Devardi Glass Technical Input and Experiences

[Fine Folly Glassworks]

Lisa, I'll have to email and ask. Thank you for that point!


Here are some hollows I made up last night using COE 96 and their colorful frit... and I wrapped each one with a different Devardi glass stringer and then twisted with the end of a clear stringer (and broke it off when it was ready to snap as it cooled).

One is the gorgeous blue that I love, one the Metallic Black Silver that I got to hot and blistered (the stuff is beautiful and I am so heavy handed at times), and the last stringer was the encased Adventurine Goldstone. I annealed and we will see if they hold up well! I know there is a small % you can use on another COE and get away with it. COE 96 has the best colors in their frit that I always want to push the envelope to try to use it!

But it is making me think of making Devardi frit using their gorgeous jewel-tone colors (the Dk. Rose, Transparent Vibrant Blue, Transparent Yellow Gold and Transparent Forest Green for starters). I wonderful if they would make up custom frit orders one day! Guess I'm having Devardi dreams again!

Next I want to make some clear hollows using Devardi clear and frit. I just got some in this order so thats a next happy project!

[starlightforge]

Kristina... Sorry about getting those stained glass look hollows all wet.... I am drooling ... Those are just beautiful...
As to sharing what we discover about the glass we play with... I joined this thread to learn more... And I just like to share and help if I can I think I learn more than I help, but I do try... Yes the copper really pops on the SOP white.. And on the black I was trying to get both silver and copper on the same bead... The black base is silver black.. I could get the silver color with no copper, or I could get the copper with no silver, but not both at the same time But I tried, and have not given up on it yet... Thank you for the WOW...


Diana... Thank you for the kudos... Sorry for scarring you with my spider.. As I tell people who look and buy them "this spider will not bite, dose not move around too much and startle you, will not build a web in the upper most corner of a room so you can not get it down without risking life and limb.. She will simply keep you company, listen to your most secret longings and tails of woe, and not say a word.. She will just be there for you.. That is why spider is called The Weaver Of Life"... Spiders are good luck...
The big spider is about 3'' across.. The legs are a wire armature that seed and bugle beads are strung on..

To get the copper color to come out, you have to keep the bead from getting a glow, if it gets a glow then you need to let it cool a bit again.. You need to be in and out of the blue flame (flash) real quick.. Post pics, of your beads... Please...
Good luck at the Doc.s today girl Big Hugs..

Every one have a GREAT day... I'm off to make spiders....

[Fine Folly Glassworks]

Thank you Houkje, you are such a Sweetie! I'll post the hollows I make with all Devardi glass next!




I emailed Devardi, and Natasha said the Misty sample bead is annealed. She said that if Misty is annealed too cool or too hot the opaque color can happen. She said to be sure we are in the 960 to 970 range. She said this is crucial with all the SOP's, and that the Misty is actually more of an SOP than a Transparent.

Devardi gives annealing instructions for it's glass at:
http://www.devardiglass.com/about.htm

Here is their summary on Annealing at the bottom of that page:

ANNEALING: For best results with Devardi Glass, we suggest you anneal your project immediately when you finish it. This is especially important if you are blending Devardi with other COE 104 glasses Although we have had great success cooling beads in a blanket, annealing offers the best protection. For best results, evenly heat your bead or project to a dark red glow immediately when you are done, especially if you are combining other types of COE 104 Glass with Devardi Glass. Evenly heating it to a dark red glow will greatly prevent the possibility of cracking since the glass is above the annealing temperature and all one temperature. This gives the glass a chance to blend properly between the types of glass or colors. Place the bead into a preheated kiln at 950 – 970 degrees. Annealing will take place in about 30 minutes soaking time at this temperature. After this soaking time, we suggest at least a 3 hour cooling period to room temperature. Longer is even better. Less time also seems to work fine, but we prefer at least 3 hours.

PLEASE give Devardi Glass a bit of time to become accustom to it. It behaves differently than Moretti. Once people become accustom to a few new techniques, different reactions, lower flame and different gas mixtures, they usually like Devardi. Devardi Glass is a stiffer glass, for one thing, holding its shape better than other COE 104 glasses as you work. This has many benefits, as you will see, such as preventing designs from melting away when you are working on something next to what you already created. The effects of Devardi Glass are like no other, adding a whole new dimension to your art work. And it mixes well with Moretti and other COE 104 glasses, adding to what you may already do and the glass you have in stock. But just be patient with it, as you would any new glass. We have found it will do you very well.

