striking /reducing??

[flowerjasper]

morning,
was looking at rods last night, some of martin tuffnells were striking colours, clear rods that were coloured when heated, is that what striking colour means 
i have some iris orange reichenbach 104,  i love it as i get different colours each time, i got a lavendery colour yesterday, any rule  to gettin the different colours?
if you havent dropped off to sleep with all these questions,  reducing glass      could someone explain to me please ta   

[Mary]

Hiya! You are right about striking! The colour comes from crystals growing in the glass. Transparent red, yellow and orange, rubino are common ones. They colour up when hot, but if you work them longer they go clear again. Don't panic! The trick to striking is to let the bead cool, as if you are ready to put it away, then gently warm again. The colour should bloom.

Careful not to burn them, red especially can look muddy, and pinks can burn out and lose all the colour permanently.

Raku is unpredictable! The best thing to do is to pay close attention to what you are doing, and repeat as closely as you can. You should be able to learn how to repeat the effects you want, but it's hard to explain exactly what is different.

Reducing glass is metals coming to the surface, for lustre or metallic effects. You use reducing glass like normal to make the bead. Once you are finished, let it cool like striking, then change your flame to a reducing one (foil collar on a Hot Head, turn up the propane on an oxy/propane torch). It's a big yellow flame. Quickly roll the bead in the end of the flame, at arm's length, and the effects should appear. Overdoing it leaves the bead sooty, or melts the effects again.

A bit long winded, but I hope that helps!

[flowerjasper]

thanks so much,
will play  ,
just starting to realise how much there is to learn and what a fascinating medium glass isn
sandy

[Amber]

Thanks for that Mary, it was a great help to me too!