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Old 2005-10-06, 7:26am
Jude Rose's Avatar
Jude Rose Jude Rose is offline
It's time to sparkle
 
Join Date: Jun 16, 2005
Location: Saint Anna, WI
Posts: 6,194
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IMHO disclaimer: I'll just shoot off some opinions I've gathered. Just one person's viewpoint. And I'm only going to list a few glasses-if I listed all, I'd be here til tomorrow typing.

-EFFETRE/(Moretti)
C.O.E 104-
a wonderful chart made by Chris Fischer
http://www.chrisfisherart.com/Morett...ic%20Chart.htm
*It's easiest to start with the pastels and transparents. Each color has it's own personality and even pastels as a whole act differently in the flame than transparents.
*The specials are just glorified pastels that cost more because of the metals needed to make them.
*The handmade glasses are very individual. Some melt so easy and others can have a lot of internal stress that makes them spit and explode at the ends.

With all glasses, it's just best to introduce them to the flame by waving them in and out for about 10 seconds to keep al the spitting down.

*The alabastros and opalinos-these glasses are a little different to work with. They are not necessarily harder-just different. I believe it's the opalino that strikes solid once it's properly annealed-so what you see is not what you get when you order. The alabastros will scald and boil easily and need a very patient touch-and all are not coefficient with the other Effetres.

VETROFOND-
Very much like Effetre because the companies used to be merged. The vetrofond is completely compatible with Effetre in my experience, and the transparents typically have more clarity, especially clear.

LAUSCHA-
Not always COE 104. They range from 102-106. The glass needs more heat to get molten and so it works a little stiffer than Effetre. It has some lovely colors not found elsewhere. I use it a lot, I just avoid casing it over or under a different brand. Just do tests and find your comfort zone.

BULLSEYE-COE 90
Bullseye is made in the USA and has a long history of providing fusing glass for artists. It has it's own complete set of colors-noone can rival it's pinks. It's really not that fussy to work with. The one thiing to be careful of is to get it immediately into your annealer, for it will crack easily if left to cool too long.

CZECH GLASS-COE all over the place
Gorgeous, crystally clear glass that really is best for small beads. If one is daring to try larger beads, they need to do extensive testing or research of compatibilty even within the same brand.

There. That's a start. When shopping in person, try to eye up your transparents and avoid scratched glass. The scratches will turn into scum and bubbles when heated. Some folks wash their transparents in the dishwasher to make them really grim free. I just wipe each rod down with alcohol before use.
If you see some handpulled glass that's thick or lumpy in spots, it is indicating a high chance of internal stress, so guard yourself against spitting glass with a longer warm up and high instincts.

O.k.,
Hope that helps,
Jude
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Last edited by Jude Rose; 2005-10-06 at 7:26am. Reason: typo queen
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