Boro on a Minor torch

[imagesinglass]

I tried boro about six months ago and gave up on it. I have a Minor torch and was using my oxycon. I thought I'd try boro again because I love the colours and what you can do with it...I also am liking making marbles.
So I now have tanked oxygen for boro and I use my oxycon for soft glass.

I'm still having difficulty getting the bright colours out of the silver glasses...and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong to get that haze on my glass - or how to burn it all off.

Any assistance is very much appreciated... oh yeah, and I love green amber purple frit I have...I've used it in a couple of implosions. I get lovely soft muted colours but not the brilliant colours other people get. What's the trick with using frit in implosions?

Thanks again.
Suzanne

[Karen Hardy]

Which glass in particular are you having problems with?
"Silver Glass" covers a lot of territory .

And post pics of what you are talking about so we can see.

The main trick for getting rid of the haze is to heat the living crap out
of it. Heat the glass until it is totally clear and keep it hot as snot
until you are done and ready to strike it (or kiln strike it).

Again, more details about which glass would be better.

[imagesinglass]

Thanks. I'll get some picture and post them later.
Suz

[teachertracey]

I use a minor with tanked O2 and only use boro glass. I get the colors, but find you've got to turn that torch up. What's your kiln's temp and setup?

[Bunyip]

I didn't have problems getting colors to pop on a 5 LPM concentrator...but 2 is much better, and tanked is great, aside from the inconvenience. If you can afford it, buy this and you can probably avoid the oxygen store (always a good thing): Pipyr's Boro on a Concentrator Tutorial

For information on getting colors to really REALLY pop, Mr. Smiley's Boro Basics DVD Vol. 1. Brent also shares a bunch of other tricks that come in very handy - In my opinion this video is a must for any beginning boro worker.

[imagesinglass]

I hope these worked and I apologize if they're huge.
The first one is turquoise base with green amber purple frit and clear. Not sure what the brownish lines are...
The second one is silver creek with clear dots. Is the light creamy colour haze?
The third one is butterscotch with green amber purple frit. I made the bead on the top first and stuck it in the kiln...the colours are nice on it...but the pendant seems to have quite a bit of haze on it.
The last one is green amber frit implosion backed by aqua azul. I quite like this one...is the frit supposed to be more vibrant colours? I kind of like the way it turned out...kind of earthy.
Thanks everyone for all your help.
Suzanne

[Bunyip]

For starters, please hit enter between every couple of pictures you post. I'm on a widescreen monitor and your pictures still make the topic wider than my screen. You can edit your post - so it's not too late.

As for your color, I'd say you're moving in the right direction. The implosion looks pretty darn good. The silver colors can often (and usually do) develop a wispy look when imploded like that, but there are tricks to avoid that. Mostly they involve keeping your work nice and hot until you're done, and lots and lots of practice. For more color, you could also kiln strike it, which will develop the amber purple further. Kiln striking involves holding at 1050 to 1100 degrees (depending on your kiln) previous to your annealing cycle. Some people will strike multiple times, or for several hours, or both. There's a lot more to it, but that's the basics.

Kebira goes into some depth on kiln striking. In fact, read the whole thread for lots of great information on boro color.
Check out vega's post in this thread for more on color in your implosions - I haven't tried this but I've seen his work so I'd say he knows what he's talking about.

As for haze - when you heat up a rod of amber purple in a neutral (or oxidizing) flame, you will see a hazy surface skin develop and then it will disappear, cooked away by the torch, as the amber purple goes transparent clear. That is what we call haze. It will re-develop if you let your piece cool too much, but it can (usually) be removed again by re-heating to molten, blasting with an oxidizing flame, or both. It is easier to keep the haze off in a slightly oxidizing flame environment. Some colors will haze no matter what you do - which is ok too, it's probably by design (Caramel Luster for example), so don't get frustrated.

As I noted before, I highly recommend Mr. Smiley's video for working with color.