If you have any questions or comments about Devardi Glass, we are always available to help. Just email us. If you have any problems, we will always work through them. We wish that your experience with Devardi Glass and our company be grand. Thank you again. Natasha and Daniel

[Rareripes]

Thanks,Houkje..will be trying tomorrow.My day has been filled with appts and I did get kinda bad news.I have to have wrist surgery next monday and he told me to expect to stay overnight.He also said even though he has no xrays of my fingers and can't get them cause they are so curled..will go in and try to straighten them and do what he can.He is fusing my wrist as it was that or replacing my wrist.I have no bending mobility forward to back now but pain when I try or use it too much.The fusing will give me no extra mobility but will ensure that i can't move it so there won't be pain when I use my wrist.he said replacing it will not give me motility either so he is opting for the fusing.I hope the finger thing works out because if the circulation does not come back after he works on them he will have to amputate the 2.These are my pinky and ring finger.I would be heartbroken if he had to do that but it won't affect my lampworking fingers.Unfortunately I will have to have physical therapy for a while,so I have no idea how long it will be before I can torch again after this weekend.
I love my DR and have total trust in him..he knows what i do and says he will do everything he can to protect my lampworking fingers.He will also be doing my other wrist,and both knees but one at a time for those things.
Soooo..I have 5 days to torch.We had planned on going to our retirement place for the weekend but I won't go now..I have no kiln nor torch down there and I want to spend my last 5 days(for who knows how long)playing with my bead stuff.I just hope hubby will understand.
cool on those spiders..wow..they really ARE big..lol...eeeks!How long does it take to construct one?
Thanks again,
♥

[Fine Folly Glassworks]

Originally Posted by Rareripes

Thanks,Houkje..will be trying tomorrow.My day has been filled with appts and I did get kinda bad news.I have to have wrist surgery next monday and he told me to expect to stay overnight. ♥

POOR Diana! I know all of our hearts are with you as you face this! You will be in my prayers too.

And here is a link to a spinning mandrel video. It may be a tool that makes things easier at some point. Please keep us posted.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac-sYSR18Xk

[LaurieBSmith]

Thank you! I'd read and read and many posts brought up questions, and the more I read, the more I thought...."I wanna know!!" I appreciate your time.

And those lovely beads!

Originally Posted by Fine Folly Glassworks

Hi Laurie, I'll post my 2 cents, and trust that others will too... it may be more than you wanted to know with to many pictures, but it may also be helpful. I am on a Hothead with bulk propane and no bead kiln, I use the Japanese Annealing Bubbles.


1. Is Devardi worth its price?

The price is the most exceptional thing about this glass. It is affordable and has a great color selection.


2. What colors cause problems?

There are some colors that are very heat-sensitive, and if you over heat them they start to devitrify and change to a matt finish or blister - such as the salmon.

This is a new glass company, and I see them weeding out problem colors and steadily improving the glass formulas. What was a problem color early on is now a pleasure to work with, such as the wonderful pinks and rose colors. I anticipate they will continue to develop the colors and qualities of this glass.

Unless you have the patience of Job to preheat slowly and high in the flame (to prevent shocking), you must preheat with a rod warmer and work most colors cooler than other glass brands. With a rod warmer it is no issue at all, just be sure to return your rod to the Warmer if you will use it again.

Many of the colors are stiffer glass than effetre, so you must use tools for shaping or be VERY patient in cooler heat as you shape. The up side is that stiffer glass makes for marvelous scultpural capabilities.


3. Is it compatible with 104?

Yes usually in my experience, but some don't play well together, like all glass brands. You must experiment before doing a big project. For example, I just used the Dk. Transparent Rose to encase the Semi Opaque Pink, and I got cracking. I don't know if it was the cooling in Annealing Bubbles or the glass didn't play well together. You must make samples to find out, and expect colors to change as they develop them too.


4. How is the clear?

Lovely and softer than effetre.


5. Do you like, love and want some more of it?

Yes and I would like a stick of each color just to make samples with and see what works well together. Some melt like butter after preheating, and some are stiff.


6. Is it temperature sensitive? (Does it burn easily?)

There are colors that will burn, and others that it is not an issue with. You should get a rod of each color you like, and maybe a box of samples and spend time pulling stringers and melting... but do invest in the Rod Warmer, and some colors need to go into a bead kiln, they get thermal cracks easily in Annealling Beads or Vermiculite, like the Light Transparent Green.

I have posted some bead pics below with comments. This is not effetre, and you cannot expect it to behave like effetre, but in my opinion, it is worth it if you want to learn to use it.

Enjoy!


