Totally and completely Raku challenged

[amaya-bead]

Ok....I have made one or two sets with raku, but I NEVER get the really cool colors everyone is getting. Anyone want to share the whole concept of popping raku colors with me? again? LOL Mine seem to just get a dark golden transparent colorish thing. Icky very very icky! I wanna make pretties oh so pretties! lol thanks for the help! you all rock! :waving:

[Sue H-K]

Hey Amaya

I have the best luck on dark colors like black as a base and then getting my bead really really hot and have my oxygen way up and then either blowing on it to quick cool it down (I tend to get more blues/greens this way) or squashing it in a cold press if I'm making a pressed bead....I'm sure there are others out there with more experience, but I think it is a heat/oxy thing mostly

[Cosmo]

Are you on tanked oxygen or on a concentrator? I've noticed that the best colors seem to come from tanked oxygen. That's not to say you can't use a concentrator, though.

[amaya-bead]

I have a generator that fills a surge tank that i get my oxy from. So.....its tanked. Right. I think. Would you consider that tanked?

[RyanTheNumberImp]

I have found that the colors seem to pop more when I put the frit on clear. What I do is make a clear (or black) cylinder, roll it in frit, heat the frit up just enough so its melted, roll it in frit again, heat it up a tiny bit, roll it in frit a third time and then heat it up. The best way I can describe how I heat it is gently but to a white glow. I pretty much get it as hot as possible without boiling the glass. Once its like that, I just roll it over and over on the back of my brass bead stamp (anything brass should do (or just metal)) unitl its hard. After that, I heat it up to just a bit less of a white glow than last time, roll it on the brass again, then heat it up less the the previous time and start shaping it on a graphite paddle and repeat the procedure on graphite about three times (using less heat each time). It sounds complicated but it goes pretty quick. You can see the kind of colors I get here: http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7291

Here is one last tip. If you stick the raku in the cones, you get purple and green but you also get a grey deposit over it. You can burn the grey off and still keep the purple and green. If you dont stick it in the cones, you get most of the other colors and no grey deposit. You can stick it in the cones a few of the reheats and not in the others and you will get a bit of each color.

[IBB by Luann]

Different techniques seem to work at different times. Can't really explain it, but I usually do what Sue does. Only I really heat it very very hot when melting into the bead. Then, reheat, blow on it. Reheat, blow on it, until it gets to where you want it. Keep in mind, that just before you get the really great colors, it looks like you burned it. You didn't. I have tried it on clear, but I'm going to. Usually the cool tool doesn't work for me, but strangely, on this last set, it did. Good luck. Don't quit. Keep trying. Bla bla bla. You know the drill. The first set is on black. The second, more pale set is on opal yellow.

7706
7707

[Steph'sBeadCorner]

:waving:

[Steph'sBeadCorner]

7708

I'm still trying to "clean" up the design... but I love it with Red roof tile. Right now it's so cold in the studio the colors pop without having to roll it on metal - a benefit to all those lampworkers working in colder climates.

I do put it right up to the cones and you can watch the reactions on the surface of the glass. (thanks Donna at blackberrybeads.)

I just need to keep trying.

sorry for the bad pic -

Steph

[Steph'sBeadCorner]

oops duplicate post sorry!

[Jude Rose]

Hey Amaya

I have the best luck on dark colors like black as a base and then getting my bead really really hot and have my oxygen way up and then either blowing on it to quick cool it down (I tend to get more blues/greens this way) or squashing it in a cold press if I'm making a pressed bead....I'm sure there are others out there with more experience, but I think it is a heat/oxy thing mostly

That's what I do. I have a generator and I crank it full blast. LOUD. If you've got baby poop colors, it's not hot enough.

[Steph'sBeadCorner]

geez... I feel like I'm in a maze and can't get out....

[rebecca kramer]

Amaya,
Have you tried placing a brass stump shaper in ice water and cooking the bead with raku then touching it the stump shaper? my colors pop every time.
Rebecca

[evenia]

I singe the crap out of. I mean I really make it look like I burned it, like it turns black or dark brown. Then I let it cool and flash and cool and flash and cool. The colors will start to come out then. I have a problem doing it on clear or white since for me those colors are hard not to burn and make them ugly. I like it on black or red but I really love it on dark silver plum. That color seems to make it really pop without much effort.

Hope that helps,
Julie

[stargirlmama]

Ok....I have made one or two sets with raku, but I NEVER get the really cool colors everyone is getting. Anyone want to share the whole concept of popping raku colors with me? again? LOL Mine seem to just get a dark golden transparent colorish thing. Icky very very icky! I wanna make pretties oh so pretties! lol thanks for the help! you all rock! :waving:


I second this! :wave: I have once gotten a dab of purplish blue but only once i tell ya! I gotta have the Raku experience I'm itching for it!
Marianna

[Steph'sBeadCorner]

I singe the crap out of. I mean I really make it look like I burned it, like it turns black or dark brown. Then I let it cool and flash and cool and flash and cool. The colors will start to come out then. I have a problem doing it on clear or white since for me those colors are hard not to burn and make them ugly. I like it on black or red but I really love it on dark silver plum. That color seems to make it really pop without much effort.

Hope that helps,
Julie

Hey Julie!!

There's a bead jam at Village Glass next Wednesday...maybe we should bring raku. I was wondering if you had problems with the black diveting after all the heat?

Thanks!!

[alexm]

The colors I get out of raku frit depend on a lot of things, but here are some things I've noticed:

Black is a great base color for it. Use Moretti black, you'll get better colors out of it than Vetrofond black.

Other colors that also work are: (all Moretti) lapis, pastel sage, petroleum green, coral and new violet.

I find that I get the best results when I heat the bead up really hot when I melt in the raku frit, then press it in bead press. The colors really pop when I fire polish out the chill marks. If you still don't like the colors after you reheat the bead after pressing, you can get the bead molten again and then press and polish out the chill marks.

I find that I get the best colors on Moretti black and lapis when using a bead press, then firepolish it to take out the chill marks and make the colors pop.

[Mustang Dawn]

Good Morning,

I love Raku. I have just a few things to add. Raku like's it hot but to make the colors pop I let it cool to the point where it is is pretty skined over and then I squish with a tool. Now before I flame polish it I let it sit another 10 to 15 seconds and then I do one side at a time. Waiting those 10 to 15 seconds between sides too. I never chill my tools.

I find that you will have your best luck with the larger sized chucks and Pulling your own cane. Power works but you have to work it a lot.

I hope that helps, Dawn