To: drewfritts@home.com Subject: markup of article Hi Drew! interesting article. working that coloured boro sounds like stepping through the looking-glass :-) quite an experience, it made interesting reading. My comments below are INDENTED and occur immediately after the text they refer to. ignore of course any brit spellings like "colour" in my comments, it's just a pain to remember the US spelling all the time and I'm lazy. perhaps I should warn you I have a rep as a demon copy editor, so don't worry about the amount of (virtual) red ink. funny thing is, I don't see any typos in the paper copy. I have a dim memory of seeing one typo in the text, but either I imagined it or I didn't mark it properly... ah, perhaps it was the first of the orphaned parens which are really a bogus translation of TM char codes. I saw very little in the text that would confuse a reader. 90pct of my comments are merely for style and brevity. I am a picayune editor, and the average GL reader is not going to give a d--n about most of the little syntactic/semantic glitches that bother me, so feel free to disregard anything you feel is mere pedantry. you'll find only a handful of places where I thought the text was flagrantly incorrect, ambiguous, or incomplete. the rest is nitpickery. it's a good article. if I had the capacity to work boro, it would be of tremendous value, helping me to make buying decisions about very expensive glass. well, it's past the pumpkin hour. tell me more about pink glass some time, if you can remember what it was you were going to say... ========================================================== A Beginner's Guide to Glass Alchemy Colored Borosilicate by Drew Fritts When I was asked by Glass Line to review the new borosilicate colors being produced by Glass Alchemy, Ltd., I was surprised because I'm something about that opening sentence bothers me. perhaps "I was surprised -- I'm primarily a soft glass artist" would be better. to my ear it is. primarily a soft glass artist. Although I've certainly used borosilicate glass, it has mainly been clear Pyrex(. I turned the I'm getting ( for what I assume was TM. not a problem, just make sure that Glassline gets a TM symbol when the time comes. article down several times because I didn't feel that I could make a umm no, editors turn articles down, much to the distress of writers :-) I think you mean "I declined the invitation several times..." fair comparison to the colored borosilicates that are on the market. "that are already on the market" might be better Finally, I agreed to review the product on the condition that I wouldn't do a "comparison" - that my testing would be about how this product "my testing would be about how" is awkward. suggest "that I would discuss only how this product performs in my experiments, and nothing more" performs based on my experiments with it and nothing more. I tell you this up front so that you won't be disappointed when you get to my comments about each color. I don't compare it to some other color with which you are familiar. I decided to first go to the Glass Alchemy, Ltd. web site "first to go" would be more proper :-) (www.glassalchemyarts.com) to find out more about their product. I was impressed by the fact that their web site talked about lots of bright awk. suggest "One thing that impressed me was their promise of many bright opaque colours coming out soon." or "I was impressed by the series of bright opaque colours which they promise to bring to market soon." opaque colors that were scheduled to come out. One of the reasons I work primarily in soft glass is because I like to use a lot of truly opaque colors in my marbles. because I know zip about boro, this comment is opaque (so to speak) to me. are most existing boro colours transparent and translucent, and does that mean that it's hard to make opaque marbles in boro -- or that it used to be, before GA stepped in and saved the day? I decided to put together a test plan while I waited for Glass Alchemy ["GA" going forward] to send samples of the colors they currently have "going forward" is not a phrase I've heard in this context. "[GA hereafter]" or "[GA from here on]" perhaps? "GA going forward" irresistibly makes me think "AG going backward!" suggest "to send samples of currently available colours." and I don't see a need for parens around the following sentence... available. (At this writing there are 31 Glass Alchemy colors available, with many more due to be released.) In my testing I wanted to look at several things with regard to each color: argh. suggest "I wanted to look at several attributes of each colour" or "I wanted to test each colour for the following qualities" 1. Compatibility with clear Pyrex( 2. Compatibility with other Glass Alchemy colors 3. Working characteristics (does it strike, boil, scum, etc.?) 4. Striking colors - are they random or repeatable? 5. Effect of long periods of heating in the torch, as required by many of my marbles Most of all, I wanted to see if someone like me, someone without a lot of borosilicate experience, could not only get the effects that the suggest parenthesize the 2nd clause, i.e. "like me (someone without a lot...),..." subst parens for commas; I could also lose the 2nd "someone" without any regrets. company talks about on their web site, but get them consistently. my pedantic alter ego prefers "achieve" to "get" in this context. TESTING I conducted my tests without referring to the company's descriptions of each color. I first wanted to form my own opinion. Then I'd look to see what, if any, differences there were between my results and the description given on the GA web site. I started by cutting two 2-inch lengths of each color. One I labeled and set aside as a