Why is my silver foil going yellooooooooow? Grrrrrr!

[Clare Scott]

Just want to know...
It looks pants when I want it a nice shiny silver but i occasionally get a dirty yellow.
What am I doing wrong?

I`m on a HH with bulk Propane. (Hurrah!)

Clare

[LesleyMac]

It sounds like you are trying to encase it without melting it in.  If that is what you are doing then its probably because the encasing is just a touch too hot.  I have found this when encasing silver mesh, if you don't get it just right the mesh goes gold underneath which is not always what you want. You need to pause after heating the encasing rod, just a little because obviously its got to be hot enough to wrap round the bead.

Maybe some of the others will have different ideas but thats what I think.

[Clare Scott]

Thanks Lesley,

I thought it could be something like that, its when i encase with clear, i`m not sure how i can get the clear cool enough for it to still wrap around?

If I try to melt the silver in it just disappears. Are there any tips you can give me? Please and Thankyou!

Clare

[Mary]

I've read that Vetrofond or Lauscha are less yellow than Moretti with silver, and some people use very pale blue or aqua for a very silver effect. Might be worth a try?

[beadysam]

I've got a pink glass that goes yellow when I use silver near it...

[LesleyMac]

I do all my encasing with Laucha and still get the yellow sometimes.
I am sure it is the initial heat when you touch the encasing glass to the silver and the glass it too hot. Although the other thing it could be is the temperture of the bead you are encasing.  You have to experiment.
Just get the tip of the encasing rod hot, then pause a moment before you touch it to the silver and swipe
quickly. Once you have covered the silver you can get it as hot as you like and it won't matter, its just that first covering.  If you melt the silver in, especially on black, ivory or cobalt then reduce by turning the propane up or the oxygen down and you will see a beautiful shine on your bead.  You can then encase if you want or just leave it all silvery looking.  Hope this helps a bit.

[beads-on-toast]

i use stringer as the heat off a large rod burns the silver away in my case.
and you get good enough coverage

[Shirley]

I wondered about using stringer, but I can't pull it thicker than about 1.5mm. Any tricks?

[annasjewellerybox]

pull slower, and get a bigger gather of clear at the end of your rod, remove it from the flame before you start to pull, and then pull really slowly.

oh and PPP!

or i'm sure you can buy comercial clear stringer, that'd be quite thick.

good luck

[Clare Scott]

Think I`ve found the solution!
Well, it worked this morning....

1. roll a bead covered in silver foil.
2. Dont melt it in
3. Get some veryveryvery light blue transparent and put it over the foil.
4. Admire nice silvery silver!
5. stop admiring silvery silver
6. Continue making bead

[Bumpy Beads]

Woohoo Clare..... does this mean you have pics? 

[LesleyMac]

Excellent, amazing how we all perisist till we find an answer. 

[Shirley]

Just seen your reply Anna, and what you've suggested is exactly what I did, and it worked pretty well. Beads are cooling at the moment, so I'll see how the encasing looks in the morning.

Need to see pics, Clare!

[Bumpy Beads]

I had trouble with pulling too thin stringers. How are you pulling yours? Pliers? If so, try using a punty instead. I get rounder stringers this way. Or try melting the ends of two rods, then joining them together and forming a melted blob. Remove from flame and wait for two elephants, then pull the rods apart slowly and you should get a thicker stringer if you pull slowly enough.

[annasjewellerybox]

I'm glad it helped shirley, it took me ages to be able to make thick stringers, but once you get the hang of it there's no stopping you!