PLEASE HELP! What color is this?

[Palestrina]

Hello:
Can someone help me out here? I got this in free glass & it looks like Morretti opalino white? HA! - which one? Or is the alabaster white? I can't figure it out & need someone who can tell me absitively posilutely which color it is. Purty puhleez. I would be forever grateful! I apologize in advance for the photo.Thanks!!


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[Palestrina]

LOL! I just read my title & I sound like I have a cold!

[CorriDawn]

I fixed it for you

[Palestrina]

Thanks so much Corri! Any idea what color this is?

Edit: Where the heck have you been?

[Kevan]

I don't get what the difference between opalino and albaster is exactly.

[JavaGirlBT]

Looks like opalino to me.

[dogmaw]

Me too. It doesn't have quite the right surface look for an alabaster. But you will never really know for sure till you melt a bit and put it on something. :rolleyes:

[chrissij]

Looks like that Moretti "special white" to me...I'll check the number and edit this after I go back out to the hobby shed.

[alexm]

Could be either an opalino or alabastro, but which one is anyone's guess. There are several whites that look very similar and they vary from batch to batch, so there is really no way to tell. It could also be the Vetrofond silk white odd, but again, there is no way to tell.

[Palestrina]

I have vetrofond white silk but I don't think I used any & it didn't do anything funky. I'm pretty sure it came in free glass , well, almost pretty sure. Now I just don't know!

Alex, if you can't figure it out, I don't know who will be able to.

The rod feels very smooth, almost like that plastic feeling rather than glass. Does this make sense? I think it's an opalino, or could be that white silk. Any tricks on how to tell? I matched it up against the other vetro rods & it isn't the same color, it's just a bit off.

Shall I make a bead?

Dogmaw, what do mean melt it & put it on something? How will that help me figure it out? Really, I have no idea.
Thanks!

[dogmaw]

Kimberly, some of the whites (like anise white) do a cool edge reaction when reduced, especially on black. However anise white is bumpy feeling, at least mine is. But if it is smooth and feels plasticy, then it might be the Vetrofond white silk. I have some of that and it does feel like that.

[Palestrina]

Ok. I guess it must be the vetrofond. I really didn't think it was. It doesn't match. I should have said that I know it's not anice white. I have a 1/3 of a rod of that, too.
Thanks so much for all of the help. I really appreciate it. You must all think I'm completely out of my mind!

[dogmaw]

No, we think you are a glassworker. :lol: The only one I can pretty much always tell from the others is the anise. :rolleyes:

[alexm]

The opalinos and alabastros can have that same smooth plastic feel too. Unfortunately, I am not experienced enough with them to tell you how to tell them apart.

It's definitely not anise white, which is rough and nowhere near as translucent.

[Palestrina]

Ok. This isn't vetrofond white silk. I know it definately is not. Sorry! It looks completely different. I'll take a pic of it next to the vetrofond. I even weighed the vetrofond & I haven't touched it yet. So, I believe it must be an opalino, but which one? AAHhh!! I really want to order more of this, I love it, but I can't order every opalino white & the alabstro. It's definatley not anice either. So, if an expert with these is out there, please help!
Thanks Alex & Jo. I appreciate all of your help.

[JavaGirlBT]

I really really think it's white opalino. And as far as I know, there is only one white opalino. You would only have to order one kind. It's the alabastros that have different whites.

[alexm]

Ok. This isn't vetrofond white silk. I know it definately is not. Sorry! It looks completely different. I'll take a pic of it next to the vetrofond. I even weighed the vetrofond & I haven't touched it yet. So, I believe it must be an opalino, but which one? AAHhh!! I really want to order more of this, I love it, but I can't order every opalino white & the alabstro. It's definatley not anice either. So, if an expert with these is out there, please help!
Thanks Alex & Jo. I appreciate all of your help.


I think I have every opalino and alabastro white there is. I know for sure I have most of them. How about if I send you a rod of each if you pay the postage?

[Palestrina]

Oh, I had it the other way around. Thanks - other people have said the same thing. I appreciate your help.

[Palestrina]

Alex, that's such a generous offer! I really appreciate it. If you don't mind, I think it would be wonderful. You should know my zip by now, lol! 02828. Maybe you can just send it along with my other stuff? (can you add these rods to my lauscha latticino?). Otherwise, please let me know the postage & I'll get the money to you. Thank you very much!! I owe you one!

[Palestrina]

I want to add that I just checked Jodel's website & now I'm unsure as to the color again. It looks a lot like the alabastro to me. Are the alabasters really shocky?I thought I had read that somewhere in here but this rod isn't all that shocky. Maybe a tiny bit, but I would say not much more than any other rod.

Also, Alex, I didn't mean to be short in that post. I was in quite a rush (the Soprano's were starting & we just walked in the house). You really don't have to do that. It is very generous, more than I could ever ask of anyone. If you do decide to send the rods, please let me know the postage. Thanks again!

[alexm]

I want to add that I just checked Jodel's website & now I'm unsure as to the color again. It looks a lot like the alabastro to me. Are the alabasters really shocky?I thought I had read that somewhere in here but this rod isn't all that shocky. Maybe a tiny bit, but I would say not much more than any other rod.

