Black boro? Which one?

[sleekbeads]

What does Black Lightening "do" ?
Is it plain black or does it do special things?

What is a good plain solid black that won't do anything special.
I need a black that will stay solid black.

Thanks!

Jo

[e. mort]

Black lightning is not actually black. It is a really dark blue with lots of silver. The best black I have found is either NS Onyx or GA Black Violet.

[JDeMoss]

I use GA Black Violet for almost all my black needs. It works really well. The only problem is that it thins out a little too much when making certain murrini or for stringers.

[Venbead]

I like onyx

[ShepherdCreations]

I use onyx for backing, but in thin applications, Jet Black by Precision is completely awesome. I'm in love... You guys need to try it if you haven't already.

[Pyroglasstic]

Im a precision jet black fan too.
That is all.
Jeff

[Over the Moon]

Ditto the Jet Black!

[nagibeads]

ditto on the ditto-
jet black

[Bubba]

has anyone tried glasshawks new black? the people that make elvis red. i dont mean elvis black. glasshawk has a 2 new colors apricot and black.

[sleekbeads]

Thanks everyone~ Always an answer here in our little boro heaven!
You all rock, MAJORLY!

Jo

[Cosmo]

Black Violet is my personal favorite. I use it for most all applications. Every one of my marbles and pendants that has black in it is Black Violet. I buy it 5 pounds at a time. The only time I don't use it is when I'm doing stringer work. It's a dark transparent purple, so if you pull it thin, you can see through it. In that case I use Onyx. But for anything where it's more than 1/16" thick, it/s fine.

Precision's Jet Black stays black no matter what, but it doesn't seem to melt as easily as the colors around it, so it's harder to shape.

[Ro]

i am currently loving precision jet black too.
ro

[ShepherdCreations]

Sounds like black violet is worth trying... Hope it's not like Black walnut though, that's just dark brown

[Cosmo]

Black Violet is a dark purple. But, if you use it as the back of a pendant, base of a bead, back of a marble, or whatever, it's black. If you blow it out really thin or pull stringers, they look purple.

Check out my marbles at www.cosmoglassworks.com - the black in all of those is Black Violet. In fact, most anything I've posted here in the past year that has black in it is Black Violet.

[Janelle Zorko]

Has anyone tried Momka's Obsidian? I'm asking seriously here - not trying to sell it. I believe it's a dark, dark Cobalt. Any opinions?

Janelle

[Cosmo]

Originally Posted by Janelle Zorko

Has anyone tried Momka's Obsidian? I'm asking seriously here - not trying to sell it. I believe it's a dark, dark Cobalt. Any opinions?

Janelle

Yes, it is. It's okay. You have to watch your flame or it will reduce...

[WildBird]

Precision Jet Black... No reduction, No fading out, No reaction to anything I can tell, and just plain stable!

WildBird

[Juln]

So many blacks, they're all good for something!
Like in ink or paint, they are all based on some sort of color rather than being a true gray black.
One thing to note is that each has it's own viscosity, as well. This and the tint influence which colors I use it with. Onyx is soft, like ruby, but I don't like it's green tint with ruby. Black violet is noticeably stiffer than ruby, so that doesn't work either, especially for blowing. Black Walnut or GA Grape work well with ruby or triple passion, depending on the application. If it's thick, the grape looks black.
On the other end of the viscosity scale are agua azul, peacock and twilight. These stiffer colors work well with dark cobalts and black Violet.

GA Cobalt 6 covered and remixed with clear is great. it's dark blue of course, and stiff working. Black Walnut is nice, it's a little brown colored, fairly opaque. This color melts easily and has very little reduction or boiling. Their Raven is good, too, sort of like a denser Onyx. Black Violet is nice and reliable, stiff working which is good for pendant loops... You're supposed to avoid using it in larger pieces with dichro, though, according to GA. Black Blue is good, like an opaque dark cobalt but it reduces to gray easily, like cobalt.

NS Onyx is good. It's a bit green. Turbo cobalt is nice, covered with clear!

Obsidian is good, sort of like cobalt 6 mixed with black rose. It's nice for applications where you need a very dense, dark black. Black Rose is nice, like a redder black violet that melts a bit more easily.

I also like the Jet Black from Precision.

Theres other good ones out there, too. Good golly.

[beachglass]

Originally Posted by WildBird

Precision Jet Black... No reduction, No fading out, No reaction to anything I can tell, and just plain stable!

WildBird

i got a lb of this because the sample stick I had was great. I used to use Onyx (which is a great black), but still had occasional reduction problems. Well it turns out Jet Black is worse!! I used 1 stick and haven't touched it since. It reduces like crazy

[Juln]

Really? i got a stick of Onyx once that reduced like crazy. I haven't reduced the Jet Black yet.
I have found Precision colors to be fairly imprecise... that is, inconsistent from batch to batch. All companies formulas are, though.
Okay, I admit it... I'm still trying to figure out which of the rods on my table are Jet Black.

[ACE]

i've heard about ppl getting batches of the jet black and it being really inconsistent, one pound wouldn't reduce if you set your heart on it and the next pound will reduce no matter what flame you use.

i personally like black violet as well, but cosmo's right it's not great for stringers or super thin stretched out work.

[jonesartglass]

I'm loving the "Chinex" black from ABRimagery. Nice 22in pulls, 8mm thick. No cracking inside or out and no boiling. Very consistent and opaque.

[sunray]

Anyone tried the Black Jack thats new from Glasshawk?

[chayes]

I'm gonna go with onyx on this one, its a real smooth color and pulls down wicked far in milli.

[HardwoodTrailGlass]

Originally Posted by sunray

Anyone tried the Black Jack thats new from Glasshawk?

I haven't, but I am curious too.

[Juln]

Black Jack, I wonder if thats like Sable?
Sue Ellen had a wicked recipe for a handmixed striking black that Northstar worked into a mass produced recipe, which was released as Sable in 2000 or so. This color unfortunately cracked most everything you used it in (like nS Blackberry...). Other than that, it was a beautiful, easy to work rod that was a like a ruby that struck to a creamy, smooth lovely brown black. The handmixed version was compatibvle with other colors of course, apparently it was the adaptations that NS made formass producing the color that made it fail.
Anyway, maybe it's a handmixed black like that..... I guess I should just find out instead of speculating. Actuallky, I should be blowing glass right now. Good golly.

[Cosmo]

Could very well be. Paul Trautman was working for Northstar when they made that color, so he probably remembers the formula.

I'm sure that also explains why his new Apricot color looks so much like the old NS Charisma...