Encasing over fine silver - CiM competition heads up

[Jolene]

I made what looked to be a scrummy bead yesterday - CiM eggplant base, Beadysam lilac frit, droplets of fine silver encased in Sals Laucha clear - it twinkled at me as  put it in the kiln and came out with all poo brown around the silver droplets........

.....it is possible encase over fine silver droplets isn't it? Any ideas what went wrong?

Jo x

[garishglobes]

Maybe something in the purples reacting with the silver?

[sparrow]

Can't check right now Jo, but somebody recently did a test on what clear glass is best for encasing silver, with pics (I'm supposed to be working ) If I get a chance, I'll do a search later HTH

[garishglobes]

Here you go:

http://www.corinabeads.com/pages/clear.php

Maybe its an evil combination of the two! I did notice that CIM plum was having some strange effects on my silver glass yesterday..but then, I guess it could be reacting to one of the other elements in it?

[Trudi]

perhaps you could put a thin encasing layer over the frit - then put the silver down and re-encase just the silver?

[Jolene]

Thanks Guys - that is a really useful Corrina article.

Good idea Trudi, I will give that a try 

[Trudi]

But you need to show us the pics .................. can't wait!

[pixiewillow]

I always have a huge problem encasing frit over cim they always crack 
given up now 

[Wishing Wells Glass]

I have heard, and it's been my experience, that Lauscha is, unfortunately, the worst clear to encase silver.  I use Lauscha clear as my main clear so this is a problem for me from time to time.  The advice I've received from several reputable and experienced lampworkers is to encase the bead in a thin layer of pale aqua!  I haven't tried this trick just yet but I thought I'd share just in case you hadn't heard of this

Good luck!

x

[Jolene]

No problem with cracking Lucy, just "rust".......the pale aqua tip seems worth a shot, thanks Keiara

here is a snap.....sorry about the fuzzyness

[garishglobes]

Oooh, well, still looks like a nice bead to me...but the reaction with something is quite clear!
I too have a problem encasing many CIM colours and some silver glasses, particularly with Lauscha, though it does seem to help if I reduce the silver quantity/increase the clear layer.
I wonder if the pale aqua has something in it that keeps the silver "cleaner" or whether it is just a barrier layer?

[Shirley]

Why not have another go, but use the silver on top of the clear encasing? It would create much the same effect, but should be a bit more predictable

[clasicat]

The same think happened to me today I made a purple base rolled in silver foil then used porcelein and CIM grape encased it and when it came out of the vemiculite it has rusty looking spots under the encasing 

[Jolene]

Hi all, this problem of mine has got thinking..........
And now the Bab is a couple of months old and the wiki is up and running I feel a new research project coming on.

I have contacted Kathy Seamands at CiM and I am thrilled to announce that she has agreed to sponsor a

CiM "show and do tell" Competition

with a CiM glassy prize. She has her thinking cap on just at the minute as to what form this prize will take.

I aim to launch the competition in the next couple of days and it will last 3 months, the same as the Vetro competition.

More info coming soon

[dinah46]

OOoooooh sounds exciting