from Intense Black and used that.
The same course is on at the Old Kennels, Dunkeswell this November, but I've just seen that it's full. http://www.theoldkennels.co.uk/programmecurrent.html
Nick
I've just looked at that course at the Old Kennels and it looks fantastic - pity there's a waiting list. I would definitely do it if there was another one.
I remember looking at Josephine's beads and thinking how lovely they were.
Jane
Thanks for the replies, I think I'll try baking soda first, I seem to remember using it by mistake once when wanting the bubbles technique and it going all white and cloudy, that was on ant green transparent - looked good but at the time wasn't what I was expecting. Thanks all xxx
You don't need a lot, Gay. For bubbles you roll the bead in bicarb and enclose without heating the bicarb (sorry, I can hear grandmothers sucking eggs!), but for this you roll the hot bead in a little bicarb and heat. If you want more you can do it again. Julia (Pandanimal) uses it quite a lot, and her pebble beads are lovely.
JanieD, that was a great course! If they do it again you should definitely have a go. I never actually finished my necklace - I was going to do it at home, and made a few of the beads I hadn't done on the course, and remade a few I wasn't happy with, but I guess I'm too much of a butterfly, I went on to something else ::). I must finish it one day. It was strange, we were all making the same thing, and all made the same beads (the main, interesting ones), so you might expect all our necklaces to look much the same. They all had the "look", but they were all different. I suppose that's because we only had 3 days, and Julie had much longer, to work on them over and over until they were an exact copy. I admire her patience!
Nick
I wonder if I used too much bicarbonate last time it formed bubbles, but because the glass is opaque you could nt see them, they were under the surface, will have another play.
I'm sure I've seen another tutorial somewhere .... quite possibly an old soda lime times one!
I'm not at my pc but I think it might have been in this issue
http://www.sodalimetimes.com/back/0313/0313.jpg
I can check later if you want x
It's on page 40 of that issue. I was looking at Lampwork Etc and also saw a mention of adding fine sand to the bead's surface. I couldn't find a picture and have never tried it but will do later today. If it works, I'll post a picture here.
Heres the promised picture, (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24134598/409485210.jpg)
I didn't use a lot of the fine sand and only tried to put it on the bottom of the bead in the hopes of a bit of contrast. I'll try again with a lot more sand next time.
That's great Pat, I hadn't seen any pictures of the sand method either, and glad you've tested it out. One to add to my list I think.
Jane
Brilliant, thanks Pat and Trudi, I'll get some sand from the beach tomorrow - see how that goes! X
Last bead, covered with a LOT of fine sand. The base was a stony coloured glass but I can't find it's name and the fine sand is from a builders yard. I already had the sand for something else. It's fine enough to go through a plastic tea strainer. (http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/24134598/409490480.jpg)
Nice one Pat - looks a bit like a potato croquette waiting to go into the frying pan... After rolling in sand, has it gone back in the flame - and for how long? I'm wondering what would happen if you continued melting it in.
I kept reheating and adding more sand. I heated until it wouldn't accept more sand, must have been at least 10 x until it felt that it wouldn't accept any more sand. At that point it seemed that excess sand was falling off and burning. I might try a mixture of enamel and sand to see what the effect would be.
That has an interesting texture Pat. Does the flame soften the sand grain edges, or would it be rather abrasive to wear?
Sand and enamel sounds intriguing.
Didn't go down to the beach today - typical bank hol weather - so will have to wait to play, but Pat as ever you are so inspiring. Thank you for sharing. Xxx