Questions about silver glass and durability of shiny finish

Lisi · #1 2012-03-21, 9:13pm

I've only worked with Gaia several years ago, so I really don't know anything about silver glass. I want to do some research before I decide if it would ever be worth it to spend the money.

Some of the colors reduce to that mirror finish, and what I want to know is: does it rub off, or get spotty and dull? Rub off or disappear completely like the finish you can get from Effetre silver plum? The slightly metallic scum that is on copper green comes off easily if soaked in Coke, and I've actually rubbed it off with a pencil eraser. I'm assuming that the reflective layer of metals on the surface of silver glass beads is very thin like plating. Is it?

My concern is if a customer decides to clean their jewelry that is made with silver glass beads in a jewelry cleaner or a silver tarnish dip, will the shiny surface wash away? If it does, this will be a very disappointed customer. So, has anyone ever made their own jewelry with these beads and then wear tested it?

RSimmons · #2 2012-03-22, 5:55am

The bright surface consists of very tiny beads of metal in/on the surface of the glass. They can wear off and as Kimberly says they are sensitive to a host of chemicals, particularly cleaning products.

Robert

bluhealer · #3 2012-03-22, 11:31am

I've also noticed dulling/wearing away over time.

Elizabeth Beads · #4 2012-03-22, 11:59am

That is why I now encase almost all of my reduction glass.

RSimmons · #5 2012-03-22, 4:59pm

Many of those shiny metallic reduction finishes are lead, another good reason to encase.

Robert

Lara · #6 2012-03-22, 5:04pm

I have a watch made with some silvered glass and those beads rest against the desk all day and the surface has warn off (and the other regular glass gets kinda scratched too).

Lisi · #7 2012-03-22, 11:53pm

Thank you for your input! Well, maybe it's not for jewelry, but then it would be wonderful for sculptures and marbles.

dla · #8 2012-03-23, 2:44am

This is a great question and answer thread. I would of never known this. Thanks for posting.

Lisi · #9 2012-03-23, 10:39am

If you encase it, will it remain metallic under the encasing glass?

Oh yes, before I forget - I remember reading somewhere that the Bullseye lustres keep their metallic finish and it's pretty durable. I have tried it but I need a lot of practice to keep it even, instead of blotchy.

lenora · #10 2012-03-23, 10:45am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisi

If you encase it, will it remain metallic under the encasing glass?

No.

Elizabeth Beads · #11 2012-03-23, 6:42pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisi

If you encase it, will it remain metallic under the encasing glass?

Depending on the glass, you can get a mother-pf-pearl shimmer that you can't get from non-silver glass. Not all silver glass will hold a reduction under encasement. Some that do are Triton, Psyche, Aurae, Helios, Clio and Lavender Luster.

jaci · #12 2012-03-23, 8:41pm

Bring put the HH for all those reduction colors!!!

I know you love that torch like I do!
IMO Yes after some time the shine will ware. But usually it leaves a ghosted ring of color on the edged of where the stringer was melted in and it encased itself. If it dulls it can be wiped with a jewelry cloth and shinned up. I make sure I have a color combo that the actual color of the glass works with, and tell customers that it may dull or disappear in time, but it will still leave you a beautiful bead. It's like getting 2 beads in one! I have pieces from about 7 yrs ago that still have shine on them, and some that lost luster in a year or so. What's the difference? Well mainly the torch. All the beads that lasted with the luster were from the HH. IDK if this is something that holds true, or that I'm not doing it right w/ the minor. I just realized while typing this factor so no testing has been done.

What I can say is:
The HH with give you that low heat that makes it super easy to encase all of the reduction colors. that and it is by far the best reduction flame ever.

Try a few things while playing if you decide to get some:
Try taping a rod of clear stringer right on the rod your using. Mush and or twist why working in a reduction flame. Awesome effect with instant spot/striped encasement to grab awesome color and effect.

Make tiny cores of reduction and make a big encasement.

Make a bead, reduce, dot with clear (or t080 pale blue to avoide that yellowing haze, or any other light trans color To make it fun)
Re-introduce into a cooler neutral flame. Melt dots flat in then fully encase and shape. (squish to enhance effect) you can create depth in the dots too by poking and layering as well.

Play with over-reducing. I love the effect personally (not so much on the minor, but w the HH YES!

Make cool stringer with different reduction colors melt in purple and psyche together, green and Gaia and blues w nyx etc. it's neat to see the ghost effect use transparents). My current fav: aqua's and Gaia.

(oh and please for the love of Pete get nyx) easy easy easy!!

Kalera · #13 2012-03-23, 9:12pm

Triton and Aurae are GREAT for encasing... it becomes more oil slick/abalone under the encasing, and is a fantastic effect!

Lisi · #14 2012-03-24, 1:55pm

Thanks everyone! I'm going to be trying out a lot of new things that I never had time for, hopefully soon. I am WAY behind the times when it comes to what's out there for lampworkers. I think I stopped on "furnace glass frit", when Val Cox first opened up her online store. lol!

Double Helix Glassworks · #15 2012-03-26, 2:41pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSimmons

Many of those shiny metallic reduction finishes are lead, another good reason to encase.

Robert

All of the colors we make from our raw in-house batch are lead free. The only colors we sell that have traces of lead are colors made from Italian Cullet that already contains some level of lead. Colors made using cullet as an ingredient are marked with a "*" in the list below. We make every effort to avoid toxic chemicals in our glass compositions, and have every reason to believe that our glass contains less toxins than many commonly used glass colors. Silver, as a metal, is generally considered to be non toxic, and is commonly used in silverware and jewelry intended for skin contact. Our raw batch production colors are all made without Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic, Antimony, Chromium, or Selenium, and are produced using Alternative Energy Sources and shipped in biodegradable, recycleable packaging.

