Newbie is in the house!

[gemsinbloom]

Hey everyone, I am about to place a soft glass order today and I want to try some boro for the first time. I am thinking it may be nice for my leaves. I fully admit I know nothing about boro or next to nothing. I did a bit of research last night but I have a couple of questions.

For clear, is Simax what I should get?

Is there a favorite color that would be outstanding on top of and under clear . I am thinking some frit too.

Basically I just want to purchase some clear, two colors and one frit just to give this a try.

Suggestions?

Thank you

[BellaBean]

Double Amber Purple (NorthStar) is nice and gets a lot of great color variations. That's a great frit too. Hint: Heat it until it's screaming hot (and then a minute or two more). It really makes the color pop when you strike it. It'll also strike in the kiln at around 980-1025. Boro strikes 10x easier than soft.

Blue moon (North Star) is another favorite of mine. If the flame is slightly reducing, you'll get color from tan to dark blue, with tons of aqua shades in between. It reminds me of a beach. If you encase it, it goes green and blue.

Multicolor Dark (North Star) is another one with tons of color variations. Work it like Double Amber Purple.

[BellaBean]

You are warned... once you see how easy color works with boro, you may not buy 104 silver glass ever again!

Oh... One more... Silver Creek (North Star) gives colors from Amber to red to blues and purples. I love to strike it, encase it, then use my ribbed bead roller on it. It's gorgeous!

[Shrimp]

I am so looking forward to watching your progress in the boro world.

[BellaBean]

Simax is fine for clear. Any of the brands are. It's not finicky and scummy like 104. Boro clear almost never scums. You may get a few bubbles at the end of the rod where it was cut. You pick off the end of the rod when it's hot.

[gemsinbloom]

Oh gawd, I am already drooling........

I have limited myself to two colors though. I am getting simax clear, double amber purple and blue moon, thanks guys!

I can't wait to try this...

[gemsinbloom]

Btw, be prepared for more questions once my glass arrives!

I did try boro once for about five minutes. I have half a rod lying around somewhere. It was hilarious as I worked on a small mandrel and half the mandrel melted onto my table. I bet the expression on my face was priceless.

I assume I can do this on my mini cc with one oxygen concentrator?

[LyndaJ]

You might not like working boro on a mini cc with one concentrator. It's a little underpowered for boro with only one 5 lpm concentrator.

[gemsinbloom]

Thanks for the headsup Lynda. Ya I just purchased a wee bit of glass. We shall see. I assume you are saying I should be running two concentrators or just have a hotter torch or both?

[Otter's Flame]

Gems, you can work boro on a mini and you CAN work it with one oxycon however you really wont be all that happy with the results, especially with DAP. One oxycon just isn't going to push enough heat. I strongly recommend tanked O2. It would be great if you could avoid the frustration I went through using wonderful color but not pushing enough O2 to get it hot enough to work it's magic very well or consistently.

Welcome to the dark side, come into the parlor...... we have cookies.

[Copperrein]

Trev's had an offer on Momka's shorts a few days ago...I got a pound for like $18 (shipping included)

...just saying...

[davelovins]

You might want to get a base color like white to use with the DAP. With a base color, it really sets off the DAP. Have fun.

[houptdavid]

Dammit another one bites the dust!

I may have to just join this bandwagon

[MagpieGlass]

Come on David ... you know you want to.

Welcome Gems. Yup ... shorts are an awesome way to go. You can make twisties and stringers from them. Gets you a lot of color to play with cheap!!

[SilverRiverJewelry]

I melt boro on a Cricket with one 5 lpm concentrator. It doable, just a tiny bit slow. And I don't have my concentrator on at full volume either. Its just different, but the colors are to die for and the clear is, well, really clear lol.