Also, Alex, I didn't mean to be short in that post. I was in quite a rush (the Soprano's were starting & we just walked in the house). You really don't have to do that. It is very generous, more than I could ever ask of anyone. If you do decide to send the rods, please let me know the postage. Thanks again!


Don't worry about it, I didn't notice it at all. I tend to write short sentences myself, so people think I'm being terse, when I'm only being economical with words, so I can identify, don't worry about it.

I'll make a note to myself to but the white opalino and alabastro rods in with the Lauscha, no estra charge for postage necessary. I didn't make the connection between you here in this thread and the Lauscha - I'm really lousy with names.

[Chuckie]

The way I tell if a color is an opalino or an alabastro is to look at the surface. The alabastros look like they have a clear plastic or polyurethane coating compared to the opalinos. That's the best way I can explain it. They just look like they've been dipped in wet plastic. If it doesn't have that wet, plastic coated look, it's probably opalino white.

Char

[Palestrina]

Don't worry about it, I didn't notice it at all. I tend to write short sentences myself, so people think I'm being terse, when I'm only being economical with words, so I can identify, don't worry about it.

I'll make a note to myself to but the white opalino and alabastro rods in with the Lauscha, no estra charge for postage necessary. I didn't make the connection between you here in this thread and the Lauscha - I'm really lousy with names.

Thanks for understanding. I love how you put that - "economical with words". It's perfect & exactly what I do but people think the same thing about me, that I'm being terse.
Anyway, yes, I bought the a bunch of the foils from you & then the latticino. You sell some great stuff! I'm ok with names & I have always recognized you because you answer a lot of threads & have an answer for everything. (I mean that in a NICE way.) So I figured if you didn't know what kind of glass this was, I was in trouble.
If you can put them in the same box that would be great. If you want me to pay you for the rods, let me know. Thanks again!

[Palestrina]

The way I tell if a color is an opalino or an alabastro is to look at the surface. The alabastros look like they have a clear plastic or polyurethane coating compared to the opalinos. That's the best way I can explain it. They just look like they've been dipped in wet plastic. If it doesn't have that wet, plastic coated look, it's probably opalino white.

Char

Ok, that's the kind of surface it has. But everyone else thought it was an opalino. It's translucent looking. I thought it was an opalino until I looked on Jodel's website. Now I think it's an alabastro & it does have the surface your describing. (By the way, nice description!)

[Chuckie]

You can't photograph that wet look very well. It does look like opalino in the photo to me, too. To me, the opalinos have that translucent look, but not the dipped in wet plastic look. The alabastros remind me of shiney plastic vinyl, like the heavy plastic they used to use for kids' raincoats.

Char

[chrissij]

312: Special White; cross my heart!

[BoniBell]

You could try an experiment. Opalino colors turn a yucky brownish black in a reducing flame. Alabastro colors are transluscent. You can still see the color of another glass under it. That's how I make my pinks. Red, coral, peach persimmon, etc. covered with a thin layer of 304 pale white alabastro.
The pastel Effetre 204 white nothing shows thru, and 208 light white, the color will show through barely at all and only the darkest colors, plus the rod is lightly rough to the touch. The alabastro colors are more or less transluscent. Pale white 304 lets the most color through. 308 light white almost no color, but it is very smooth, the most like milk, and blue-ish. 312 special white is a bit more greyand 316 agate is more opaque and a bit yellowish.
And the 504 Opalino white turns brownish black easily. I discovered the reducing effect by accident. I use a HotHead, it was too hot to touch when I needed to change to a new tank, so I used a welding torch because I didn't want to wait. The good thing I discovered is it's a cheap way to build up a dark core for a bead because the opalino colors are relatively cheap. So I can make a core with less expensive glass and have the outside be 266Dense black.
I guess my scientific mind must be showing, everything is an experiment to me. Good-Luck with your experiment . Boni Bell.

[DesertDreamer]

Put the end in a HOT flame, without preliminary heating. If it boils up, lots of little bubbles, it's most likely alabastro. If it turns a gluey yellow, instead of clear, it's opalino. After it cools, if it reverts back to the same-looking end, it's opalino. Alabastro will turn a nearly-opaque white. The alabastro rods tend to feel a bit rough, too, while opalinos are usually quite smooth.

Alabastros are generally a PITA. I love opalino, though. It's a dream to work, if you keep it on the cool side. Lovely for hollows.

[raindance]

Kimberly, some of the whites (like anise white) do a cool edge reaction when reduced, especially on black. However anise white is bumpy feeling, at least mine is. But if it is smooth and feels plasticy, then it might be the Vetrofond white silk. I have some of that and it does feel like that.

I just bought a 1 lb. batch of anise white from Moretti & More and I thought they'd sent me the wrong color because the rods were slick...not grainy. So I fired up my torch and reduced some on a black bead. Sure enough...it was anise white! Wow! I'd never seen anise white like this before. So...evidently not all anise white is bumpy.