Terra Glass Comments on W/C

[Billie]

I must admit, the best results I've had are when I've raked the sh*t out of it after laying it down as spirals on a transparent base... It just gets so washed out in the kiln though 

[Maryse]

As a certified glass fool I had to get some terra too. first it sat on the shelve because I was afraid to use it. Then I was disappointed because my first experiments all were really pale
Now my colors keep getting better but I changes 2 things significantly:
I make only pressed beads or beads rolled in a marble forming try. This way, they cool very fast and when I reheat them i get nice purples and blues. Then I cool them in heated vermiculite. And then I batch-anneal them. so far they kept their color.
On full-color terra beads it is great. but I have had compatibility issues with ivory and grey when striping terra over a base bead in one of these colors. 

[Bumpy Beads]

I was examining my Terra "end-on" only this afternoon, but didn't fully appreciate the significance of the layers Ray. What you've explained has really helped me understand it. I did get some reasonable colours today, but then my bead cracked (my fault), and I decided to put the terra aside again for another day. I think I might try splodging it on in big dots next time I have a play, the theory being that a little bit of each layer might just stay on the surface.

[Marijane]

As a certified glass fool I had to get some terra too. first it sat on the shelve because I was afraid to use it. Then I was disappointed because my first experiments all were really pale
Now my colors keep getting better but I changes 2 things significantly:
I make only pressed beads or beads rolled in a marble forming try. This way, they cool very fast and when I reheat them i get nice purples and blues. Then I cool them in heated vermiculite. And then I batch-anneal them. so far they kept their color.
On full-color terra beads it is great. but I have had compatibility issues with ivory and grey when striping terra over a base bead in one of these colors. 

Compatability like cracks or compatability like reactions?  

BTW, I have got some lovely colours out of it, as in my last show and tell posting, but I am also prone to getting that brackish yuk yuk yellow which I do not like.  I have not rescued a single bead from that state, for me once it has gone to that part of the spectrum it is over.  But when it want's to play, it does play so nicely, I'm gonna keep trying.

Mari

[Marijane]

Not wishing to detour too much on matters, I'd like to offer one smidgen of advice on Terra glass workability.

The rods are pulled very thin and most likely to optimize the VFM on sales and margin for DH. Less is more kinda thinking     It may get so you receive even less glass one day because the marketing guys tell sales to pull the wool even farther over your eyes.

Its not what they say, its the sweet music of happy colorful glass we presume we'll get with this miracle glass concoction

The Terra glass canes are multi layered if you look with a magnifying glass on the end. Like Lauscha marble ( Kryolyth ) where the gather is drawn from several different furnaces each having a different metal oxide grade in the batch.

So what does this mean ? When you apply the Terra sparingly, your laying it down several oxide layers thick. All those oxide colors are there, but one on top of another.

For me to get anything like the rainbow we desire, I had to rip the stuff around and unearth the shades beneath. So as well as revisiting the flame to bring certain hints and nuances out... your on a loser if the oxide layer you need, is tucked away under a layer of color that you don't want.

Also and as we read on W/C, there's the risk of the metals causing an unwanted scummy fumed appearance.

So two rules have emerged, if not more... Be agressive with the application, and when your ready to strike the colors after partial cooling, do it fairly quickly and be happy with the first shades that appear. Cos if the shades your looking for and hence the correct oxide layer is not on the top and apparent, then you can reheat and tease it all day and it'll get muddier and muddier until you throw it at the wall.

Be interested to hear more about the results of FH people in due course.

Not sure if I need to start a new thread for this, so please chip in Mods if you think I'm in the wrong place here as I am taking this of topic from the W/C refererance.

I think Ray's advice about the oxide layer holds true in the first bead on the left, see the trails of colour following the intense black stringer threads on the wig-wag twisty I pulled.  But I don't think its the whole story.  Often the colour seems controlled by flame / temperature, see the second bead where the colour seems to go round the equator and not follow the twists of the wig-wag.  Next torch session I will try and vary the distance to the flame as I have had yuck-yuck-yellow issues with the bad beads, and the ugly ones have had all the colour burnt out of them.  I feel tantalisingly close to getting this glass to do its stuff.  By the way, my twisty has a clear core, and often it is a trail of this that is first to go yucky.  I've seen this colour round the edges of trails of silver glass before, is there some kind of undesirable reaction going on, or is it a heat issue?  What do you think? 

Mari

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[CelticGlass]

All very relevant me thinks. Its also hard to find two sticks of Terra that work the same.

Thinking that this is a... make 25 kinda glass... and hope 15 are the same 

[glassworks]

when you look at all our sticks on the shelves you see how radically them differ from each other in terms of being "built up".. some rods are light gold on the outside, some are dark purple..

for myself, i get reasonably good result and i really like the unusual effects - but i am spoilt because we have enough to experiment with i guess..

[Marijane]

I'm working up to that Ray, at the moment I have more than a few beads that are only suitable for ballast!  I am finding it a steep learning curve, but I can't stop, cos when it works it is fantastic.

Mari

[CelticGlass]

I'm working up to that Ray, at the moment I have more than a few beads that are only suitable for ballast!  I am finding it a steep learning curve, but I can't stop, cos when it works it is fantastic.

Mari

I need to apply for legal aid ..or Lucozade 

[Marijane]

Sorry, am I being confusing?  I mean I am nowhere close to getting 15 out of 25 yet.  I'll keep working at it, its not a problem, so best enjoy a lucozade and leave the legal aid, surfice to say, I am through that stick you gave me and have a diminishing stash of my own now!

Mari

[Mary]

I find I get similar results from any colour Terra rod. The one difference for me is the silver bumps on the rods, those rods seem to be a bit more colourful. Though I didn't at first, I got pretty varying results till it "clicked."

Ron from R4 explained the different colours of DV2 once, by saying that it depended partly on the furnace atmosphere at the time of pulling (reducing or not) and partly by the different layers of the gather being partially struck. So the glass might look different from identical batches, or even the beginning and end of the same pull, but they should be pretty much the same to work.

[CelticGlass]

Mary - your DJ cat was making me feel dizzy tonight bopping around there... must turn the extractor fan up a bit faster....I must be high on C'O

On the glass, its a much misunderstood process, the alchemy of it all.

I wonder if the guys pulling the rods can make beads ?   Probably can...huge blighters..

[LavenderCreek]

I enjoyed your explanation Ray, it makes a lot of sense when you think about it.

I haven't bought any rods of this glass yet and I probably won't. I just can't justify spending the money on it or spending all the time it seems to take to get anything from it. I bought a pack of Terra powder instead. I can pull stringers with it and try it that way first. So far I've gotten nice color in the flame and then loose it in the kiln. I don't have time to mess around with this glass and frankly I am tired of all the hype when it comes to the silvered glasses. I appreciate that there is a lot of silver in them and they do some neat things, but I always choke when I get to the price part.

I think I will stick with Iris Orange, it is very similar, a LOT cheaper and I haven't had any problem at all using it with 104 COE.
I can certainly understand why people would be attracted to this glass though, I just am not going to allow myself to be one of them.

[CelticGlass]

Hi Teresa - your right about the time factor when you can be making something that works easier.

BTW I love your work and especially the frogs. They have a unique style all of their own.
The goddess beads pretty marvelous also... OK then I like all your work.. I've said it now 

[LavenderCreek]

Thanks Ray!