[kirrakat123]

Definately get NS Blue moon because it is great by it's self but also
looks great under clear glass. I use NS Double Amber Purple the most
often. NS Silver Creek is a lovely color, sometimes striking blue & sometimes
striking dark red/purple. I only use Simax clear. Later you might want to get
small size clear frit to roll your glass in, it looks really nice. Also you mentioned
using the small mandrels, most boro workers use the bigger mandrel (one eighth
inch). Looking foreward to hearing how you go. I used soft glass for 3 years
before I tried boro, & never went back to soft glass again. Thanks, Cynthia

[Bunyip]

Originally Posted by gemsinbloom

Thanks for the headsup Lynda. Ya I just purchased a wee bit of glass. We shall see. I assume you are saying I should be running two concentrators or just have a hotter torch or both?

Great color choices. One comment though: In my opinion, clear frit is the best all-around frit "color" for boro.

As for working on a single concentrator, based on my experience you should be fine with a little patience and understanding. For best results with amber-purples, you'll want to make sure your output setting is maximized for oxy (turn it down a little bit to get the best purity), and run your flame a little richer on the oxygen than normal.

Blue moon will be beautiful with a less oxygenated flame, and clear dots, stripes or frit will add nice contrast. Be sure to also try adding the clear to the blue moon immediately after winding it on but before melting it smooth. You should have no problem making beads in the 10mm range, although it may be slower than you're used to. Don't be shy about moving closer to the torch face, it will speed things up and boro can take it

Oh yeah, and remember to heat the glass - not the mandrel!!

Here, for your enjoyment are some of my first-ever boro beads, made on a 5 LPM concentrator.



The bottom bead is NS multi & clear. The middle bead is encased dots of NS double amber purple and NS multi on clear. The top is NS double amber purple encased with clear, and you can see what happens when you encase before burning off the haze.



And here is a bunch of pieces made a year or so later on a lynx, with 2 linked 5 LPM concentrators:

[Mermaid Glass]

I'm soaking up all the tips, too. I've had a sampler box of Northstar for over a year that's just calling to me but I'm a boro-dummy and have no idea what to do with it, how to work it, etc. I'll keep checking in.

[sangell]

I have been working in glass less than a year, and I only work in Boro.
My two favorite colors Elvis Red, and Blue Carmel.

Hope this helps. If you are just starting when ABR has a sale on Northstar Odds and seconds it a great place to get some colors at a good price. Ross and Dave are great for answering questions.

Hope this helps
Sue

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by gemsinbloom

Oh gawd, I am already drooling........

I have limited myself to two colors though. I am getting simax clear, double amber purple and blue moon, thanks guys!

I can't wait to try this...

Two of my favorites. Try mixing them together and then sprinkling clear frit on top and melting it in. Pendants I make with that color combo always sell.

You could spend a good month messing around with just that and never see the same exact colors twice. Good fun.

[dragonfly designs 56]

OMG, just watched some utube videos of melting boro....Im ready to sell all my soft glass. I dont have the patience or steady hand to decorate, all i do is swirl frit beads and make wild pendants. hmmm, gonna go take an inventory right now of glass so I can sell some and buy some boro!!!!

Originally Posted by MagpieGlass

Come on David ... you know you want to.

Welcome Gems. Yup ... shorts are an awesome way to go. You can make twisties and stringers from them. Gets you a lot of color to play with cheap!!

[Pia Kaven]

I have some boro here... but I just have a bag of shorts, dont know what I have there, and I totally packed them away after my first miserable try.... This is making me reconsider. I have also waited on a chance to buy a bigger torch, my minor and M10 wont do much for boro. I have a tank too, so maybe Ill fill it up once more just to try some again. Its gotta be better than what the rods look like??? Right?

[Over the Moon]

I find working with unlabelled shorts is sheer misery. First of all, many Boro colours look the same, so you don't even know what you're working with. Add to that, the idea of creating something you think is awesome, you'd have no clue what you used, and how to re-create it. I highly recommend getting a labelled sampler to start with.