control. The other I put in my annealer at 1000=BA this =BA thing looks like the ascified degree symbol. F. for about 8 hours. Meanwhile, I pulled stringers and generally got the feel of each of the colors. I also did some strike tests in the flame. The next day I pulled the 2-inch lengths out of the annealer and was umm, if you put them in the annealer for only 8 hours, how was it the next day when you pulled them out? I guess you annealed for 8 hrs, then let the annealer cool overnight and pulled them out cold the next morning. it might be good to say that. I stumbled over this on first reading for some reason. maybe it's just late and I'm getting stupid (as well as cold!) surprised to find that not one of the striking colors was the color I had expected it to be. They were all very dark. Some of them were not even remotely close to the color indicated by its identifying number. number mismatch "some of them... color.. its" suggest "close to the colors...their identifying numbers" (I marked all of the test pieces with a DecoColor( Liquid Silver( Opaque Paint Marker that doesn't burn off in the annealer. I get mine at an office supply store.) I quickly called GA and talked to Henry who calmly explained to me that how do you quickly call someone? dial real fast? :-) do you mean "immediately"? suggest comma after Henry borosilicate striking colors don't work the same as soft glass striking colors. Many of them just keep striking darker and darker until they are either cooled or they reach saturation. I asked him how something like a marble, that needs to be annealed well, could be struck to the desired color without jeopardizing the annealing process. He told me that I needed to watch the things I put into the annealer and when they got to the color I wanted, cycle the annealer down. He also said to plan my production so that the items that needed the shortest annealing (both size and color) were put in last. With that explanation I had a fundamental problem. I make marbles all unfortunate turn of phrase. when someone says they have a problem with an explanation, it usually is taken to mean that they did not believe or trust the explainer. this is what I thought on first reading, and it was disconcerting. I think you mean "This striking behaviour posed a fundamental problem for me" or something like that... day and I don't really want to be turning my annealer off after only a couple marbles just so I can get them to stay a certain color. Also, I wasn't sure what the annealing curve looks like for borosilicate marbles! So, I decided to call on a couple folks that are experienced awk. suggest "call a couple of experienced borosilicate..." "call on" implies you physically dropped by, but I think you phoned (yes, confirmed below). borosilicate workers and pick their brains. First I called Lewis C. Wilson (http://www.crystalmyths.com/) and had a very informative discussion. Lewis sent me some pictures of some fabulous sculptures that he and xxx collaborated on in which many of xxx needs to be replaced with person's name suggest comma after "collaborated on," and personally I don't like that trailing prep and would prefer "pictures of some fabulous sculptures, collaborations between Lewis and xxx, in which many of his portions..." but most contemporary readers won't care (alas). Lewis' portions were done using the GA colors. He explained that to get some color effects he uses what he called "selective striking." This is where he will strike selected parts of a piece in the torch to get them "This is where" -- awk, inc. suggest "He strikes selected..." or "This means that he strikes selected..." to turn a particular color. Some of the colors can be "shaded" in this manner or even taken through several different colors to give blends. The piece can then be put into an annealer that has its temperature set at the very bottom of the annealing range. This will allow the piece to suggest "This allows" or even "range, allowing..." or "range, which allows..." anneal with very limited color shift. Still wanting to know more specifically about marbles, I decided to suggest "about marbles specifically" contact one of my favorite borosilicate marble makers, Douglas Ferguson (http://home.att.net/~douglas-melizard/ferguson2/homex.html) . Douglas told me "First, you have to forget everything you know about soft glass. ...[If you anneal as you would with soft glass] the colors do strike dark ... forget about soft glass annealing. Boro is very forgiving. Work it, put it into the kiln and make sure you anneal it about 20 to 60 minutes at 1050=BA F. Then you can remove it from the kiln and place in vermiculite and cover completely. This seems to work fine for me. I can bounce my marbles off the floor and have no problems. You can work with the times for the desired color effect. Sometimes I will leave marbles in the kiln for the whole time period I am working and then shut the kiln down when I leave. It depends on the effect I want." [wow -- that is not an editorial comment, but a reaction to the content -- boro is another planet, it seems] Well, that did it. All three people told me basically the same thing: "Selective Striking" and "Selective Annealing" are the way to go. So, the next day I pulled out my old crock-pot, turned on my annealer and went to work. (Note: All of my tests, as well as some beautiful marbles by Douglas Ferguson using the GA colors, may be viewed at the following web site: http://marbles.nav.to/glassalchemy/index.html ) BACK TO TESTING Armed with this new information, I decided that the easiest way to accomplish most of the tests that I wanted to perform was to make simple "the tests that I wanted to perform" is awk. suggest "easiest way to accomplish most of my tests