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Boro Room -- For Boro-related tips, techniques, and questions.

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  #1  
Old 2010-04-25, 10:48am
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I may not word this exactly right but I'm gonna give it a shot. From what I understand if you want to give your piece a bit of bling you can use unobtanium. How? I get a blue stripe through the piece that just looks out of place.

I have bought a lot of shorts and most of them are not labled so I have to guess at what they are and what to do with them. I have a rod of what I think is steel wool. I say that because it looks like steel wool - you know like a brillo pad in glass rod form. It is rough and gray. I think that is supposed to create some sparkle effect but how?

I also have some thin green rods that look kinda like a green version of unobtainum. The rods are slightly rough - not nearly as rough as what I think is the steel wool. I got some pretty cool creamy looking effects from this but have no clue what it is incase I want to buy more. I know a lot of you are my friends there. I am Nancy Conlon with a relly cute pic of my kitty as my avatar. OK I'm off to take and post some pic on FB I'll check back here later.

Now I have a few labled rods I don't know what to do with or what to expect from:
Boromax 660559 Neptune Sparkle
Precision Crystal Bliss
NS-78 Mystery Aventurine - in soft glass aventurine = sparkle. Does this hold true in boro? What is the best way to use it.


Now I KNOW you are gonna say post pictures. Between my old camera and my old computer it takes me forever to take, download, then go to resizr and mess around with them to be able to post them here. What I can do is take a pic with my iPhone and post some on FB.
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  #2  
Old 2010-04-25, 12:41pm
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I use unobtanium often as a base for beads. Always by coating a clear rod with it and then layering other colors over it. Like asian amber, extra light yellow, american beauty, medium elvis...sometimes all of the above and then making a twisty. The transparent colors over unobtanium change it to something other than either by itself. Freaking fun stuff, not really bling, more like satiny. The steel wool (or disco, looks sorta the same, I think disco is lighter) I just coat the end of the rod in clear and pull a stringer and add it into the twisty for bling stuff. Like these~

The stuff you have that looks like unobtanium but in green could be Moss.
As far as Mystery Aventurine goes, I like it on the surface for fins and stuff. It strikes very pretty but I don't see sparkle.

Can we have a link to your FB?
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  #3  
Old 2010-04-25, 1:36pm
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/CGBEAD...&id=1449395132


OMG Rebbecca! Those are stunning!
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Last edited by playswithfire104; 2010-04-25 at 1:42pm.
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  #4  
Old 2010-04-25, 3:40pm
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Those beads are delicious!!!

Will super unobtanium basically do the same thing? I have that but not regular unobtanium.
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  #5  
Old 2010-04-25, 3:43pm
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Thanks Nancy. I can't tell from your pics what the others are. Its so hard to tell with boro. I don't like unlabeled rods cuz if I really like them I don't know what to order!
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Old 2010-04-25, 7:31pm
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You guys should check out the Northstar, Glass Alchemy, TAG, Momka, Borobars, Glowstix, and I know I've forgotten a bunch, but you want the websites... they will give you information on all the colors and what they do in different situations. Northstar and Glass Alchemy, especially, have an incredible wealth of information. When I first started I would sit for hours and read the pamphlets both NS and GA have and look at the pictures of the glass... I had something I did in my very first class that turned amazing and unexpected colors... after careful consideration I decided it was NS Blue Moon, and when I turned out to be right I was thrilled to pieces.

It's fascinating to read and understand why different colors change/stay the same/crack if they're encased/turn a horrible liver color. I go back to the websites all the time and read about colors. Boro colors can be really tricky.

Rebecca, those beads are gorgeous!
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  #7  
Old 2010-04-25, 8:26pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by debkauz View Post
Those beads are delicious!!!

Will super unobtanium basically do the same thing? I have that but not regular unobtanium.
Deb, I missed this before. Slow typer. lol
I think the super unob has silver in it? I have some but haven't tried it as a twisty base. Do it! Let us know what happens. Could be very cool.

And Aunt D, I agree totally. I love reading and especially hearing lectures on that kind of thing. It's just endlessly fascinating. But still...there are a few unlabled colors in my stash that are total boogers about being ID'd.
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Old 2010-04-25, 8:40pm
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Super unob is denser, bluer unob, no silver in it.... It's crackalicious if you're not careful.
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  #9  
Old 2010-04-26, 4:24am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by playswithfire104 View Post
I may not word this exactly right but I'm gonna give it a shot. From what I understand if you want to give your piece a bit of bling you can use unobtanium. How? I get a blue stripe through the piece that just looks out of place.

I have bought a lot of shorts and most of them are not labled so I have to guess at what they are and what to do with them. I have a rod of what I think is steel wool. I say that because it looks like steel wool - you know like a brillo pad in glass rod form. It is rough and gray. I think that is supposed to create some sparkle effect but how?

I also have some thin green rods that look kinda like a green version of unobtainum. The rods are slightly rough - not nearly as rough as what I think is the steel wool. I got some pretty cool creamy looking effects from this but have no clue what it is incase I want to buy more. I know a lot of you are my friends there. I am Nancy Conlon with a relly cute pic of my kitty as my avatar. OK I'm off to take and post some pic on FB I'll check back here later.

Now I have a few labled rods I don't know what to do with or what to expect from:
Boromax 660559 Neptune Sparkle
Precision Crystal Bliss
NS-78 Mystery Aventurine - in soft glass aventurine = sparkle. Does this hold true in boro? What is the best way to use it.


