Can't make fancy glass work! :(

[Marijane]

Frustratingly I know I can get results with terra, but how did I do it?  I just can't get consitancy.  I have got some lovely turquoise greens, blues with hints of pinks, but 90% of the beads are not usable with nasty yellow browns edging to black.  (OK some are completely black!)  For me, once it has gone a nasty colour I cannot get it back.  It seems very sensitive to the quality of the flame.  I can be on a roll, but if I turn off my torch and then go back to it again and the beads are rubbish.  It even seems to stain my encasing glass.  Any ideas?  I'm on a betta and oxycon.

Mari

[glassworks]

het mari, i've been playing here for a bit and seem to get consistent results...

i heat up the base clear and get a nice bead shape... i lay on the terra but i heat the rod up enough for it to go clear as i do so.. i melt it in making sure it goes completely clear and then pop it out of the flame to let it go completely black..

i VERY GENTLY heat it back up with only the tip of the flame till i see a faint glow and then take it out to check... by very very gently heating it like this i get the very dark blues and then on through the greens and reds and pinks all the way back to the light caramels...

i DO NOT encase - although others seem to have better reslts with encasing first before melting the whole ball back to clear?..