Newbie stupid question

[bryntaran]

I have got an extremely stupid question................ Can I make my beads using different 104 kinds of glass? As in......... Effetre and CIM glass? Somehow I think I read something about this, but can't remember what it said. Thanks in advance,
Judy

Feel free to laugh

[jamie lynne]

for the most part you can go crazy with different brands used together... i know some colors have compatability issues with other glass brands, but for the most part you can go nuts! as long as it says 104 you are in the clear!

[J.Meader]

jamie got it right, most of the 104's can mix but you never really know till you try

[moonofglass]

Yep, as long as it's the same COE, it's a go. Don't try mixing Bullseye in though...it's 90 COE and not compatible!

[Flonche]

Not laughing here, I do this all the time and sometimes I have bad surprises, for instance:
-Beadmaking 104 (the 104 line by Kugler who produced the ASK line a few years ago): most colors to use SPARINGLY with other brands (lines, dots are ok but no encasing)
-some CIM colors (especially Celadon) hate to be encased in any clear
-usually CIM and Vetro/Effetre get along well in my experience, but with said experience I no longer take anything for granted...

[Firebrand Beads]

Yes, what they ALL said!
You are in the right place, though... if anyone has had a problem with a combination, you are likely to read about it here on LE!

So, if you want to be forewarned, do a search on the most expensive one of the colors you want to use, and you will likely see it in combination with other GREAT colors, OR you will see someone asking about this crack, or that interaction line, or whatever, and that can warn you away from bad combos. There are lots of threads about the Kugler line and which ones you can encase and which ones you can't. I know when we had an issue with TAG Juno I tried to shout from the L.E. mountaintops that she doesn't like other brands of clear, so don't risk it. Some of the CIM colors like a hotter annealing cycle, and that is one reason that CIM Cirrus, for instance, is not easily used with every 104.

And if your combo breaks but no one else has had that problem, the folks here can help you troubleshoot it until we solve the mystery. It's CSI Bead Studio here in the Tips and Tricks room, lol! Welcome to the party.

~Jenny @ TAG
OH! And BTW, the only STUPID question is the one you don't ask because you think it will make you sound stupid!

[bryntaran]

Thank you all soooo much. I really appreciate your taking the time to answer my "stupid" question. It is so nice to have all of you there to ask these things to, it is almost like having someone in the room with me helping out.

Judy

[Hels]

Nothing stupid about stupid questions... I still ask stupid questions.

[m**2]

The technical answer is...

Coefficient of linear expansion (COE) is only an indicator of how much a particlar glass expands when heated from one specific temperature to another specific temperature. There are a number of other factors that influence compatibility (e.g. viscosity).

There is not a way to guarantee that two glasses with the same COE are compatible.

One way to get an idea is to overlap approx. 1" of two rods. Heat the overlapped area and pull a thin bi-glass stringer.

The closer to straight the stringer is, the more likely that the two glasses are compatible. I suggest that you try this with one rod of 104 COE glass and one of 90 or 96 COE glass to see what happens when glasses are incompatible.

Even so, this will not guarantee compatibility.

[houptdavid]

Judy post your stuff in the Gallery in the Newbie show and tell thread for the week

[Mitosis Glass]

No such thing as a stupid question in the glass world Judy. I've asked some real doozers myself on here, but it's the only way to learn. People here are very helpful and you'll learn LOTS by being on here!