[Firebrand Beads]

You can learn a lot by just heating the tip of the rod, not even really using it. If it's transparent it's likely a reducer, try heating the tip in a neutral flame and seeing if it changes. If not, turn down your oxy and try reducing - what do you get? If it's opaque, you most likely need to strike it. Try heating a very small area of the tip, cool it down and reheat. That should give you an idea of what it will do. Try melting a teeny dot of clear over where the color changed - did that change too? Now you have less than a half-inch of a rod that shows what the color will do, and you haven't really "used" it. You can still apply it to a bead, even if it's not going to restrike fully or reduce fully a second time.