Boiling colors

[rusticstudio]

What colors boil easily and how do you successfully work with them?

[e. mort]

The ones that I had boil on my are GA Yellow Crayon, as well as NS star white. You need to work them extra cool until they are no longer poking up from the surface of the glass, and then you can add more heat. But to be honest with you, I have an old batch of NS Star White and I have heard that the new stuff is better.

Eric

[Cosmo]

Any of the crayon colors can boil. So can colors like Periwinkle, Skyline, etc. I have found that working them in a reducing flame actually works better than working them in an oxidizing flame.

All colors can boil if you work them too hot, by the way...

[ChaoticGlass]

Most, if not all crayon colors I worked with boiled at first. You can try a cooler, neutral flame and work in the mid section of the flame. Or try encasing colors in clear to protect them. The longer you work with them the more you will understand how to work them and where to keep them in the flame and how long the glass will tolerate it.

[Juln]

Encasing with clear can help. That's the easy way, but not always appropriate.
I usually turn up my flame and work out in the end, when doing something like coiling with cadmiums (crayons). Once they are smoothed into a piece, they boil a lot less.
You have to get used to working these colors while they are little more stiff. Just kind of push 'em around.

[PaulaD]

I managed to boil clear pyrex...
I was surprised. Didn't know boro could boil!!
Paula

[Juln]

Oh yeah, clear boils! Especially if it's dirty.
The boiling is easy for me to deal with... soft glass boiling looks all weird and I never know what is going on.

[ChaoticGlass]

If your torch isn't running well or has a lot of carbon on it, your glass will boil much more easily. Also, I notice that people really nuke the glass when they first start lampwork. I am guilty too, but it wasn't until someone told me I was working too hot that I realized. Boiling is avoidable by working your torch the proper way and adjusting for the right flame for the right task. A few hours working with a few crayon colors & clear will give you a lot of insight into sublimation. Imo, a surface mix torch works crayon colors smoother. I started on a CCburner and I boiled crayon colors with mandrel beads, but when I worked with tubing I'd get great results.

[PaulaD]

Yeah I have a big boro learning curve ahead of me...Paula

[rusticstudio]

Thanks for the tips! I'll try them next time I get torch time...