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CIM Cirrus Woes

Started by *rowanberry*, June 28, 2007, 03:05:45 PM

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*rowanberry*

Okay I give up and am never going to work with this glass again, I've got more cracked and messed up beads using it that without it! and I now missed out on a days work due to it - and not too happy about this, its my only income and its pretty heartbreaking to see nice beads ruined :-( I've only got 50% of the beads I made that I can sell.

I even annealled it at the higher reccommended temp, garaging (not bulk) and gave it such a good soak... but it was having massive cracking problems

I tried using it only with other CIM glass.... 50% of those beads have thermal cracks...

I tried using it just on its own, it cracked...

Whenever i work sculpturally with it, just on its own, its cracks - even in the flame as i worked on it when it hadnt been taken out of it!

It seems to hate being pressed and will crack straight after being pressed.

It even has cracked in the flame for me, even when it hadnt had been removed from the flame.

So basically it cracked on me both working with it - and after annealling.

I dont know if this was a dodgy batch? but everything I tried with it ended in disaster. The rods were incredibly shocky too (on par with anice white) and were as stiff to work with as boro - it really didnt like being marvered or pressed and it was so hard to do. This was nothing like the Cirrus batch I had used before :-(

and weirdly, I tried a rod of cirrus that Martin had sent me to compare it (this Batch was from Q)... totally different! was much wetter to work with and totally totally opaque straight from the rod, no striking either! in fact was nothing at all like the batch I bought from Q.

Anyone else had similar problems?

Its such as a shame as the glass is REALLY nice to look at, and the original batch I had I really liked.
Claire

glassworks

#1
i will get kathy to come on over and have a read through this for you - she is very good at staying on top of technical issues with her glass..

cheers

Q

our new CiM is all supplied by martin, if it was bought from us a while ago it was a batch that came from mike frantz... it may be a batch thing - but then please keep one rod free so we can ship it back to kathy to have it checked out.. fortunately with glass like this it is really easy to trace batch problems if they occur..

*rowanberry*

It was bought a while back, so I guess it was the batch from Mike Frantz - as its a totally different kettle of fish to Martin's sample that he sent me. and also different to the very first batch I bought from you (in fact all different cirruses have been very different!).

I dont have a spare rod of it as I used it all up desperately in vain trying to get a set done successfully- and 2 rods completely shattered in the flame. hey, i can give you the shattered glass from it - its still all over my desk :D

I probs have a spare little stubby though? very small though - as i work with hemostats to get the most from  my rods :D
Claire

glassworks

#3
oh that's cool - it obviously would help us if we had a few bits to get back to kathy to check out.. i can reship a batch of cirrus to you  which comes from the latest shipment to replace the dodgy lot?..

send me a pm if you would like me to do that, i'll square up with kathy later...

cheers

;)

edit - in fact, i'm being a bit dim - your package is here that goes out tomorrow, i have added a double pack of the latest cirrus and martin, kathy and i can sort the details out later... we cannot help with the beads you've lost, but hopefully this will be a solid batch for you...

♥♥Tan♥♥

Oh Claire, what a pain, I didnt have any problems with my cirrus but I had a whole batch of moretti skin pink exactly like that, it only had to look at the flame and it exploded

*rowanberry*

Oh thanks Q - you didnt have to do that!!!!!!!!! wow - thanks!
I'll get some bits off of my desk and keep them aside.

Cant wait to try this new one - as it does look nice over CIM leaky pen - and looks like mists against a night sky.
Claire

*rowanberry*

Oh one thing I forgot to say as well - it also seemed to dislike having stringerwork attached to it! Even well melted in raised stringer pinged off after annealling.

heres one of the few surviving pieces (not the best cylinder as it wouldnt be marvered much for love nor money!). But it shows the nice cirrus on leaky pen effect :-) But i dont think its safe selling it in case it cracks later or that stringerwork issue.

Claire

♥♥Tan♥♥

ooo send it to me and I'll tell you if it cracks :D ;)

*rowanberry*

I got a bigger version you can have if you dont mind that it has cracks in the bottom?

(me waits for a smutty comeback..)
Claire

glassworks

nonononoonononononoonononono she MUST send it to ME for scientific analysis in case it cracks!!!!

;D ;D ;D ;D

Billie

Damn!  I was going to offer to take it off your hands  >:(  Beaten to it by the Phantom Tan Tan again!!  ;D ;D

♥♥Tan♥♥

LOOK you all KNOW I LOVE CRACKS OF ALL KINDS especially THE RUDE ONES ;D ;D

yes Claire I would happily accept alllll of your cracked beads....and love them forever ;D :-*

*rowanberry*

TAN! i just saw your sig!!!!!!!

thats made me larf!
Claire

♥♥Tan♥♥


Kathy Seamands

Dear Claire,

I am sorry to hear about your difficulties working with Cirrus.  Cirrus is what I refer to as our most "temperamental" glass.  (Please note that includes Halong Bay and Peacock Green as all three are the same base formula.)

We engineered Cirrus in response to customer requests for an opal milk glass like the difficult-to-obtain moonstones.  We tested Cirrus over 50 times before we could get the working properties to be what customers wanted:  no matter how long you leave it in the flame it will stay translucent, and you can control the level of milkiness by striking it.  It was difficult to formulate a glass that would stay translucent even after annealing.

Unfortunately the downside is that Cirrus, Halong Bay, and Peacock Green are tricky to work with.  Here are the major points, though if you are interested you can read more here:  http://www.creationismessy.com/Color/08Neutral/Cirrus.aspx.
•   Work hotter.
•   Put your beads in the annealer hot.
•   Adjust the annealing temperature. (The recommended annealing range for Cirrus is 970-1040° F / 520-560° C.)
•   Stick to smaller mandrels.

We subject Messy Color to rigorous compatibility testing at the factory and would never ship anything that does not pass our tests.  However, occasionally a section of the cane pull can be more shocky, the bottom and top of the pot can be different, etc.  This may account for why you see differences in your purchases.

It is true that during my visit to the factory in April we upgraded the quality of all Messy Color (and Martin's shipment reflects those improvements).  I am fastidious about testing and as we learn more about our glass we make every effort to improve.  This is entirely due to our most excellent testers and customers like yourself who provide detailed information about the working properties of Messy Color, so I appreciate that you took the time to detail the challenges you faced with Cirrus.   

We are currently making more investments in measuring the working properties of all 104 colors so we will continue to improve the quality of Messy Color as we learn even more.

It is the CiM mission to add new colors to your existing 104 palette that are premium quality, consistent from batch to batch, and readily available.  Since we are working on unique colors, all Messy Color is going to work extremely differently, even from each other.

I hope this information helps.  Claire, sounds like you have tried most of the above tips already.  I will PM you shortly for further discussion.

I understand Tuffnell received their shipment but I hope you will all feel free to contact me directly with any challenges you are facing or any discoveries about the working properties of Messy Color.  I can be reached at Kathy@creationismessy.com.

Kathy
Kathy Seamands

Creation is Messy
Messy Color™

[tel]   1-206-774-0876
[web] CreationIsMessy.com
[mail] Kathy@CreationIsMessy.com