Newbie Question

[silkys]

Hello All !
Ive been lurking here for over a week now . taking in as much as i can . Info is all starting to meld together now ! And my printers getting as hot as a HH from printing out all your tips for my reference.
I got my HH , Glass and stuff friday and was waiting till my Kiln got here Wed. But i said .. what the hay cant do all my learning just reading . So i fired her up!
I started with an Opaque Dark Turquoise . Yes .. its Ugly !
Question here is this .. Bead ( if we dare to call it that ) came out with a couple of Red spots in it as if i had put a red dot of stringer on it .
What could i be doing to cause this ?
Also though my reading here I see that some colors work best if cleaned off first .. What is used to clean them ? Alcohol ?

Thanks Much Jan in Tenn.

[kbinkster]

It reduced. The flame needs oxygen to burn. So, when there isn't enough oxygen coming from the torch (or as in the case with the Hot Head, you're not in the neutral part of the flame), it will seek it out in the glass. It pulls the metal oxides from the glass to the surface. That is the red spot you see on that glass. Other glasses will have other colors come out - lots of times, it will be shiney and metalic.

:)

EDIT: Try working just a little bit further out of you don't want to reduce your colors.

I hope this helps!:)

[Flamechick]

I clean my rods with vinegar, but I know some people use rubbing alcohol.

Welcome to LE and good luck!

[alexm]

Yup, you reduced the turquoise.

No, cleaning it won't help.

HHs are inherently reducing, because you don't use tanked oxygen to make the flame neutral with an HH. If you're getting red streaks with turquoise it's probably because of:

1. you're working too close to the orifice
2. your HH is set too high

back off on the gas a little and work further out

[silkys]

Okay Thanks ! Soooo it seems that sometimes pulling that Metal Ox to the surface might be a good thing ?
My second bead I did with ivory and played on surface w/ a blue stringer .
surprisingly it didnt do anything weird. Its not half bad . Even darn close to round and centered .

TY
Jan

[kbinkster]

That's great! Keep playing, it will eventually get round, centered, and dare I say even dimpled? Practice, practice, practice.

Hey, now try that ivory with some turquoise stringer and see what happens.

Oh, and yes, sometimes reduction is a desireable effect.

Have fun!

PS I clean my rods with rubbing alcohol when I am in an inspired mood. Most of the time, they just get a quick swipe under the sleeve of my cotton shirt. I clean them to get the dust off. Any dust on your glass will make a mess on your beads. Cleaning them does not do anything for reduction, though.

[Emily]

Soooo it seems that sometimes pulling that Metal Ox to the surface might be a good thing ?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The bits of red in dark turquoise can be pretty. (You can get red out of petroleum green, too.) The types of glass described as "reduction" glass (often sold as reduction frit) will get a glossy metallic finish. They're not Effetre/Moretti -- they're different brands made for glassblowers. The COEs tend to be around 96, so not compatible with Effetre, but you can get away with using tiny quantities as frit or surface decoration. Most of the standard Effetre colors do nothing special in a reduction flame. The greenish colors made with copper will get the red that you saw. Rubino (gold pink, gold ruby) turns a horrible lead gray. There's an expensive purple that does go somewhat metallic, but I can never remember which one it is.

Did your dark turquoise go gray, too? It tends to do that, and that's something that can be helped. (Copper green does it too.) Soaking for a few hours in cola (regular, not diet) will usually take the gray off. A quick wipe with etching acid or a cleaning product like CLR or Lime-Away will work, but you need to be very careful working with those products.

[silkys]

No , Drk Turquoise didnt turn grey .. its really pretty . Thank you all so much for your tips and replies . They are all very appreciated.