Working with Nile Green Opalina?

[Elda B]

I need some advice on working with Nile Green Opalina soft glass. Sometimes I get a chalky colored bead and sometimes I get a translucent colored bead. I have tried altering where I'm working the glass in the flame and altering the mix of propane and oxygen, but I just can't figure out how to consistently get the translucent bead. Most of them come out a chalky green, which is not what I want. Any advice?

[Tancaro]

I hear Opalina is very difficult to work with. Personally, I love it. Not sure what you mean by "chalky", but the general rule of thumb is Opalina likes a cooler flame. When I practice the patience needed for Opalina they turn out the same color as the rod or a bit deeper in color. It's VERY easy to burn in my experience and then I get a brown yucky bead, not what I would really call chalky.
-Carol

[StellaBlue]

Carol, that's my experience with opalino in general and nile green in particular. Gotta work them waaaay up in the flame (long-arm beads !!!) or they either scorch and get brown, or they get a black webby thing happening. Yuck. And it takes HUGE patience cause the stuff is pretty stiff. I find that I can kind of quickly "dip" into the hotter part of the flame and then back out to the very top to get a little more heat soaked into the bead without burning it, but for the most part it needs to be worked really cool. The striking pink is the worst - at its best it is a beautiful rose color, and it will turn to brownish burnt-out crud without a fare-thee-well. It is so pretty on the occasions it has worked that I keep using it in spite of the fact that it drives me nuts.

Rita

[evolvingBeau]

If you are managing to avoid the sooty carbon scuz mentioned above then you're off to a good start..
As far as the chalky-ness, it's just something that occurs when the glass is worked longer(and hotter) in the flame. Alot of re-heating/melting will tend to opacify the opalino colors giving you resulting chalk-turquoise look rather than the nice jade-like translucency..
Be very gentle and stick with it and you'll do better at maintaining that look.

[Tancaro]

Yeah Rita, the black webby stuff stinks. I bought a bunch of the pink opalino in Tucson last year. And purple, blue, yellow, etc. The only one I just can't seem to get right is the yellow. 5 out of 6 turn scummy and/or brown on me. I think the purple is my favorite.

Evolving, thanks. I guess now that you pointed it out when I burn the yellow it does get sort of a chalky look to it. I just never thought of it that way. BTW I stalk your ebay listings! LOL

Good luck with the nile green Elda. Would love to see what you're making with it. It doesn't seem like very many opalina beads are posted. Are you a new lampworker or just new to LE?

-Carol

[scoutycat]

I usually work opalinos and alabastros in a slightly oxidizing flame, as cool as possible. If the color gets a little too hot it'll boil a bit and leave chalky streaks and spots. If it gets overworked, it'll get more and more opaque. I find preheating the rods helps a bit, and being careful not to leave little stringer-y ends on the rods helps too. I tap the ends on a marver to keep the rod more even in size.

[Otter's Flame]

....... opacify.......
For being able to use the word opacify in a sentence, you are my hero! lol If I had a trophy or a certificate I would present it to you for a masterful use of the English language. I duz not have the smartz too yoose them kinda wurds!

Seriously that is a cool word and I have always wanted to use it in a sentence. My son would just be rolling his eyes at me right now if he could see what a fuss I am making over your sentence. Much to his dismay I frequently correct his brutal treatment of the English language.

Otter

[Elda B]

\\:D/ Wow! This is great advice. I have been trying to recreate the color of the first bead I made with little success. After reading your comments I think I know what I've been doing wrong. They aren't brown but they aren't the translucent color of that first terrific bead I made. Not getting the base color I wanted has proved frustrating, but now I'm going to try again. Carol, I'll post a photo of the one of the "good" beads so you can see what I mean.

[scoutycat]

Otter's flame: Medals etc. are available here: http://www.justsayhi.com/bb/awards