Smoke On The Water ( Vetrofond Water)

[Ozmington]

I'm a new to lampwork but I'm certainly enjoying the learning process. I assembled my first bracelet this evening of beads I made.

I am struggling to figure out a problem with clear glass going "smokey" or dirty. The class remains translucent, just smoke colored.

A couple of things happened on the same day so I'm not sure what's the cause. When this started, I switched from Effetre clear to Vetrefond clear (sp?) AND I also switched from mapp gas to propane.
I tried the propane on a piece of Effetre clear as well as opaque white with no change in color. Is this an issue with Vetrofond? Propane? or perhaps the combination.
I'm using a HH torch.

I'm looking forward to your help. This little "community" of yours has been very helpful to me so far. I seem to be on this site almost nightly!

Thanks,

[backroombeads]

welcome aboard! Working with propane on a hot head is pretty tough, Propane is just a dirtier fuel than map and will "smoke" up a lot of colors. Vetrofond clear is usually better at not smoking, but using mapp will help the most. Make sure you're not holding your bead too close in the flame as that will compound the problem too. Lots of luck and let us know how it goes. Pat

[sassy]

Try working a little farther out from your flame.