Now I KNOW you are gonna say post pictures. Between my old camera and my old computer it takes me forever to take, download, then go to resizr and mess around with them to be able to post them here. What I can do is take a pic with my iPhone and post some on FB.
Neptune Sparkle is a GA color, not Boromax. I use it a lot. Works great. Similar to NS Loch Ness.

Mystery Aventurine works well too. It has silver in it, so you have to treat it like other silver colors - get it hot, burn the haze off, let it cool, strike. It does some neat stuff. This piece is Mystery Aventurine. You can't really see it too well in the photo, but in real life it has a lot of sparkle in it.

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  #10  
Old 2010-04-26, 4:25am
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When working with the sparkle colors, it's important not to reduce them before you have then encased... also, thin them way out... less is actually more. If you crash your beads with a fast ramp or no ramp at all, it'll tell on you... about 99.999% of the issues with these sparkle colors can be fixed with the above advise.
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  #11  
Old 2010-04-26, 5:32am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cosmo
Neptune Sparkle is a GA color, not Boromax. I use it a lot. Works great. Similar to NS Loch Ness.
I'm guessing that you were unaware of this: Boromax is GA's name for their glass...

While we're on the subject of bling, I recently saw a black boro beetle which had sparkle in on the wing casing, but the sparkle was almost rainbow. It wasn't dichro, but the sparkle had colorful glints. Does that make sense? I asked the artist and he wasn't sure but thought it was a GA color... Does that sound like maybe Neptune?

Brent: I have problems w/ certain sparkles (usually encased) but I think it's because I hold too long too high (at striking temp - I need to program a "non-striking" cycle) - can that be a problem also? I know I ramp slower than you do!!
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Last edited by Bunyip; 2010-04-26 at 5:35am.
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  #12  
Old 2010-04-26, 5:41am
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I was actually aware of that, but I'm going to blame it on the lack of sleep from this weekend. I saw "Boromax" and was thinking "Borostix" or "Colormax" or something...
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  #13  
Old 2010-04-26, 5:43am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Smiley View Post
When working with the sparkle colors, it's important not to reduce them before you have then encased... also, thin them way out... less is actually more. If you crash your beads with a fast ramp or no ramp at all, it'll tell on you... about 99.999% of the issues with these sparkle colors can be fixed with the above advise.
On a similar note...

I was having a problem with sparkle colors on the back of my marbles getting reduced from other colors on the marbles. Like, I would put a dot of butterscotch and put a dot of moss on top of it. The butterscotch would react with the moss and muddy up the color. Why it never occurred to me before I don't know, but now as soon as I melt in the sparkle color, I put a dot of clear over it and it keeps the color nice and clean, and even adds to the sparkle.
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  #14  
Old 2010-04-26, 6:37am
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I've been making base beads with asian green, rolling them in mystery aventurine frit and then covering with clear. I get real nice opalescense, especially in sunlight. On marble backs I make dots of stormy weather and cover those dots with dots of mystery aventurine. I get nice greeny-bluey sparkle.
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  #15  
Old 2010-04-26, 12:45pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AuntD View Post
You guys should check out the Northstar, Glass Alchemy, TAG, Momka, Borobars, Glowstix, and I know I've forgotten a bunch, but you want the websites... they will give you information on all the colors and what they do in different situations. Northstar and Glass Alchemy, especially, have an incredible wealth of information. When I first started I would sit for hours and read the pamphlets both NS and GA have and look at the pictures of the glass... I had something I did in my very first class that turned amazing and unexpected colors... after careful consideration I decided it was NS Blue Moon, and when I turned out to be right I was thrilled to pieces.

It's fascinating to read and understand why different colors change/stay the same/crack if they're encased/turn a horrible liver color. I go back to the websites all the time and read about colors. Boro colors can be really tricky.

Rebecca, those beads are gorgeous!


I have read a bit - but there is just TMI to read everything. If I know what a color is and who makes it I can just read about it. Having non-labled shorts or rods makes this really really hard. Since most boro is NOT WYSIWYG it can be even harder trying to identify a rod. I bought a few pounds of Monka shorts and except for the obvious I have no clue what the rods are.
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  #16  
Old 2010-04-26, 12:46pm
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Thanks for the advice guys every little bit helps!
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  #17  
Old 2010-04-26, 6:39pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by playswithfire104 View Post
I have read a bit - but there is just TMI to read everything. If I know what a color is and who makes it I can just read about it. Having non-labled shorts or rods makes this really really hard. Since most boro is NOT WYSIWYG it can be even harder trying to identify a rod. I bought a few pounds of Monka shorts and except for the obvious I have no clue what the rods are.
Just to clarify -- I wasn't saying don't ask here, just that the websites are also your friends. I know how hard it is to identify different colors when everything is (for example) roughly the same shade of amber...
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  #18  
Old 2010-04-26, 7:19pm
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Oh Aunt D, I didn't think you ment not to ask here. I did check out sites for some rods that were labled to see how they said how to work them.

And yes quite a few rods look exactly alike.
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  #19  
Old 2010-04-26, 7:50pm
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I played with the super unob today. I made a twistie with it and did a few clear encased beads with it and then did a big tornado bead with it. I hope it doesn't crack because it took forever to make the darn thing.
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