Prince Rupert's Drops

[betsymn]

I stumbled across this video and found it interesting. By dropping hot glass into ice cold water, it makes the drop nearly indestructible, but by breaking the tail it explodes 'into billions of tiny pieces.' Hmmmm, wonder if you could make 104 frit this way?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V2eCFsDkK0&feature=related

[maisyjoe]

OMG
how interesting that you posted this
i am reading a book called Oscar and Lucinda and they talk about Prince Rupert drops... ok... so I don't really have a point, just coincidental that I am reading this book.... as this is a pivotal piece of the storyline in this book:waving: LOL

[lindag]

I've made frit like that for years. A bit smaller scale, but the same idea.

I put a glass or bowl of ice and water below my torch and melt glass and let it drip into the cold water. I love the crackle sounds and it's great for those days when nothing is going right! Generally I do one color at a time and then mix it later.

When finished, I pour off the water, filtering it through a coffee filter. I break the tails off when done and then let the frit dry in the filter or sometimes I'll microwave it to speed up the drying. It's not all the same size, but it's easy and a bit mesmerizing. Oh, and no dust either!

[betsymn]

I watched this and another video, and the glass doesn't crack/shatter when it's dropped into the water. It showed the guy taking a hammer to the drop and it didn't crack, but as soon as he broke the tail, it exploded into tiny pieces.

[luvhotglass]

Betsy, Thanks so much for the great info! You must have been reading my mind. . .just last night I was thinking that there must be an easier way to make frit and voila here it is! This forum is great!
Maria

[lwilson21]

That video is amazing!

[Karen Hardy]

Friendly reminder:

WEAR EYE PROTECTION

[Flame Crazy]

How interesting. Thanks for the link!

[justK]

Maisyjoe, thank goodness you came up with the title, I saw the movie of Oscar and Lucinda and remembered the drops but not the name, it would have diven me nuts trying to think of it!
It's a very curious story.
Kimmie

[FlameFilly]

It's a rite of passage to new glassblowers in some glass studios. I've had them held in my fist when and the tail snapped off. It kind of dissolves in your hand.

Don't try this though my experience was done by veteran glassworkers...

[Michelle Walsh]

I've made frit like that for years. A bit smaller scale, but the same idea.

I put a glass or bowl of ice and water below my torch and melt glass and let it drip into the cold water. I love the crackle sounds and it's great for those days when nothing is going right! Generally I do one color at a time and then mix it later.

When finished, I pour off the water, filtering it through a coffee filter. I break the tails off when done and then let the frit dry in the filter or sometimes I'll microwave it to speed up the drying. It's not all the same size, but it's easy and a bit mesmerizing. Oh, and no dust either!

This is exactly how I make frit!

~Michelle

[kbinkster]

I don't see why you could not make frit and powder that way. Just be sure to wear a mask any time you're handling powdered glass. You could sift and strain to classify the size of the frit. There are ways to make more uniform frit chunks, though, if classifying chunks just isn't your thing.

[maisyjoe]

Maisyjoe, thank goodness you came up with the title, I saw the movie of Oscar and Lucinda and remembered the drops but not the name, it would have diven me nuts trying to think of it!
It's a very curious story.
Kimmie
Hey for once someone actually paid attention to what I said...LOL! Usually I feel like a "ghost writer"

Strange book as well, now I want to see the movie.

good thing you were saved from a drive down nut lane :lol:
molly:love::waving:

[playswithfire104]

I've tried to make these a number of times. I can never get them NOT to break apart when they hit the water. Is there some trick?

Hmmmmm Oscar and Lucinda. I'll have to check that out - sounds interesting.

[Beadanna]

In the video they used a bucket full of ice water. I'm presuming it needs to be pretty cold when the hot glass hits the water. Maybe your water was not cold enough, Nancy?

Beadanna

[kbinkster]

I'm wondering if the volume of the water (big bucket full) has anything to do with it --> higher compression force on glass due to higher pressure.

ETA I know that the rapid cooling of the outermost layer that creates the compression, but I, too, was wondering why it doesn't seem to work for me and I know that I am probably using too small a bucket. I was wondering if the added weight if the water held the drop together better. But, instead of looking for a complicated answer, I should have just looked for a simpler explanation. I'm thinking now that a smaller volume of cold water won't work as well as a larger volume of cold water not because of the pressure holding the glass together from the outside, but because a larger volume of cold water is a better heat sink than a smaller volume of cold water and the drop would be cooled more quickly creating that compression zone that keeps the inside part from blowing out. A small container of cold water doesn't stay cold for very long when you drop a hot molten blob of glass into it.

I now feel the need to experiment with these to figure it out, but darnit, I don't have the time.

Hey, these would be a good thing to show people who poo-poo annealing. The head of the Rupert's Drop can be amazingly strong until the surface tension is broken. This is analogous to an unannealed bead that appears to be sound, but can break unexpectedly.

[playswithfire104]

I've heard of teachers doing this in science class as a cool demo.