Got Dichro and Goldstone....now what??

[sublimekate]

My lovely little parcel arrived from Martin this morning with all my new treats.....I'm giddy.

So I'm sitting in front of a triangle of Dichro and some sparkly rocks and I've got no idea what to do with them.

Sorry I feel like the forum pest at the moment, you guys are worth your weight in gold.

Kate xx

[Les]

Goldstone is ace when coated in clear and pulled into stringer

it also does funky stuff, used neat(un-encased) with silver ... leaf, foil... sis stringer... ...... chemistry I think ?

xx

[Wishing Wells Glass]

I can't help with the dichro as I ordered mine in strips.. lol.  You'll probably need to cut it into strips to use it for beads.  Just in case it helps, I shall offer what I learned at Sarah Hornik's class:  Always heat the dichro with the coated side facing AWAY from the flame then, when applying it to the bead, apply it coated side DOWN.  Some dichro is easy to tell which side is coated as it's textured.  Others are harder but (thank you to RedHotSal and Diana East!) if you look at the far edge or touch a pointed object (a pen) to the surface, you can tell which side is which.  If there's a gap in the reflection of the object, that's the coated side; no gap, non-coated.  I hope I got that right!  You can also lightly encase the sides of it as it can bubble up a bit.

As far as goldstone, this is one of my most favouritestestest things ever!!!  I make a punty with a clear rod and stick a chunk of goldstone to it.  I use a pair of pliers to hold the goldstone and press it gently into the softened end of the punty.  Do be careful as the goldstone *can* shock.  I've tried holding chunks of it with the pliers and wafting it in the upper part of the flame prior to attaching it to the punty but I'm pretty impatient.. heehee   I then heat it rather high in the flame, being careful not to let it get too hot as the copper particles can burn out (or something..!  I'm soooo not down with the technical side of things.. this is just what I do!)  Once it's softened, I use a pair of mashers to shape the goldstone end so that it is a similar size to the rod.  I do this over and over and over (and over and over) until the rod and goldstone bit are perfectly even with each other.  (I have NO idea what other people do!)  Then I use a thin clear rod to encase the goldstone end and, after I've finished, use that same rod to punty up to the other end.  So now I have two clear rods attached to the encased goldstone in the middle.  I heat the middle bit til it's nice and glowing (heat the snot out of it) and then I pull it out of the flame and wait a few seconds then pull.  I've noticed that it seems to firm up faster than a regular glass gather would so you might want to pull a little sooner than you would normally. 

I use that method to make encased goldstone stringer of about 2-3mm.  For thinner ones, I use the same process except I don't punty up the second rod.  I just make sure the end of the gather is covered with the clear, heat it up and pull it out with tweezers.  I will say this though:  the thinner stringers don't show up as well in a bead so I tend to stick with slightly thicker ones.

I hope this helps.  And I hope I didn't just make a fool out of myself by telling you stuff you already knew!!! lol

Love,
keiara

[sublimekate]

thanks Les, and Kiera not at all, I didn't think about it when I ordered it I just thought oooooo sparkly I'll have that, I'll try your method, unless it's a rod of glass I haven't got a glue 

Thank you for taking the time to put all that down, I'm off to have a play now.

Kate xxxx

[Diane]

Keiara - that's one of the best written explanations of how to deal with dichro and goldstone I've seen - stick with that Kate and you won't go far wrong.
Dianex

[Wishing Wells Glass]

glad to help   thanks, Diane!  I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy now!!  (And I need it as I burned myself quite bad today for the very first time.. booooo.  Note:  Do NOT attempt to score beads with a loose razor tool.  OUCH!)  lol

k
x

[sublimekate]

This is what I made following Kiera's excellent tut, thanks 

Side One


Side Two


I think it looks like an old vintage bead, I really like it, I encased the goldstone as you described and it worked a treat.

[turquoise]

yum beads.

[Wishing Wells Glass]

1.  WOW, it came out gorgeous!!  Really stunning bead, Kate
2.  Aww, you've made me blush.. honestly!  I'm so glad I could help!

Love,
k
x

[mad bunny]

They are pretty kate.   Redhotsal was kind enough to give me a chunk of gold stone a little while ago I must dig it out and play. 

[beads-on-toast]

if you encase your goldstone in dark amethyst colours, it really sparkles

[Trudi]

if you encase your goldstone in dark amethyst colours, it really sparkles

Hmmmmmmmmmm wow!

[Diane]

Lovely bead Kate.

[Studio Girl]

lovely beads Kate
Thank you so much Keiara the tut was so helpfull and easy to follow
Now I'm going to play

Margaret

[Wishing Wells Glass]

you're welcome!!  I was just explaining how I do things.. I'm glad it helped you guys! 

Had a go at encasing the goldstone in deep amethyst today.  It's pretty but I don't see much of a difference, to be honest.  Does it need to be more thickly encased?

k
x