Glow Joe glow in the dark glass
 

I bought this http://www.etsy.com/listing/59383502...am-sample-pack sampler pack from Joe back in the summer. I tried using one of them the way that I would normally use glass powder, and it turned grey and fell off my bead in chunks. Obviously, this isn't how you do it. I have since sent Joe a couple of messages, quite a while ago, and didn't hear anything back. I don't want to be miserable and go chasing him around, so I am checking here first if anyone has experience with this stuff, or any glow glass powder, that might help.

TIA, Becky

most glow powder is not glass, but rather a mixture of rare earth elements. So if you try to melt it on it is going to burn off. Try making some clear stringer, work it on the cool side.

I usually make mine into stringer. I melt a small blob of clear glass then roll it in the glow powder. I then wrap this in another layer of clear - this can be a challenge because the glass does not always want to stick to the glow powder. I repeat layers of glow powder and clear until I have a good sized gather, add 1 last layer of clear over everything and then pull into a stringer. The multiple layers of glow powder give a more concentrated glow. Hope this helps.

You can also roll a bead in the powder. Go for a thin layer. Then case that. I had a hard time on my first attempt. I rolled it in a frit tray with a bunch of the powder piled up. The moisture in the powder heated so fast it burped steam out of the pile with a poof of powder. May not be a problem in dryer climates. I now put a small layer on a graphite pad and roll in it that way.

This is great information, everyone. Thanks very much! Pam, I am envisioning the pile of powder burping steam, and chuckling... teehee!

So is the general idea to NOT let the powder be directly in the flame without encasement of some sort? Sort of like the shiny side of dichro?

I heard back from Joe a couple of days ago, and he gave me some good tips and techniques to try too. He seems like a really nice guy.

I'm excited to give this a go now!

ETA: Pam, my kiln is absolutely heavenly!!!! :love: