Dichro glass or Sheets?

[Blazinbeads24-7]

Hello my Fellow Lampworkers :waving:

Just gotta quick :?: here. Which one is better to work with? The dichro glass, or the dichro sheets:-k? I do have some sample's of the dichro rods that I've used about twice. When I get finished with the bead there's only a little shimmer left:pout:. How am I able to get that strong effect when encasing? Lookin foward to hearing from ya. :biggrin:

Chao8-)

[Chuckie]

You have to be careful not to burn off the coating or stretch it as you lay it onto your mandrel. When you stretch it, it spreads it out over a larger area and thins the coating.

[Blazinbeads24-7]

Thanx's:wave: I'll try working in the back part of the flame. Now Should I put it in the flame right after I lay it down, Or should I encase it first and then put it in the flame to smooth it out?

[alexm]

I get my dichro in sheets, it's cheaper per ounce that way. I cut them into strips and fuse them in the kiln. I'm getting to be a fan of encasing it before I lay it down, that way I don't fry the edges and I don't need to worry about making a base bead, I just lay down the encased dichro as the base bead.

[dogmaw]

Alex, you can get moretti clear sheet. I use that to fuse on top of my moretti dicro and cut it into strips after it has fused. No worries about encasing then! :)

[Afterdark]

Do you just put the clear sheet and the dichro sheet together and heat up??What tempature do you fuse at?? How long? Hummm something to ponder??

[squid]

I use 1450 to 1480 for a full fuse on Bullseye.

[dogmaw]

Do you just put the clear sheet and the dichro sheet together and heat up??What tempature do you fuse at?? How long? Hummm something to ponder??

Yep, essentially! The dicro goes coating up, and the clear sheet sits on top of that. Then I flat fuse them together. I just use a fusing schedule I got from http://www.warmglass.com/

[alexm]

What a great idea! I never thought to fuse another sheet and sandwich the dichro inside. #-o

What about the edges after you cut them? Does the dichro burn at the edges?

[Chuckie]

If you cut the clear top coat a smidge wider than the dichro, it won't have any exposed dichro at the edges. Problem solved!

[alexm]

I never thought of that either! #-o

Now all I have to do it is get some clear Effetre sheet glass! Oh, wait I have black Effetre sheet glass, I could back it with black glass and place a rod of clear alongside the edges! I smell an experiment in the making!