Do not encase??

[artwhim]

Warning, below is a really big, ugly picture! Protect your eyes if necessary.

After enough searching, I finally found the photo. Several years ago, I made some retro looking beads with Moretti 272, Lauscha olive and Lauscha opaque purple. This one was very large and encased in Lauscha clear. I was having problems with them cracking, and was wondering if annealing at a higher temp would help. I cracked the bead in half, and fused it into a cab. That means it was taken up to 1550 and then annealed and cooled at a very conservative schedule (same I would use if fusing a 6 x6 sheet). I was sure surprised when it came out of the kiln because every opaque purple dot was checked and the checking was ONLY right over the opaque purple, no other cracks ventured out into the rest of the glass. I still run across this ugly dog in my drawer from time to time, and over the years it still has the checking over the dots, but no other cracking.

Two things I learned, not every bead looks good fused into a cab, and don't bother encasing opaque purple.

[twiggyinaz]

I thought these were made with moretti 272 when I made this post, but I double checked after I posted and it was vetro.

I did put a bit of clear down before the 272, I do that with all pastels that I encase. I don't think you can see that I left a bit of purple showing, but this is the only picture I have. Vetro 272 is the base of this bead.



Has anybody had good or bad experience with vetro 272?

[steph1214]

Ok, so i went downstairs yesterday and decided to use an ASK color since i never use them. i used the green color that is just beautiful, oops forgot the name and am not going back down (no coffee yet, ha). It is the opaque green, well, anyways, it cracked when i encased it so add this one to the list!! I used it in a twisty.
steph

[Katie Gee]

Hey Steph, was it a bright green, or an olive green??

[steph1214]

Bright green, really pretty. you know i have been back downstairs a few times and forgot to look at the color. It is definately a green that is not in the effetre palette. like a kelly green but different than the other greens

[Katie Gee]

It sounds like neon green. Has anyone else had trouble with neon green??

[steph1214]

It IS neon green, i looked when i went back down. It is such a pretty green and it is definately not neon, but it is such a nice green, too bad it cracks when encasing it. Like i said before, i have never had anything crack and then i searched through my glass on the wall and found the ask green and tried it just to see what you all meant. It cracked right away!!!!!!
steph

[Firebrand Beads]

Originally Posted by beadgirl

I have no problems w Moretti Special colors encased w Lausha clear.
Tag Dali , Tag Tibet crack when encased w Lausha clear.
MarieAnn

Oooooh! thank you for noting that! I do test TAG regularly with Vetrofond and Moretti clear... but shelved some Lauscha clear years ago after it turned out not to be compatible with my 104 (might have been the batch - looks bluish on the ends of the rod.) I do have to ask if you know WHICH Lauscha clear, the regular or the reformulated? Paula D at FlameDame says she has not had any TAG glass break with the Lauscha clears, but I have not tested this combo myself.

[Firebrand Beads]

Do note that TAG Juno hates most other brands of clear, though she tolerates our Clarity... the lighter batches from most of the last six months have been very well behaved in that they don't crack Vetro encasement as easily, but they are not as pretty and pink. The pinker she is, the more you need to baby the Juno, and give her the hotter/longer anneal to deal with her viscosity issues. If you have that beat (AMY!! lol!) you can order odd rods of older batches of Juno from the factory.

[AKDesigns]

Originally Posted by Firebrand Beads

If you have that beat (AMY!! lol!) you can order odd rods of older batches of Juno from the factory.

I think it's because I have just topped Juno dots with clear, not encased an entire Juno bead. I did have one bead crack through the dots but then I recollected that I did drop that bead in the sink so I think I cracked it myself.....duh.

[beadgirl]

Hi Jenny,
The batch I had used was purchased in 2007. I keep them bundled by batches. It was not from Paula. Now when I compare the ends of two batches the tint on the glass is different.
But in all fairness to TAG it may have been the Lausha clear, or user error.
This was during Hayley's SE3 exchange. I sent them to her to look at and she returned them to me. I only saved three beads.
When I looked at my notes I changed my annealing schedule and dropped the kiln temp to 940. The silver glass I was using for surface decoration was loosing the nice purple red effect after annealing.
Will post pictures if you want.
MarieAnn