That way, it gives you a bit of a head-start: knowing what colours you've got, you can easily look up their working properties and characterisitics. Once you are familiar with certain colour groups, then if you must, by all means work with your unlabelled shorts....at least you'll have some idea of what you can expect.

...just one woman's opinion who has "been there and done that".

[AuntD]

Also, read up on striking boro glass. The blue moon will do its stuff almost without you, but you will need to learn how to strike.

Short version: work it really hot. No, hotter. No, hotter. You want it clear. While you're heating it, notice how it looks like a layer of stuff burns off the outside of the rod. That's called "burning off the haze". It's a layer of silver that will rise to the top of the glass (or something like that) and if you don't burn it off, you'll get lots of poop and wonder what the heck people are talking about with "wonderful boro colors". When you're done working it, let it cool so the orange glow it out of it. Lots of people use the under-the-bench trick -- shove it in the darkness under your workbench and see if it still glows. If not, put your piece in the back of the flame and heat gently. In a little bit, the piece will start to glow and the color will start to come in. You will get different colors depending on how long you strike and the composition of the flame. And the angle of your head, and whether you squint or not and and what point in the process. I'm only kidding a little with that last sentence -- the ways of boro are mysterious.

When I first became addicted, I spent a long time reading on the web. I found information on striking after an embarrassingly long time... it was like a lightbulb was switched on in my brain -- THAT was why I couldn't get any good color! Of course, I've always been a little slow to catch on...

[Pia Kaven]

I second the unlabeled shorts... they are misery no matter what glass you use, but probably more so with boro. I find all the info here very educating, Im so glad I stumbled upon this thread!

[Otter's Flame]

One thing with boro shorts, yes they can be irritating however.... I have learned a lot by taking the different shorts, heating a small gather at the end of one, looking for haze as I heat it, playing with different flame chemistry, reduction, neutral, oxidizing and in between, bringing it out of the flame, crash cooling it below glow and then passing it in the flame and seeing if it will strike. It is an amazing process and I think there is value in doing that type of experimentation even if you do not know they exact name of glass you are working. The process is invaluable. It is also a way to learn to melt, shape and control boro without putting a lot of money into it. You can also gauge if your torch and oxy set up is sufficient for what you want to do with boro.

Having said that, I would not want to be making pieces for sale or even just nice pieces I intend to keep with unlabeled boro shorts until I was more familiar with boro and it's qualities. Once you are familiar with the qualities and appearance you may be able to identify different individual glass rods. Also, you begin to understand certain colors and formulations will do very specific things no matter what the name of the rod is... or the company that makes them for that matter.

Boro shorts can be frustrating but they do have their merit.

[AuntD]

Originally Posted by Otter's Flame

One thing with boro shorts, yes they can be irritating however.... I have learned a lot by taking the different shorts, heating a small gather at the end of one, looking for haze as I heat it, playing with different flame chemistry, reduction, neutral, oxidizing and in between, bringing it out of the flame, crash cooling it below glow and then passing it in the flame and seeing if it will strike. It is an amazing process and I think there is value in doing that type of experimentation even if you do not know they exact name of glass you are working. The process is invaluable. It is also a way to learn to melt, shape and control boro without putting a lot of money into it. You can also gauge if your torch and oxy set up is sufficient for what you want to do with boro.

I still do this with each new color I get. I can just play with colors for hours without making anything except lollipops on the end of a rod, and consider it time well spent. Playing is also learning when it comes to boro.

[BellaBean]

I've discovered so many awesome color combos playing with boro shorts. I love them! I love to make implosions with 30 different colors just to see what they will do and how they will look.

[sangell]

I found it very helpful when ABR has their Northstar Odds and seconds sale. You and try a lot.
My favorite rods, Blue Carmel (Reducing)
Double Amber Purble, all the Amber purples (OXY)
Elvis Red

Blue Moon Frit
Green Exotic Frit
Elvis Frit
Amazon Bronze Frit.

Hope that helps