Striking

[Dragonvine]

SO at Flame Off I bought some gorgeous Reinbach "Magic" and some "tibet", and the Off-Mandrel man (sorry I didn't catch his name!) said the process to get the colours out was called "striking"

Now, of course, a week later I have forgotten everything he said! Can anyone give me any Details/tips and tricks about the process?

It was very expensive glass, so I'm really nervous to try it!

[Trudi]

this link shoud help

http://www.doublehelixglassworks.com/DH_guides_striking.pdf

to check if the glow has really gone - try putting the bead under your table (don't burn your legs!)

[sarah t]

i had a very handy striking reducing book mark in my flame off  goodie bag ........i have spare one if you want it ......but it is same as what trudie posted so you could make your own lol

[Kaz]

And as it is expensive glass, consider using a cheap glass core (eff 004 or similar) to make it go further and to make the bead a bit stiffer to work with.
Good Luck!
Kazx

[Dragonvine]

Thanks for the DH page! I'll print it out and stick it on my wall so I won't forget

And to make the core, do I just wrap the Striking glass around the clear then pull stringers?

[Dragonvine]

I just tried striking the "Magic" glass, but I think my HH isn't hot enough Has anyone striked on a HH before?

[Veebee]

I'm on a HH and Magic is a bit of a pig. You can do it, but you have to heat the bally snot out of it, then get it cool qiute quickly on a brass or aluminium marver, then gently reheat in the back of the flame. You may need repeated cycles of reheating and cooling, but you can get it to go. You could try making frit out of the rod of Magic too, it's easier to get frit white hot so you might have more success. I'll have to have another go with Tibet, it did nothing for me at first, but I'm a bit older and wiser (yeah, right!) now 
Reichenbach multicolour dark is a good striker to try on a HH, because that one strikes really easily.
Good luck!

[garishglobes]

If frit works, stringer might too?

It is all about getting a thin layer somehow, so that the heat gets in quickly.