Has anyone used Check Glass?

[amberbryant1]

I bought some at the gathering in Louisville last summer. I have been using it on and off, it doesn't see to like other glass. My question is...... Should the turquois have rust color to it? The rod is a beautiful blue, then as I heat it up it gets "rusty". The color stays on my finished bead. My mom says that they must have made it that way because turquois has natural variations. My mom is such the glass expert! She does polymerclay! Anybody have any suggestions? Am I in the wrong part of my flame?

Thanks,
Amber

[WillfulOne]

I have not used this glass but if it works like moretti, try giving it more oxy. If that does not work, try working it a little further out in the flame. I use to get rust with a hothead but have not been able to duplicate it on the carslile or minor. Yes, when you want it there nothing and when you don't....h e l l o.

oh - the reason I am told is the copper in the glass surfaces in an oxy deprived flame

[alissa]

I played with some glass labeled 'czech' recently (probably check?), and the turquoise was doing that. I thought it was cool! It went away once I worked the bead a bunch in a slighly oxidizing flame. But boy was that glass shocky and awful. Even preheating in the rod heater @ 900 degrees wasn't enough, and I ended up with chunks EVERYWHERE. I even had the opportunity for a pound or so free, but I refused it! Horrible stuff.

No offense... I just had a bad glass experience with it! Maybe you have enough patience for it. : )

[Cindy2]

Hi Amber,

First, you probably already have done this but if not - check the COE of the Czech soft glass, it's on Jan's site: www.checkglass.com. Some of the colors aren't 104 COE. If you get more than a couple of points from 104, then the glass won't play well with others. I can't remember the COE of the turquoise off the top of my head. I know the transparent garnet is 114 and can't play with others.

The "rustiness" is devitrification. Pretty much all turquoise does this if worked too long and/or too hot. Effetre and Vetrofond will do it too. More oxy, less heat - work further out in the flame and not too long.

If you get the devit, then you can soak the beads in I think it's WD-40 or some toilet cleaner - or etch them, it will come off. There are threads that have talked about how they clean the devit off the turquoise and copper green.

Hope that helps!
Cindy


I bought some at the gathering in Louisville last summer. I have been using it on and off, it doesn't see to like other glass. My question is...... Should the turquois have rust color to it? The rod is a beautiful blue, then as I heat it up it gets "rusty". The color stays on my finished bead. My mom says that they must have made it that way because turquois has natural variations. My mom is such the glass expert! She does polymerclay! Anybody have any suggestions? Am I in the wrong part of my flame?

Thanks,
Amber

[suzanne]

I use it all the time and the only time I got rust was when my propane was up to high. All turqoises behave like that ( as some others have mentioned before) so you might want to turn down the propane and up with the oxy a bit.

THe shockyness is one of the facts you will have to live with, I find some colors to be way more shocky then others ( czech white, ivory, nilegreen, turqoise, dark blue, all pastels) , just heat them up at the tip of the flame, just waving it through and slowly ( and turning the rod at the same time) bring the rod further in the flame, this prevents flying glass;)

[Cindy2]

I forgot to comment before on the shockiness of the glass. I haven't used all of the colors of Czech glass - mostly the transparent olive, smoke, capri blue and tourmoline pink - I don't find those colors to be shocky at all. So, my impression of Czech glass is that it isn't any "shockier" than any other soft glass.

Cindy

[Mr. Smiley]

The rust color isn't devit. It's reduction and the unburnt propane is doing the color changing. Devit is a rough spot or a matte looking haze. Turn your oxy up or your propane down to avoid the red. ;)

[Cindy2]

Right you are Mr. Smiley! I always think of them as the same as in reduction/devit go hand in hand but they're not the same thing. You're right! :-)

The rust color isn't devit. It's reduction and the unburnt propane is doing the color changing. Devit is a rough spot or a matte looking haze. Turn your oxy up or your propane down to avoid the red. ;)

[chrissij]

I haven't had any problems with it being shocky, and I've played with the turquoise (looks more green than turquoise to me; I used the Czech brown with it, and I swear it made me want mint chocolate chip ice cream) and not had any problems with rust color. I think it melts quite smoothly actually.