PICTURE WITH COMMENTS:

This Light Transparent Green is SO lovely and nice to work with, but it would not cool without cracking in my Annealing Bubbles/Vermiculite as a 5/8" bead. However, a solid 1/2" bead I made with it DID cool without thermal cracking though, so go figure...


This is a new color - Misty - and it is a creamy misty beauty. I can't wait to work with it some more. This is a hollow bead I just made.


These bears are samples of my fun with the sculptural properties of this glass. The goldfish in the beads shows how it holds it's design shape under and on top of encasing.


I made this bracelet in different Devardi Transparents, with effetre lt. pink for dots, Devardi's Dk. Transparent Rose encasing the effetre Pink for rolled roses and Devardi's pea green for the leaves. Some of the transparents were so stiff I had to work them with a graphite rod and a bead roller, and some went into round easily. You have to experiment to find which way each color works.


This bracelet on the left is all Devardi except for the black spacer beads between the bead caps. Both bracelets have the wonderful Devardi Metallic Silver on them for dots and swirls. The one on the right was made of effetre light ivory and Devardi Butterscotch. The Butterscotch is a wonderful color, but will easily devitrify and turn matt. It made a pretty bead anyway in contrast to the slick effetre ivory. They are out of it right now, and it may be improved in the next batch, we will have to wait and see.


I could go on and on, but others surely have more to say and can add to this info, and if you have more questions please ask. We are a friendly group on this thread and try to help each other and share freely.

[Fine Folly Glassworks]

Thank you Laurie, thats so kind of you to say so. You are welcome here, and we will always try to help!

[Rareripes]

Hi Kristina! I was able to get the winder a month or so ago and its wonderful for spacers.I don't have a lot of finger strength to slow it down so the other things will come in time.It is wonderful! i am waiting on the rolling marver that is on backorder.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers as well.I have a positive feeling about this all and am just disappointed about how long I will be away from torching.Will have to start all over again..fortunately i haven't been doing it so long that I will have to change my techniques..haha..i don't hardly have any.
♥

[LaurieBSmith]

Originally Posted by Fine Folly Glassworks

Thank you Laurie, thats so kind of you to say so. You are welcome here, and we will always try to help!

Mt. Pleasant...and Fine Folly....anywhere near Folly Beach?

[Dee Dee]

Fabulous piccies everyone - great work.

I got my delivery yesterday and had a quick go with the copper black and the green luster rods. Made my copper bead on my cricket and flashed it through the flame of my hot head - was totally copper coloured when it went in the kiln - but after annealling, it lost a lot of it's copper colour! Will try again later!

Problem though....I love the colour of the green luster rod - fabulous - so sparkly - however, I made this bead with the luster rod, encased in Effectre SC with SIS shards, and it has definite incompatibility cracks. Anyone else had a problem with it? Any suggestions...?

It's a bit hard to see the cracks, but there are several on both sides, going off in different directions - so am pretty sure they're not thermal cracks. It went straight into the kiln after making.



I would say this stuff needs encasing, it is so rough and bumpy - has anyone made a bead with it without encasing?

[monarae]

DeeDee, try starting with a base of the same glass you encase with. The aventurine is a copper manmade mineral so that part of it is not glass so I don't think it has a coe.

[Fine Folly Glassworks]

Originally Posted by LaurieBSmith

Mt. Pleasant...and Fine Folly....anywhere near Folly Beach?

No sorry! Mt. Pleasant is beside Charleston and I made the name up to reflect my view of what I try to do!

Have you been to this area?

[GlassGalore]

Kristina, that's interesting about the Misty and SOPs and the annealing temp. I garage at 940 and then ramp up to 960 for an hour before cycling down, so I'm right in the proper range for them to remain translucent, but they all go opaque on me. I know my kiln is the correct temp because I checked it with a pyrometer recently too. Puzzling!

[Fine Folly Glassworks]

Originally Posted by GlassGalore

Kristina, that's interesting about the Misty and SOPs and the annealing temp. I garage at 940 and then ramp up to 960 for an hour before cycling down, so I'm right in the proper range for them to remain translucent, but they all go opaque on me. I know my kiln is the correct temp because I checked it with a pyrometer recently too. Puzzling!

How long do you take to return to room temp? I think that the soak and cool down rate, and going through the critical stress/annealing heat range is the issue.

I can't remember but I think that the critical stress/annealing heat range is at about 800 but I need to look it up. From what I read there needs to be at least a 1/2 hour soak at temperature, then the cool down from 960 or so needs to be controlled and take at least 3 hours to overnight.

