Double Helix... A question for Jed

[tiggybubba]

Hi Jed,
for the blue and clear catalyst glass, does it go on top of striking glass or underneath it? A little unclear on this.

Thanks :waving:

[jamie lynne]

Blue goes on the bottom, Clear goes on the top. If I remember correctly.

-I'm Not Jed. :lol:

[Hayley]

What Jamie Lynne said . . . and I am not Jed either! lol!

[tiggybubba]

Thanks gals. I have both the blue and the clear. Blue....meh but I'm probably not using it right. Just got some clear in the mail.

[Double Helix Glassworks]

The Catalyst Glasses were designed to be used with Reduction/Luster colors, not striking colors. There are chemicals in the Catalyst that chemically reduce the luster colors, in a similar reaction to reducing in a fuel rich flame. The blue Catalyst is designed to be used as a base color, encased with a lightly tinted luster color, such as Aurae, Clio, or Elektra. The Transparent Catalyst is designed to encase any luster color, such as Psyche, Triton, or Nyx. Either one could also be used as a stringer or thin threading to produce "edge effects" on top of a luster color. People seemed interested in the catalyst concept, but I've yet to see many beads made with the Catalysts.

Jed at Double Helix Glassworks

[tiggybubba]

If I encase, say triton, with the transparent catalyst, if I introduce it to a reducing flame what would happen? Or by encasing with the transparent, it no longer becomes necessary to reduce afterwards?

[loribeads]

Love the catalyst - I got the blue.

Well, I should say I love it now that I have stopped mistaking it for Triton. :lol: I got the rods mixed up (label everything, Lori!!!) and kept trying to reduce it and wondering why everyone kept saying triton was sooooo easy to reduce. lol!

I use it under Psyche and Triton and it's especially nice under Kronos. I don't think I've tried it under anything else yet.

Here it is - Base of catalyst DH ES-405 – layers and swirls of Kronos2, Triton and Aether, reduced. Silvered ivory stringer decoration.

262718

[tiggybubba]

beautiful!

[Sheila D.]

I have the ES 404. Is that going to do pretty much the same? I haven't played with it much..yet.

[loribeads]

Thanks Leslie!

[Elizabeth Beads]

This is made with an Elektra Shard over the dark catalyst ES 404 and encased.

[Sheila D.]

Thanks Liz and Laurie for showing your pretty beads! I'll see if I can do it justice.

[Lara]

I have some colors labeled as VK or VX, are these catalysts?

[Elizabeth Beads]

Lara the VK colors are strikers and very easy to strike pretty ones.

[Angie09]

Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap .... never even thought of purchasing DH catalysts until I read this thread!!! Gorgeous beads!!! Crap .... LE costs me money! Off to order some catalyst!

[Lara]

Lara the VK colors are strikers and very easy to strike pretty ones.

I'm not having a lot of luck with them except to use other colors over them. Any tips or photos. I just get blue.

[Elizabeth Beads]

Well these are not the best photos but it is the blue scrolls and dots on the pink heart. The VK 408 struck to all sorts of pretty blues and greens when I laid it down. I actually lost some color because I hosed up the murrini and my attempts to save it caused the bead to get more heat than was ideal.

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I will try to remember to pull some out and work with it tomorrow and get some better pictures up soon.

[Lara]

Thanks Elizabeth

[pumba34]

Curse you,I just got my last order from DH and now I am ordering again.

](*,)

[eregel]

Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap .... never even thought of purchasing DH catalysts until I read this thread!!! Gorgeous beads!!! Crap .... LE costs me money! Off to order some catalyst!

What she said! LOL!

[Hayley]

I love Jed's catalyst glass!

Use it with Double Helix frit and encase:
263048

[Iwantonetoo]

I love Jed's catalyst glass!

Use it with Double Helix frit and encase:
263048

very pretty bead!!!

[silverlilly1]

Another question for Jed - the clear catalyst (RE-391) - does it have the kinds of chemicals in it that would require me to encase it after, as people tend to do with most silver glass, or can it be used AS the encasement layer for beads to be worn?

I tried a bead with a base of Terra 2, and dots of RE-391. I melted in the dots and encased with Zephyr, then struck. The (tiny) space in between the dots is beautiful, with pinks and purples, but the dots are very milky colours - not what I'd hoped for. The entire bead just looks grey from a distance. I'm wondering if the encasing (whole lot of extra heating and cooling) caused the catalyst-covered glass to over-strike, but don't want to go without the encasement if the glass could contain harmful chemicals.

I realize that you intend the catalyst to be used with lustre colours, but I thought any reduction colour should work. Maybe that's a bad assumption? Maybe Terra 2 is just a poor choice since it both reduces and strikes?

[silverlilly1]

Beautiful bead, Hayley!

[Double Helix Glassworks]

[QUOTE=silverlilly1;3959477]Another question for Jed - the clear catalyst (RE-391) - does it have the kinds of chemicals in it that would require me to encase it after, as people tend to do with most silver glass, or can it be used AS the encasement layer for beads to be worn?

QUOTE]

The RE-391 can be used as the exterior encasement layer. I am not sure what chemicals in the glass would require encasing. I am not so sure that "most silver glass is encased", either, as I see quite a bit of exposed luster as well as unencased struck color. If your concern is chemical toxicity in silver-rich glasses, here is a thread to refer to: To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Thanks,
Jed at Double Helix Glassworks

You may be surprised to find out what colorant chemicals are used in the manufacture of your "regular" lampworking glass, compared to our specialty silver glasses. What makes Coral glass red? What makes opaque green be green? What makes white be white? All colored glasses are generally colored using metal oxide/carbonate colorants. Many commercial glasses contain batch ingredients that may present potential concerns. Whether those elements are 1)generally considered toxic or 2)available for volatilization from the glass matrix or 3)present in sufficient quantities to cause harm poses an interesting question. We make every effort to engineer glasses that are free from toxic materials.

Or, to summarize:

"All of the colors we make from our raw in-house batch are lead free. The only colors we sell that have traces of lead are colors made from Italian Cullet that already contains some level of lead. Colors made using cullet as an ingredient are marked with a "*" in the list below. We make every effort to avoid toxic chemicals in our glass compositions, and have every reason to believe that our glass contains less toxins than many commonly used glass colors. Silver, as a metal, is generally considered to be non toxic, and is commonly used in silverware and jewelry intended for skin contact. Our raw batch production colors are all made without Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic, Antimony, Chromium, or Selenium, and are produced using Alternative Energy Sources and shipped in biodegradable, recycleable packaging. "

Feel free to email with any questions you may have, or take a look at our FAQ page (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.) for some easy answers to some questions.

[silverlilly1]

Thanks Jed. I had read that thread before, and your FAQ, but was unsure of how to approach the test batches.