Terra Glass Comments on W/C

[*rowanberry*]

I think I also prefer iris orange  I got some lovely colours in the flame - beautiful purples and blues - it was gorgeous. I garage annealed them at 510c and when done 70% of them were nasty sage green.

I am gonna move this thread if anyone minds as its now more suited to being the lampwork tips and questions section...

[Shirley]

I've done a bit of playing with terra and it's very frustrating, but worth it when it does go right. I'm very pleased with the copper green reaction, and frit on black has worked well. Will continue to play, I think

[CelticGlass]

I'm still battling away for a short go each time I go to the torch and live in hope that I'll make a bead that has no grey band amidst the colours I desire. I'm thinking the outer coating on this Terra glass, being grey, has no ability to strike anything other than grey.

Don't need the coating in that case. Have to try and strip it off.

[*rowanberry*]

I've done a bit of playing with terra and it's very frustrating, but worth it when it does go right. I'm very pleased with the copper green reaction, and frit on black has worked well. Will continue to play, I think

Are your colours still staying after annealing? if so please tell me your trick! 

[Vicki]

& why when you make a poo bead do the colours come up nicely & when you make a good bead the colours look like poo...how does it know!

[Shirley]

I haven't actually annealed any yet. Haven't made a lot so am saving them up for a batch anneal. Will be setting the temperature a little lower than usual as apparently this helps.

Vicki, that one is sod's law

[CelticGlass]

& why when you make a poo bead do the colours come up nicely & when you make a good bead the colours look like poo...how does it know!

How does it know indeed... I think its called striking.  Metal oxides deliver a different shade of themselves subject to temperture. A good example of this is react to light sun glasses. In reality they do not react to light, they react to temperature. Quite annoying for wearers who go into a shop or somewhere thats over warm and the glases darken down.

There are art glass types that finalize their shading as they come out of the kiln and you cant strike them finally at the torch. Its all glass alchemy to a finer degree than we should be concerned with. If we are to get factory / laboratory finite results it would be good if these glass makers came over to give a symposium at a venue like Plowden and Thompsons.

I've been to several such free sympsoiums when Macromedia software launch new web building software and for free. Should do same with new glass as its launched to market. Or perhaps a free guidance CD with each kilo of glass. Or an MPEG download of an example being worked at the torch.

Good idea Ray...I'll write to them and ask for a video of the stuff being worked effectively.

[Redhotsal]

I've had a lot of fun with Terra over the last few weeks.

Have I had colour? No, lots of time I've had that fashionable tan colour or very washed out almost mother-of-pearl colours. Or plain grotty looking beads.
Every now and then I get a real corker, but I'm too much of a messer arounder to have scientifically gone through exactly what actions I've gone through to get the effect I wanted. Also, it does its own thing anyway, so it's not very repeatible (to me anyway).

I wasted a lot at first 'cos I thought you had to reduce it. You don't. And in fact if you follow the instructions which come with it or go on DHs website and follow their guidelines you have to hit it with an oxidising flame if anything. Repeatedly.

The colours come from the slow growth of silver crystals which are sort of layered. Colours come from the diffraction of light that hits the layers, rather like oil on water. Slow growth of the crystals causes bigger crystals that cause more efficient diffraction. Because of this the colours can slide a little. They'll also change under a layer of clear because of changes in the refractive index.

There are pages and pages and pages about Terra on the various forums. The only information I can offer is this: What may work for one person may not work for you - especially if your torch is a different type. It's like expecting different makes of cars to respond the same. They won't. Your particular chemistry - Minor and Oxycon compared to a Lynx with an oxygen cylinder - perhaps - will make a difference to the chemistry of how the silver crystals are formed.

The funny thing about this glass is how well it seems to behave when I'm not trying to do anything special with it. And how crap it is when I overwork it!
But what's really funny about this is that I picked up a stick of Khaki after a prolonged and unfruitful session with Terra and just decided to make a normal bead from normal glass. Well, in fact it wasn't Khaki but Iris Orange - and the "secret" of this this glass has long eluded me. Because I just treated it like a normal rod I was fairly amazed to see a huge gamut of colours pop out of this rod. Me, that normally only ever gets "baby poo" from Raku.  

My love affair with Terra is over for a while as I have discovered that there is a whole new avenue of glass making fun to be had out of my "yesterday's news" glass, which has turned out to be a bit of an exciting "old flame" (Scuse the pun!)

By the way - if your colours are turning darker in the kiln it's becuase your annealling temperature is too high. You may need to turn the kiln temp down. I think DH recommend somewhere below 505 degs (you'll need to check that one).

[LavenderCreek]

There are pages and pages and pages about Terra on the various forums. The only information I can offer is this: What may work for one person may not work for you - especially if your torch is a different type. It's like expecting different makes of cars to respond the same. They won't. Your particular chemistry - Minor and Oxycon compared to a Lynx with an oxygen cylinder - perhaps - will make a difference to the chemistry of how the silver crystals are formed.

Yes, this is exactly it. Everyone is using a different set-up, everyone works glass with a different touch. Glass as fussy as this is going to give a variety of results depending on each person's approach....either that or it will lay there and look like poo until you discover the secret combination to unlock it's mysteries 

My love affair with Terra is over for a while as I have discovered that there is a whole new avenue of glass making fun to be had out of my "yesterday's news" glass, which has turned out to be a bit of an exciting "old flame" (Scuse the pun!)

By the way - if your colours are turning darker in the kiln it's becuase your annealling temperature is too high. You may need to turn the kiln temp down. I think DH recommend somewhere below 505 degs (you'll need to check that one).

If raku was good enough for my granny, then it's good enough for me

And having to adjust my kiln temp for fussy glass is just one more reason to avoid it in my opinion...pfft!

[Redhotsal]

Well, I'm finding out loads of new and exciting stuff about Raku as a result of glass mangling all that Terra, lol!

I'm not normally a glass faddy person but I have been somewhat distracted by Double Helix over the last few months. Usually, it's Effetre all the way with me. I don't even know what lots of the posh glass is and where you get it - let alone what you cook it in the kiln at! 

[*rowanberry*]

I was only interested in Terra because I thought I could use more of it on a bead that I can with Iris Orange. But I am in the "I prefer Iris orange to terra" club too, I can get lots of lovely colours from Iris orange but not terra :-) I like posh glasses if THEY fit around with ME and what I want to make, but wont let a design be dictated by a glass if I can help it.

Me too, I dont care that Raku/Iris Orange its not fashionable. Hell, I am sitting here with bright barbie pink hair in an 80s hairstyle in awful tie dye clothing - that shows how I feel about fashion

[*rowanberry*]

I haven't actually annealed any yet. Haven't made a lot so am saving them up for a batch anneal. Will be setting the temperature a little lower than usual as apparently this helps.

Thats the time when you'll lose your colour if its gonna happen, its happened to a few people :-( All my terra beads went int lovely colours into the kiln and all came out horrid except for 4.

and I annealled at a lower temp too :-(

[Redhotsal]

Pink??? Wasn't it red last week? 

[*rowanberry*]

Its faded - this colour fades to shocking barbie pink - and its glowing a bit too! rofl!

[Billie]

OOooooh, my little girl will love you... Everything has to be pink at the moment!!  LOL