New Striking Color Glass Tests!

I love Striking Color Brand glass! I have only ever had the pleasure of trying shorts and gifted rods from very generous glass people who have so lovingly committed RAOGK (Random Acts Of Glass Kindness)

Well this last sale on Etsy forced me to purchase a whole pound of the CM-207 offspec glass. Now offspec means that this glass has not been fully tested for complete compatibility with COE 104 Glass, however it does not mean it is incompatible either. The COE is in fact so close that there should not be a problem in normal application. The problems generally occur when you are heavily encasing this glass in clear.

This color alone is just stunning and is super easy to work with. I am on a minor with 1 5lpm oxycon and had no problems with the striking cycle of this glass.

The first shots show beads made entirely out of the CM-207 with one of the beads showing an overstruck bead. For the overstriking I simply did the deep heat a second time and did not allow to cool all the way before reintroducing into the flame- the point of this, if you are having these same results it means it was not cool enough before you added more heat. The single donut bead was deep heated and allowed to cool to a medium amber glow then wafted in the back of the flame till the deepest colors appeared then I garaged the beads. The teeny pebbles were made in the same way as the donut but then I added enough heat after the cooling to shape and all sorts of yummy colors appeared! After shaping I wafted a bit to remove any chill marks and garaged the bead.

These beads have the color applied either by stringer approx 2mm thick or by "faux frit" (dabbing the tip of the rod over the bead much like frit particles) over a base of CIM Peace. This application is much thinner and results in the palest pastels with rich amber tones. You can acheive some brighter magentas with a slightly thicker application. I am definitely partial to the deeper brighter colors of this glass so I will use a thicker application in the future. I did not spend enough time reheating the chill marks out and as a result I ended up with thermal cracks on 4 of the 6 beads made using this method (I also admittedly took too many peeks at them when they were in the kiln)

The 3 images of the lentils show the glass in pressed applications. The first is thick stringer over moretti white heated, pressed, chill marks removed and garaged. The last 2 pictures are the same bead but different views. This bead has a base of Tuxedo and the glass applied by winding it around the center of the bead then heated, pressed, and silvered ivory applied, then I heated the edges till the ivory was melted in and the whole bead was warmed and re-pressed then the chill marks removed. I love this application!

On that note I will leave you with a couple more pictures of beads made with this great glass and I am off to clean the house and then torch and make more great beads with this glass!! As soon as my glass supply gets here I will be testing the encasing of this glass!!