goldstone

[ShellyJo1969]

Wow goldstone stringers are Expensive! $20 an ounce. Whew!

They are very pretty. Are they worth the price? Sure looks like they might add some sparkle. Do you use it/love it?

Is goldstone 104COE compatable?

I saw some pretty TAG rods, are they awesome and 104coe compatable?

Michele

[Kevan]

I use it. Yes, it's compatible. You can burn the sparkle right out of it, though.

TAG is expensive and beautiful and a waste of money for a beginner. I wouldn't buy a lot of it.

[beadsoncypress]

Try some goldstone frit. There is gold, blue and green....gold is the best IMO.
Also you get quite a few stringers, but watch for them to go on sale (like everything else!)

[J. Savina]

Yep, It's expensive if you buy the stringers. I make my own stringers from the thick rods. You just have to remember to heat up the rod real slowly. This glass in rod form is very shocky.http://smilies.sofrayt.com/eng/shock11.gif

J.

[flameonglass]

I buy chunks of goldstone, usually on ebay or from a site that sell rough slabs. It is a lot cheaper/ The green I bought last week was $20 a lb.
I can't tell you the COE but I have been buying all three colors for years & never had a problem. I use it in my 96 COE beads mostly but also in the 104 beads. Must have a lot of lead in it.

[Carolyn M]

I would make your own if I were you.

BTW, there is a Tips and Techniques section where you can post and often a search will turn up everything you need to know.

[GinnyHampton]

You can also buy a cheapie strand of goldstone beads, encase them, and pull into stringers. I'm still working through a strand that I bought a couple of years ago :)

[glassactcc]

Yep, exactly what Kimberly said. I buy a big ol chunk and put it into my kiln. Ramp up the kiln and bake at about 950 to 1000 degrees for about an hour or longer. Be careful with the temp, you don't want it to slump. Take it out with the proper attire (gloves and large tongs) and dump it into a large pot (metal) of ice water. It will break apart into really nice size, pretty even chunks for encasing and pulling into stringer. A chunk the size of a lemon will make truck loads of stringer. Ok, not truck loads but a lot.

[lldesigns]

I bought a huge (like 15mm thick, 20 inch long) encased rod of goldstone way back when I first started torching. I'm still using it...

BTW Kevan I blew my first goldstone shards last night. Awesome stuff - thanks for the tip! I never would have thought to try that. It was a little tricky because it really is way too easy to burn the snot out of any of the aventurines and lose the sparkle. The shards give a wonderful wispy, subtle effect that works great with my galaxy beads. :D

[*Naos*]

Laurie, got any pics? I'd love to see what you're doing with the goldstone! :)

[lldesigns]

I have one from last night that I'll photograph and post later.

[Deb Hopeful Journeys]

I think the stringers are worth it. I do pull my own too, but sometimes like to use stringers. When I pull my own goldstone, it seems very dense.

The stringers aren't quite as sparkly and are great for different applications.

[Rose Leslie]

Oh I make my own also. Just the fact that you can is the best part of it. You can get it from Arrow springs also. OR any of the glass dealers.

[sierracatzlampwork]

I have purchased goldstone/green adventurine 3 to 5 lb chunks at rock shows...the dealers have NO clue what COE even means!!! But the stuff has been fantastic - I did lots of tests on it and it seems to go with any COE. I think it comes from China and last year I paid $4 per lb.

I prepared it like Cynthia but I heat it in my regular kitchen oven at 500 degrees for an hour and then plunk in ice water in a metal can. Breaks up in nice even chunks! With a nickel size piece encased with clear I can make about 6 feet of 2mm stringer

[neagle]

I buy my gold, blue and green aventurine from greatrough.com and pull my own stringers from them all. I did a compatibility test with the stringers and effetre glass and it was very, very close. I've never had a problem with any of the three colors.

[Sheila D.]

I have purchased goldstone/green adventurine 3 to 5 lb chunks at rock shows...the dealers have NO clue what COE even means!!! But the stuff has been fantastic - I did lots of tests on it and it seems to go with any COE. I think it comes from China and last year I paid $4 per lb.

I prepared it like Cynthia but I heat it in my regular kitchen oven at 500 degrees for an hour and then plunk in ice water in a metal can. Breaks up in nice even chunks! With a nickel size piece encased with clear I can make about 6 feet of 2mm stringer

I have a question...after you break up the chunks,how do you encase it? Do I hold it with a punty?

[tammydownunder]

You can also buy a cheapie strand of goldstone beads, encase them, and pull into stringers. I'm still working through a strand that I bought a couple of years ago :)

I did this recently and found them to be super sparkley and perfect in the small size to encase. You do have to make sure that you squeeze the hole out of it or else you will get an air bubble throughout and you will be making encased frit throughout the stringer application.

Also, I like to encase with light amethyst for even more bling.

[TBC Beads]

I have a question...after you break up the chunks,how do you encase it? Do I hold it with a punty?

Yes. Just punty it onto a glass rod or steel chopstick, or similar. Encase it with clear or other color (Amethyst looks great, or Rubino!) and pull it out into stringers.

[Swirls]

Contact a rock shop or attend a rock show. You can usually pick up goldstone, blue goldstone or green. It's a man-made material. The older Italian goldstone is preferable to the newer Chinese-made material. I have heated large chunks in the kiln and then placed them in ice water to break up the chunk. Put a small chunk/piece in your annealing kiln to preheat and pick up with the end of a clear rod. Heat carefully, encase quickly and then pull stringers. Different color transparents make some very unusual colors. I have been doing this for years. I use both 90 and 104 rods to encase and have never had a problem. Just keep the stringers separated by COE. Linda

[crystalflipz]

ou can also do this with blue goldstone beads. If you encase the blue goldstone in cobalt you get a gorgeous rich sparkly blue.

[Fine Folly Glassworks]

If you wrap your solid Adventurine Rod or Goldstone Chunk with a clear 104 stringer, melt the wrap together and then pull it into a goldstone stringer to use, you end up with intense goldstone to work with and no issues with incompatibility.

The premade effetre goldstone stringers are mostly clear mixed with goldstone, you can see through them, unlike pulling your own. I used one I made on this bead. There's really a night and day difference in the opacity of the goldstone!


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[bastetsbeads]

Michele-

It seems you've already got a bunch of great advice about pulling your own stringers. it really does look better and as people said, you can vary the encasing materials for different effects.

As for TAG and other silver glass, I'd also research the forum for the kinds of glass you are interested in. There's threads going back a pretty long way and lots of info to help you make choices. I was out of the 104 COE loop for several years and when I wanted to get some new silver glass, that's what I did. A ll the great info and commentary helped me make better decisions based on what I know to be my working style.

That being said, I still think of the "newer" colors, Ekho and Clio aren't too bad, and people with hotheads are getting good colors. From the "older" colors that I used several years ago, Triton was one of the easiest, IMO.