patterned dichroic 104 coe?

[ajwhite]

Hi

Does anyone know if there is patterned dichroic in 104 coe? All I can seem to find is 96 and that won't work

Thanks
Audra

[amybfromtc]

There is! If you are looking for strips, I found some at http://heritageglass.com/index2.htm. Go into "Colored Glass" and scroll way down.

Frantz carries some too, but not too much patterned stuff.

The place I got from that I liked a lot (super nice people and really helpful) was http://www.dichroic-glass.com/moretti2.asp. If you want to see the patterns, you have to cross-reference with the CBS site (https://sitecarverhosting.net/SSL/CBS-Dichroic/shop.aspx?Cat=Shop+by+Pattern), but that didn't bother me! You can get a bunch of different sizes from Carol and Monty, depending on what you need.

Hope that helps!
Amy

[ajwhite]

Wow! Thank you Amy! I was looking for a star pattern, maybe only in other coes? I am definately ordering the sample pack from Heritage. What a great way to try lots of colors without a huge investment!

I usually by pre-slumped dichroic strips from JoDell because I can be an idiot when it comes to using dicho and it scums terribly. Does anyone know how to preslump strips in your own kiln? I don't want to end up with a shiny expensive puddle.

Thanks again
Audra

[zoomerpop]

I have never heard of preslumping strips before. I would also be interested in the process and also why you do it.
Roy

[ajwhite]

The strips are slumped in a kiln so the raw edges of the dichro are covered. Much less scumming that regular strips and I've never had trouble using them. I have no clue how to fuse or slump my own.

[DesertDreamer]

I use heavy fiber paper (the stuff for fusing, got mine from Arrow Springs), placed on a kiln shelf just in case. I cut my strips with a Toyo glass cutter, wash them with Dawn and soft water to make them extra clean (distilled works too), then place them on the paper/shelf in a cold kiln. Ramp the kiln up to 1400 over 4 hours and when it gets to 1300, start peeking about every 5-10 minutes. As soon as you see the edges starting to curl, turn the kiln off, close it up tight, and wait for it to completely cool down. I'm using a fire brick kiln from Arrow Springs. Not sure if/how it would work in the fiber blanket-lined kilns.

It's definitely a money-saver! And if you buy quarter sheets or larger of dichro, you can cut your patterns any way you want. Carol & Monty have some cool patterns on all common COE's.

http://www.dichroic-glass.com/

[Emily]

Cut the dichro into strips. I don't use an oil-filled cutter, but I have found that it's worth it to get a decent cutter from a stained glass place rather than using a hardware store version. Put the strips dichro coating down on a kiln-washed kiln shelf. Try not to have them touching each other.

Here's my slumping schedule, which I got from AlexM on WetCanvas a while back. I'm doing this from memory -- hope I get it right:

zero to 1000 over 1 hour; 1000 to 1350-1400 over 30-45 minutes; hold ten minutes; open kiln to cool as rapidly as possible to 1100-1050; then cool to annealing temperature (968 degrees) and anneal as usual. The strips are thin, so I do 15 minutes at 968, cool to 800 over 2 hours, then shut off the kiln.

Alex told me that the slumping will take place from 1350 to 1400, and that the slumping temperature will vary according to the kiln. Lately I've been using the higher temperature, but you might want to do your first attempts using 1350 and keep an eye on the process. I use fairly wide strips of dichro -- at least 3/4" wide and usually wider. The edges get rounded, but the whole strip doesn't dome.

And I buy my sheet dichro from Carol & Monty. They advertise scrap dichro at a really good price. I haven't bought any scrap because the type of beads I'm making now require specific sizes, but I'm always tempted. I don't know if they go to Bead & Button or not. The last time I ordered from them was right after they'd gotten back from the Glasscraft show (the Las Vegas show -- is that what it's called?) and practically everything had sold out at the show. And of course now, when I'm ready to place another order, it's B&B time. My timing stinks!

[Kalera]

My favoriite dichro to use, ever, was fused to a topcoat of clear and then cut into strips.

I keep meaning to do that, but forgetting, dagnabbit!