Here are the results from lead analysis performed on our colors:

Lead Analysis Report

Sample Description: Total Lead (ug/g)

------------------------ ---------------------

Psyche <10.0

Kalypso 10.0

Nyx <10.0

Helios <10.0

Aether 14.0

Terranova 2 <10.0

Kronos 2 54.5*

Terra 2 <10.0

Triton 10.0

Clio <10.0

Elektra 2 <10.0

Pandora 2 <10.0

Khaos <10.0

Luna 2 <10.0

Aurae <10.0

Aion2 <10.0

Ekho <10.0

Gaia 475*
For more information, please refer to our FAQ page located HERE.

Thanks,
Jed and Julie at Double Helix Glassworks

Lisi · #16 2012-03-26, 3:33pm

Good info, and thanks for bringing that to light! I never thought there was lead in DH glass, hence the same "silver glass". It's a newer process and that explains why there is a higher cost. Makes sense to me, and when you know how to work the colors, it's worth it.

RSimmons · #17 2012-03-26, 5:44pm

Gaia was mentioned in the the first line of the original post, but the term 'Silver Glass' tends to be used as a generic term to describe any glass that produces a silvery metallic luster. I meant no offense to the fine folks at Double Helix and I appreciate their willingness to post the tested lead content for their glass. DH glass is, in practical terms, lead free and I personally like and use their glass. This is not the case with everything called 'Silver' glass and in some cases the metallic surface luster *may* be lead, manganese, zinc, etc. This is not a myth, it is a proven fact. Be careful, ask questions and know your suppliers.

Robert

Elizabeth Beads · #18 2012-03-26, 5:50pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Double Helix Glassworks

All of the colors we make from our raw in-house batch are lead free. The only colors we sell that have traces of lead are colors made from Italian Cullet that already contains some level of lead. Colors made using cullet as an ingredient are marked with a "*" in the list below. We make every effort to avoid toxic chemicals in our glass compositions, and have every reason to believe that our glass contains less toxins than many commonly used glass colors. Silver, as a metal, is generally considered to be non toxic, and is commonly used in silverware and jewelry intended for skin contact. Our raw batch production colors are all made without Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic, Antimony, Chromium, or Selenium, and are produced using Alternative Energy Sources and shipped in biodegradable, recycleable packaging.

Here are the results from lead analysis performed on our colors:

Lead Analysis Report

Sample Description: Total Lead (ug/g)

------------------------ ---------------------

Psyche <10.0

Kalypso 10.0

Nyx <10.0

Helios <10.0

Aether 14.0

Terranova 2 <10.0

Kronos 2 54.5*

Terra 2 <10.0

Triton 10.0

Clio <10.0

Elektra 2 <10.0

Pandora 2 <10.0

Khaos <10.0

Luna 2 <10.0

Aurae <10.0

Aion2 <10.0

Ekho <10.0

Gaia 475*
For more information, please refer to our FAQ page located HERE.

Thanks,
Jed and Julie at Double Helix Glassworks

Where is the Like button?

This should be a sticky somewhere,

Hayley · #19 2012-03-27, 8:35am

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSimmons

Gaia was mentioned in the the first line of the original post, but the term 'Silver Glass' tends to be used as a generic term. I mean to offense to the fine folks at Double Helix. Their glass is, in practical terms, lead free and I personally use and like their glass. This is not the case with all 'Silver Glass'. Be careful and know your suppliers.

Robert

Robert, I use Double Helix pretty exclusively and haven't been able to donate any beads to BOC due to the "No silver glass on the surface" rule. Now that we know DH's glass contains no lead, can we donate my shiny beads made with Double Helix?

RSimmons · #20 2012-03-27, 9:10am

Unfortunately the bead sorters at BoC can't tell the difference on a finished bead so we've had to ban all metallic surfaces. The consequences of sending out beads made with the wrong glass are steep so there was a good reason for it. I'll look into having an exception made for beads that are clearly labeled as made with DH glass or any of the silver glasses that are guaranteed to be lead free. This may take a little time but I'll start the conversation with HQ and see what I can do. For the time being, though, the metallic surface ban stands.

Robert

Hayley · #21 2012-03-27, 9:19am

Thanks, Robert. Hope you get that figured out for we (and many others too, I am sure) have lots of beads that can be sent in!

Firebrand Beads · #22 2012-03-27, 10:42am

yes, please do, Robert. TAG reducers are safe as well, but I haven't been able to send you my test beads. FWIW I once reduced a paddle of TAG Cezanne (paddle instead of a bead so I would have a better handle) and then scrubbed the heck out of that finish with a green scrubby pad. The finish remained shiny and did not lose much metallic. Our skin is somewhat acidic, however, and some glasses do lose their shine, especially if it's not a very thick layer of reduction.

RSimmons · #23 2012-03-27, 12:22pm

It's under discussion as of today and I'll keep you posted. I'll need to come up with letters from the glass makers stating that their glass is lead free, similar to what DH posted above.

Robert

AKDesigns · #24 2012-03-27, 12:53pm

Another reason why I have major feelings for Jed and Julie.

Lisi · #25 2012-03-27, 1:10pm

Well, the shiny metallic finishes are cool, but there is so much more than just shiny that the silver glasses can offer. Those colors are fascinating, and so many of them are like boro.

jaci · #26 2012-03-29, 3:36am

Oh yea! That whole 'storm' technique! And so much more