What is your cool down rate? I have been turning off my kiln at night (that Misty was in a batch I turned off), so I haven't been controlling the cool down rate. My bad, but I have a relay out on my kiln and haven't replaced it yet.

[starlightforge]

Good Morning Everyone...

Kristina.. Can't wait to see more hollows... Thanks for the annealing temp information...

Dee Dee... I batch anneal, and the pics I posted were not annealed... Let us know if the copper leaves again on your next bead... Very pretty bead too bad it has cracks... I have not used mine yet..

LaurieBSmith... Welcome to the group... Hope you like the glass as much as I do... And of course Kristina and Holly (baby firefly) show the most wonderful beads and information for us all... Post pics when you can...

Diana... 8 down and 102 to go. Each spider takes me about 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour to make..
Many Blessings and All Good Thought go to you on the up coming surgery... Keep positive... Have fun for the next 5 days, post pics so we can see the fun you are having too... Big Big Hugs

Have a great day everyone... I'm off to play with the spiders...

[Fine Folly Glassworks]

Originally Posted by starlightforge

Good Morning Everyone...

Kristina.. Can't wait to see more hollows... Thanks for the annealing temp information...

Have a great day everyone... I'm off to play with the spiders...

Okay then, here are 2 Devardi Hollows I just got out of the kiln from last night...

The blue hollow is made of D55-Transparent Light Blue with their Cobalt Blue Luster Frit and encased Advenurine stringer twisted with a clear stringer... this transparent blue is a lovely glass, easy to work just like the clear!

The clear hollow is made with their clear and then Cobalt Blue Luster Frit twisted with a clear stringer.

I'm afraid they are mostly solid because I used the rods and didn't pull stringers to wrap the hollows from!

[blong2001]

Kristina-those are great! Thanks for sharing them.

I tried out the copper black last night on my hothead. Boy-I am spoiled by my little dragon! The hothead was much slower than I remembered! But it did not take long to bring out the pretty shiny copper! I think in the future that I will make my bead on my regular torch and then fire the hothead up to bring out the copper. But it is pretty stuff!

[Fine Folly Glassworks]

Originally Posted by blong2001

I think in the future that I will make my bead on my regular torch and then fire the hothead up to bring out the copper. But it is pretty stuff!

Do you close off the air holes on the Hothead to bring out the copper? What do you do please?

[blong2001]

I just turned the propane way up and ran it quickly through the flame about 2" from the head. I bet if we used tin foil to cover some of the holes up that I would not have to turn up the propane as much and it would be a quicker way to reduce.
I will try that tonight and let you know.

[Fine Folly Glassworks]

While I'm thinking of it I wanted to tell you all a neat way I have found to get around overworking a color in the heat until it blisters or starts devitrifying and turning matt... something I am forever doing it seems!

You can pull thin stringers of Devardi clear and wrap-encase your bead and it removes the blisters and matt finish. I encased this hollow blue bead before applying the white stringer, and it provided a softer surface for decoration to stick to and it covered any blistering.

Hope thats a useful option for some to use! Let's keep giving each other tips and info on glass as we come across them.

[LaurieBSmith]

Originally Posted by Fine Folly Glassworks

No sorry! Mt. Pleasant is beside Charleston and I made the name up to reflect my view of what I try to do!

Have you been to this area?

My god parents were from Charleston and had a house on Folly Beach...He was my mom' first cousin.

I have two first cousins still there...Pattie Walker and Kathy Yontz...they are both of retirement age!

We went a lot when I was a kid...I still remember my mother needing someone to come and drive our car across "the bridge"!

[Fine Folly Glassworks]

Originally Posted by LaurieBSmith

My god parents were from Charleston and had a house on Folly Beach...He was my mom' first cousin.

I have two first cousins still there...Pattie Walker and Kathy Yontz...they are both of retirement age!

We went a lot when I was a kid...I still remember my mother needing someone to come and drive our car across "the bridge"!

I can only imagine how she would cope with the NEW bridge they replaced it with! Here's a picture of both before they torn down the old one.

[GlassGalore]

Originally Posted by Fine Folly Glassworks

How long do you take to return to room temp? I think that the soak and cool down rate, and going through the critical stress/annealing heat range is the issue.

I can't remember but I think that the critical stress/annealing heat range is at about 800 but I need to look it up. From what I read there needs to be at least a 1/2 hour soak at temperature, then the cool down from 960 or so needs to be controlled and take at least 3 hours to overnight.

What is your cool down rate? I have been turning off my kiln at night (that Misty was in a batch I turned off), so I haven't been controlling the cool down rate. My bad, but I have a relay out on my kiln and haven't replaced it yet.

