Bubbles :o

[Shirl]

I was making a bead today and something happenned to my glass that I never saw before, bubbles came on the end of my rod, I was making a white base bead so kept using the glass and the bubbles kept coming and formed into a large bubble then it burst on the end of the rod!

Is this normal? it was CIM white "peace".

[sarah t]

 when it happens to me its usually because i am working to hot

but also could be there is something in the glass (bead release?) , dirty rods or very occassionally thats the way the glass behaves or is a dodgy rod

[Trudi]

It sounds like you're not heating your rod before you add your glass. You  need to heat all of the beadrelease too, nit just the area that you're making the bead on. Try that and see if that helps x

[Shirl]

I think it must be a dodgy rod. As I was heating the rod the bubble was forming away from the very end of the rod.

As shown in the photo the bubbles were forming up inside the rod.  It looks like a ghost

[dinah46]

I've had a similar experience with one batch of Cim Peace.  It's usually a lovely well behaved glass but one bundle I have hisses and spits

[Redhotsal]

Sometimes you get a long bubble trapped in the glass which gets pulled out when the rod is pulled at the factory. You can see them sometimes in clear - but of course you wont' see it in a white rod. As the glass is melted the air starts to get freed from the long bubble and this is what happens. Doesn't happen very often - it's juts a fluke. That's probably the biggest bubble that I've ever seen of this type though!

You will get rods which are shocky if there are air bubbles trapped in the glass like this - look at the end of a very shocky rod and sometimes you'll see the little air bubbles. Unfortunately these rods will be shocky even if you try and anneal them first.

You're much more likely to trap air bubbles in very soft glass like white or ivory - that may be why you're (Dinah) having trouble with it being shocky.

[dinah46]

It's just a dodgy bundle of bubbly peace Sal, all the other peace rods are fine.  It's just about usable with care.  I think if I got my loupe to it I'd see the offending long bubble

[Trudi]

ohh err - I've never come across that before!