Mica Powder
 

Anyone use them? How do they look in lampwork beads?
Thanks,
Christine

I have used them in fusing and they definitely give pieces a metallic look. I did some stencil work with them and then fused it in - specifically - stenciled gold mica powder scorpions onto black glass with a layer of clear on top for 30 belt buckles for a custom order in LA about 5 years ago (time flies) . They looked great - haven't used in a bead but I would expect encased in clear the effects ( metallic) would be similar. The metallic look after firing is similar to how it looks in the bag with that "pearly looking" sheen. Only issue is/was , if you apply too thick (at least in fusing) under a layer of clear it wants to bubble due to off gassing just as if you blob enamel powders on too thick under clear and fire too fast . That may not be an issue in a bead since you can work it more.

Thank you so much!

Check these out
http://listen-up.org/kitty/beads/pearl/charts.htm

Great, thanks, Listenup!

Nice work up Kay.

Thanks for putting that together and making it available.

I bought Mica powder for beads a year or so ago and never really used it. I'm doing some fusing now - earrings and pendants - and would like to try to use the Mica powder.

How are you getting the powder onto the glass, Nevada Glass? The stuff is messy as can be to me.

-BEP

Oil will tame the beast with Mica powder... there is squeegee oil you can buy, but clove oil will work too. Mix it with the mica powder to make a paint. Just make sure the oil is mostly dried out... well with fusing it will probably dry out in the kiln...when working on the torch it can catch fire sometimes if it isn't dry enough, but doesn't hurt anything. There are also water based mediums too that you can use but I found they often bubble which is a PIA.

Thanks for the info. Do I have to make sure that the powder isn't exposed so it doesn't burn out in the 1500* heat or can it handle being exposed?

-BEP

mix with water or fuse magic medium and treat it like paint....but like echo said - too thick and its going to bubble which can be problematic - use it like a wash or water color and you can get some cool effects

All of the beads in my chart were annealed @ 968°F and exposed to the direct flame of a HotHead torch (abt 1500°F). The powder is the outside layer on all my beads. Some survived, some didn't. The only way to be 100% certain it will survive your planned application is to design & run a test first.

Thank you. Your chart will be most helpful.

-BEP

If it is left on the out side only a certain amount will stick and the excess will wash away so it isn't quite as blingy and looks like the beads in the chart do. If you encase it between two pieces of glass you can get almost a gold leaf effect like the peacock eye center.

Here is a better picture example, you can really see the golden shine of encasing it between two pieces of glass... I hate resizing pictures so here's a link.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1191987...home_active_10

Are you "painting" the powder on the inner glass as mentioned above then encasing over it?

-BEP

Yes. I paint strips of sheet glass then apply them over a base bead... it would be the same principle in fusing. I prefer oils, but I know some like the water base mediums better, so that is just maybe a personal preference... oils never bubble though... but may catch fire if not fully dried when used in the flame but does not effect the design really.

Cool. I've not ever thought of this as a way of working with powders. Very nice.

I agree, they're beautifully done.

Mimi

Where do you get glass thin enough for this, or do you just use shards?

Sheet glass for fusing, cut into strips.

Neat idea, and lovely beads!

Thanks Becky.

Hocowa has sheet 104 glass in clear and colors. I think Frantz does as well.
I got some so I could transfer images from laser printed paper to clear glass and then wrap that around a bead (like dicro, with the image on the inside.)

Clever!