Here is my schedule after the garaging segment (which is held at 940).


Seg #2 temp-960 hold-1.0 hr.

Seg #3 rate-100 temp-850 hold-30 min

Seg #4 rate-100 temp-750 hold-10 min

Seg #5 rate-300 temp-100 hold-0 min

I'm holding at 960 for 1 hour, then spending about 60 - 70 minutes to drop to 850 where I hold again for 30 minutes. Then another hour to drop to 750 where I hold for 10 minutes. Then a cool down to room temp over about 2 1/2 hours or more, depending how fast the heat escapes. I haven't watched to see how long that segment actually takes because it's usually the wee hours of the AM by that time.

So that's about 4 1/2 hours total from 960 to Off. Plenty slow I think... so still puzzled!

[Fine Folly Glassworks]

Originally Posted by GlassGalore

Here is my schedule after the garaging segment (which is held at 940).

So that's about 4 1/2 hours total from 960 to Off. Plenty slow I think... so still puzzled!

Please tell me what you work out as you experiment. And do you find the article below of interest or useful?

I will get my relay replaced and start my own tests as well sometime soon. This is a write up on Annealing that an experienced lampworker gave me. I'm not sure how to program my kiln to achieve it yet, but once I get it repaired I will go back to the manual and try to do it!


"ANNEALING INFO

A lot depends on the size of your beads. I also don't know the annealing temp of your glass, but here is what I do for my beads. It is a conservative schedule, so - Once I close the kiln (I place my beads directly into the kiln from the torch) I hold at my annealing temp for one hour, but this can vary up to two hours depending on what I have in the kiln. After holding to make sure the beads are the same temp all the way through, then I start the annealing program. I have the controller programed lower the temp at 60 degrees an hour and it does that until off at 400 degrees. At 400 degrees the controller cuts off the kiln.

The few times I have reannealed on of my beads, I have brought it up to the annealing temp slowly, over a two hour period and then hold for an hour and start the annealing program.

As I said, this is my schedule. There are many less conservative schedules and some more conservative ones. You will have to decide what works for you. However, once again, this will do nothing for incompatibility cracks.

The whys of annealing are pretty simple: Make sure your beads are the same temperature from the center out before you start annealing your beads. The annealing process should allow your beads to cool slowly enough so that the outside of the bead is always the same temp as the inside of the bead. On sculptural beads the thin parts should cool at the same rate as the thick parts.

Stress is created in a bead when you mix glasses together or when you force a bead into a certain shape. (beads rounded in the flame have less stress than ones shaped in a press) That stress is relieved by slow cooling above the strain point of the glass. The strain point in most glasses is usually 100 to 150 degrees below the recommended annealing point. Below the strain point all stresses should be relieved and you cannot reintroduce stress into the bead. However the bead can still crack if the temp drops too fast, called thermal cracking."

[PaulaP]

Here is my attempt at making hollow beads I must be making my disk to fat because they almost became solid beads especially the heart. I tried both the OP and transparent colors. My OP handled nicely but do to user error it collapsed a devastating death but the below transparent are still holding together nicely.

[Fine Folly Glassworks]

WOW Paula - very pretty! Great work!

[PaulaP]

thanks Kristina they are addicting...lol

[SilverRiverJewelry]

Here is my annealing schedule. Total time to room temp usually 7 1/2 to 8 hours.
It goes from set point temp to 950 in 5 min and soaks there for 1 1/2 hours.
Then it goes from 950 to 700 over 3 hours and shuts off.
The time it takes to cool from 700 varies a small amount by the room temp, but generally takes about 4 hours

My semi opaque beads still go opaque or sometimes only parts of them go opaque. But it is a neat effect.

[Rareripes]

Kristina!I love those 3 hollows! There are stupendous

Paula..lovely hollows too!Am wondering what the color is by the dime...I LOVE IT!!

Am very interested in all your annealing programming.My hubby originally set mine up and I need to find the directions because i am pretty sure it needs some adjusting.i have a digital Chili Pepper kiln.
I love seeing all your pictures..keep them coming,PLEASE I love the inspiration and I will be itching to get back to my torch after my surgery.Tomorrw is going to be another DR appt day and my pretesting at the hospital.I will have to stay overnight at the hospital I think because my specialist is going to be taking some hipbone to fill in the empty spots in my wrist bones.He refuses to do liposuction while he is in there..dang it!!lol
Have a good evening all!
♥

[PaulaP]

Diane thanks for the comps. I am not sure if that one is the Transp ocean blue or vibrant blue I love both the colors and use them alot. I believe I used the ocean blue this time.