Glass Alchemy Question

[Curly Irish Girl]

I bought a Mini CC while in Milwaukee at Bead & Button last week - just opened it up and find a sampler pack (8 short rods) of GA - I've not worked with it before and am not really sure what it is other than not compatible with 104 COE. HELP!! Is this boro???? I've used all the 104 brands and lots of frit of varied COE but need LOTS of info before I put this in the flame! :rolleyes:

[starlia]

Yes it is boro and the coe is 33. You will need a hotter flame than working with moretti as well. I'm sure the CC will work well for that. What colors do you have in boro? A lot of them strike in the kiln at different temps. I'll help as much as I can but I don't work with my boro often.

[MikeAurelius]

Yes, it is boro, and as Starlia says, it is different, way different from soft glass.

To begin with, you will need some additional protection for your eyes. A pair of clip on flip up welder's shades will do the trick, they run about $20.00.

You'll need different pressures on your gasses when working boro. Typically, for soft glass you run 2 to 1, oxygen to propane. For boro, run 3 to 1 or more.

The nice part of boro is that the clear glass is really cheap. The bad part about boro is the the colors are very expensive.

Clear runs about $4.50 a pound, color averages about $45.00 a pound.

A lot of boro work is done with cane where the color is striped onto clear rod and then pulled out.

A good beginner video for boro beads is Doug Remschneider's Borosilicate Beads.

Oh, and kiln annealing cycles are different too. For normal annealing, one and a half hours at 1050 F is sufficient. If you have striking colors, or colors with a high silver content, such as 786 Triple Passion, you'll run those up to 1150 for a couple of hours (longer for more color), then down to 1050 for a short time.

[alexm]

Mike and Starlia are absolutely right, but I just wanted to include a couple more tips.

If you are working on a mini CC, turn up the torch and you'll need to hold the rods and shape the beads right near the opening of the torch where the flame is the hottest. Don't worry, it takes a lot for boro to drip off the mandrel. Speaking of mandrels, DON'T put the bead smack in the the middle of the flame, you'll burn right through the mandrel. Let the bead "ride" the top of the flame.

Boro is VERY sensitive to flame chemistry. Work in a neutral or slightly oxidizing flame. A reducing flame will turn many colors a metallic grayish opaque if you don't know what you are doing.

[Curly Irish Girl]

Thanks for the info! I'll get the bag (they are all colored rods) and give you the info that I have. Also the video From Doug Remschneider is included with the torch so I'll watch it. Also had a "mini" project kit!

Thanks for all the help & understanding as I spread my wings a tad....your expertiese and patience are appreciated.

[starlia]

The video is great for color recipes but it always puts me to sleep. Either that one or Jim S's video. I love the information given but for some reason I get sleepy watching.

If you don't have any clear boro just yell. I can send you a bit.

[Curly Irish Girl]

This weekend is our big Dunn County Artists Tour....so you know how I've spent every minute this week!!! The studio is clean...stuff is all tagged - display shelves are up....now we just need it to cool down...95 and humid in NW WI is NASTY!!

I counted my samples of boro - there are 14!!! I'll have to sit down and see if I can find a color chart or what ever there is as a resource. I think boro is the stuff that you never know what you've got til it comes out of the annealer....right?

I'll also need to look at some vendor websites and see about getting some clear boro....does it have any special "secret" name?

[starlia]

You are right about you never know what will come out of the kiln. After working with it for a while you'll begin to understand how the colors react to heat and kiln times.

There is nothing special about clear boro. Be sure you get large sizes for encasing and smaller sizes for waves, etc. I can send you some if you like.

[MikeAurelius]

Clear boro is sold under a bunch of trade names (by different manufacturers)

Kimble, Simax, Pyrex, etc.

Simax is probably the most readily available, if you do fuming, go with the Kimble - it takes fume much better.

Here is my suggestion for sizes:

3 or 4 mm - for stingers and dotting color

5 or 6 mm - for encasing small beads (6 mm for punties)

8 mm - for making cane

10 mm - encasing large beads

12 mm - sculpture

16 mm - pendants

31.7 mm - well, ask Brent about that size [-( :-$ :lol:

[BillBrach]

Lynn,

Don't know if you are using tanked oxygen or a concentrator with your Mini CC. Carlisle sent me one and I did a test drive on it, using my concentrator, and I was NOT very pleased with it for BORO. For soft glass, a Mini CC is OK on a good 5 LPM concentrator. By 'good', I mean one that is putting out the proper amount of oxygen, and not a "tired" 5 LPM unit.

The Mini CC on tanked oxygen, on the other hand, is a VERY nice torch, for either soft or hard glass.

Bill

[Mr. Smiley]

31.7 mm - well, ask Brent about that size [-( :-$ :lol:

I prefer the 44mm- LOL

[lartisanverrier]

Hi
where can I find all the video your talking about please

[nagibeads]

http://www.remschneiderglass.com/video_overview.htm

[AuntD]

Another tip on working with boro -- do a search on 'striking' in the boro thread here. It's very different from soft glass in the way you do that, and making the colors change by striking is part of the joy and fascination of boro. My amber purples (aka amber purple, double amber purple, triple passion, etc) all came out amber until I learned about striking.

I work at a studio, so I don't get to control the kiln directly (other people may need temperatures other than what I'd use if I'm playing with kiln striking) so I do most of my striking in the flame rather than in the kiln, but be aware that kiln temperature may also affect your colors. And be sure to burn off the haze! In other words, when you're heating striking colors, make sure they're so hot that they're clear before you start playing with them to affect the color.

There's a lot of info on both the GA and Northstar websites. Do another search here for info on boro newbie information, and you'll find lots of tips from some of the real experts for which colors to try first. Some colors are tricky, and some are more forgiving.

Have fun!