Echo

[chipperpottery]

What Happened ! I made a couple of lovely beads from Kates tutorial, using Echo, the tried making a few more yesterday and all I got was Poo!
Didn't do anything different, so why?

Rita

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51048389@N02/4897288725/

This is the first couple that I made.

[SilverGems89]

That doesnt look poo to me Rita!
Kate did say to me because i use a hot head it might not be necessary to reduce the ekho a second time, so if you have a slightly reducing flame chemistry you might want to try skipping the second reduction stage and seeing if you get more satisfactory results that way?

[Kalorlo]

It might also have to do with where you put them in the kiln - they might have been in a hotter area and so struck further while they were in there.

[sublimekate]

Poo!! No Way  

I think it's a lovely bead, you've got some gorgeous MOP effects there.

Silver glass is touchy though, you can often spoil the effect by over reducing it, this is something that's tricky to know if you've got it right or not, with ekho I wait for it to cool and start to darken and then literally one or two quick spins in a light reduction flame gets me the blue iridescence, varying levels of reduction will get you very different effects. It doesn't like too much heat once you've encased it which is a common reason for muddy effects, although yours doesn't look muddy at all. I keep the whole process as cool as possible by shaping the bead with a doming block in between encasing layers. I get an initial thin layer of encasing over the silver glass just outsite the flame, I gently melt this in about 2/3 out in the flame shaping in the doming block intermittently to help it along a little. I then I add more clear where I need it and repeat the process until I've got the shape I want. There are probably quicker ways, it's just a kind of ritual I have fallen in to and I never do it any differently now. It's fussy about the clear you use too, lauscha as fabulous as it is does not play very nicely at all with silver glass, Northstar precision clear is wonderful but like rocking horse poo to get hold of, the ---004 effetre clear is not clever either, I always use effetre 006 in the absence of precision which is more often than not.

When I first started playing with silver glass I found it all very disappointing and gave up initially, I didn't go back to it for quite a while and practiced for hours and hours trying to get the effects I had seen and admired so much from other people, it really did take me a long time to get comfortable with it but eventually the practice does pay off  

I tried to make a video last weekend but I need to get a tripod sorted I just couldn't get it set up right   I'll have nother go though and hopefully that will help if you're still having problems.

I also agree about kiln temperatures, I never had a problem with my SC2, then I got a MAXI form kilncare and suddenly all my silver glass beads came out looking differnet! The reason was that the MAXI was running at quite a bit higher than the temperature displayed and I had to modify the programme. I garage at 500c, ramp to 510 and anneal from there. This ISN'T the display temperature, it's the actual temperature in the kiln, I say this because your kiln temperature display won't necessarily be the actual temperature in the kiln. But modifying the kiln temperature can sometimes address problems with silver glass for some people, although you would need to ensure that you are still annealing within the correct range and that the beads have actually annealed. You can do this by making some clear test beads of varying sizes, run them through the annealing cycle and then view them through polorising filters to check that there is no stress in the bead. Sally Carver has posted a number of threads on this if anyone wants more information I would be happy to find the link.

hth. Kate xx

[chipperpottery]

No the picture of the bead is my best one, that one I am very pleased with. the others are poo colour with no nice reduction.

[Pegasus]

I also agree about kiln temperatures, I never had a problem with my SC2, then I got a MAXI form kilncare and suddenly all my silver glass beads came out looking differnet! The reason was that the MAXI was running at quite a bit higher than the temperature displayed and I had to modify the programme. I garage at 500c, ramp to 510 and anneal from there. This ISN'T the display temperature, it's the actual temperature in the kiln, I say this because your kiln temperature display won't necessarily be the actual temperature in the kiln. But modifying the kiln temperature can sometimes address problems with silver glass for some people, although you would need to ensure that you are still annealing within the correct range and that the beads have actually annealed. You can do this by making some clear test beads of varying sizes, run them through the annealing cycle and then view them through polorising filters to check that there is no stress in the bead. Sally Carver has posted a number of threads on this if anyone wants more information I would be happy to find the link.

hth. Kate xx

Thanks Kate for this info, I too have a maxi kiln and do get very hit and miss results with silver glass. I will reduce my temp as you suggest. Did it make any difference with reduction glass results used as surface decoration?

Thanks for sharing!!

[sublimekate]

I also agree about kiln temperatures, I never had a problem with my SC2, then I got a MAXI form kilncare and suddenly all my silver glass beads came out looking differnet! The reason was that the MAXI was running at quite a bit higher than the temperature displayed and I had to modify the programme. I garage at 500c, ramp to 510 and anneal from there. This ISN'T the display temperature, it's the actual temperature in the kiln, I say this because your kiln temperature display won't necessarily be the actual temperature in the kiln. But modifying the kiln temperature can sometimes address problems with silver glass for some people, although you would need to ensure that you are still annealing within the correct range and that the beads have actually annealed. You can do this by making some clear test beads of varying sizes, run them through the annealing cycle and then view them through polorising filters to check that there is no stress in the bead. Sally Carver has posted a number of threads on this if anyone wants more information I would be happy to find the link.

hth. Kate xx

Thanks Kate for this info, I too have a maxi kiln and do get very hit and miss results with silver glass. I will reduce my temp as you suggest. Did it make any difference with reduction glass results used as surface decoration?

Thanks for sharing!!

Hiya Bev, yes it did, everything was a bit muddy and overcooked if you know what I mean, I didn't know what was going on at first and I had a massive panic attack 

I run my Maxi with display temperatures  as follows:

Full to 480
Hold 12hrs
Full to 500
Hold 1hr 30mins - Just to cover me if I make big focals
Ramp down at 60c per hour to 320 END

I ramp down to 320 on the assumption that the kiln is running higher than displayed and I want to make sure I'm well past the annealing threshold. I tested beads that I'd placed in different parts of the kiln ( as the temp in the maxi also varies across the kiln!) with polorising filters on this schedule and I would re comend anyone setting a similar programme do the same to make sure they're actually annealing.

I know that Lee made some modifications to the MAXI so people with newer MAXI's may have a more accurate display temperature but I'm guessing they still have a temperature variance across the kiln which has to be taken in to consideration. I love my maxi, even though there is this issue with the display temp being less than accurate, this is true of many kilns. Lee was very honest with me about it and helped me out in the beginning, once I got the schedule right I've never looked back.

hth Kate xxxxx

[chipperpottery]

Hi Kate, here is a picture of the other beads. I have a paragon SC2 kiln.
I was so pleased with my first attempt, but these you can see came out muddy looking.

Rita

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51048389@N02/4916353892/