was..." beads. In this way, I could test compatibilities and easily control I think "In this way" is unnecessary here and the sentence can start just fine with "I could test" temperature, striking, flame atmospheres, flame annealing and oven annealing. Most importantly, I could easily move things to the crock-pot after they had been "selectively annealed." The exceptions to this approach were the blowing tests and those involving long intervals of heat needed in marble making. For those tests I actually blew bubbles and made marbles. As it turns out, there are a few colors that don't like to be worked in high heat for long periods. For the blown bubble tests I used a 1/4" diameter, heavy wall, stainless steel pipe and a bulb pump and valve from a blood pressure machine. For more on this setup, see my web page: http://nikif.freeyellow.com/Articles/Blowpump.html [you have no idea what discipline it is taking to copy edit this article instead of rushing off to read about your bulb pump :-)] Due to the fact that all annealers are not created equal, you should run suggest "All annealers are not created equal. You should run..." some tests to determine the temperature that is best for your equipment. A lot of factors come into play when talking about temperatures in annealers, not least of which are the accuracy of the thermocouple / pyrometer and the size of the oven. Size will determine how much effect ambient and radiant heat have on the items being annealed. I decided to set my annealer so that a piece of #381 Warm Yellow rod struck very slightly over a period of about two hours. This color is a good indicator because it strikes rapidly, and based on the way I work, I thought it would be better to be on the low side temperature-wise. I didn't want to feel like I'd have to stop what I was doing to go check "didn't want to stop what I was doing..." I think you could feel any way you wanted to, but the real issue is the stopping :-) and the phrase is awk. the whole sentence is a bit awk, with that dangling adv, but what the heck. nb: I personally dislike all "xxx-wise" coinages, but if it's part of your idiolect & you like it, let it stand :-) I would have written "strikes rapidly. Given my work habits, I thought it would be better to use the low end of the annealing temperature range." the annealer frequently. COLOR SPECIFIC NOTES dash needed: "COLOR-SPECIFIC" [wow again. what a comprehensive lab notebook. admiration.] Here I have mixed feelings about the format. So many of the notes are boilerplate that I'm tempted to suggest a Consumer- Reports-type table, with notes A, B, C etc for each rod -- then a key at the bottom telling the reader what A, B, C are. This would reduce the repetitive quality of the entries, and save space -- but would require trickier typesetting. The following are my notes on each of the colors that were available at the time of this writing. To avoid repetitive text I'm going to start with some definitions that will be used throughout the descriptions of each color: 1. "Annealer Strike" - To strike in the annealer use an oxidizing flame to heat the piece all the way to clear and then put it into the This confuses me. Earlier I got the impression that you just threw some 2-inch chunks in the annealer. You didn't say you first heated them, and you haven't so far explained to us that the glass goes clear when heated -- in fact you've been saying that it gets darker and darker as it's heated. So I'm puzzled to read "heat the piece all the way to clear". Perhaps no other GL reader is as ignorant about boro as I am :-) otoh perhaps one additional paragraph of explanation above is needed, to tell the non-boro-geek that boro colours go transparent when they're in the flame? and that you have to pre-cook before annealing rather than just bring the glass up to annealing temp in the kiln? annealer. Move it to a crock-pot of vermiculite or a cool-down oven when it has reached the desired color. 2. "Long Strike" - an annealing cycle of 8 hours at 1000=BA F. to strike the color 3. "Flame Strike" - Use an oxidizing flame to build your piece and then play with different flame atmospheres to affect color variations. 4. "Striking Cycle" - During the process of flame striking the piece is cooled slightly and then reheated in the flame. By "cooled slightly", I mean that it is allowed to cool enough that the orange glow disappears completely. With each striking cycle the piece will get increasingly dark. If it goes too dark it can usually be reheated to its rod color and struck again, however this much heat will tend to deform sculptural pieces. Most of the striking colors can be heated back to their rod color many times without ill effects. Exceptions will be noted under applicable colors. 5. "Over Strike" - The use of multiple striking cycles. Typically luster colors will give different results the more they are over struck. All of the colors tested appear to be completely compatible with Pyrex( as well as other GA colors. When you say encasing, I assume you mean that you encase the colour being tested with clear, not that you encase some other core with the colour being tested? 104 - Red Crayon - Opaque medium red rod Not a striking color. Flame Atmosphere: Not affected Encasing: Appears slightly lighter Clarity: Contains lots of seed bubbles, many near the surface. Blown Color: When blown thin it becomes translucent and the seed bubbles cause surface dimples so it should be encased to blow. Trailing and Drawing: Draws down to about 2mm before becoming translucent. If layered over black it needs to be at least that thick or the black will show through. Trailing isn't good because of the seed bubbles. Long Strike: Slightly darker, although almost imperceptible. Additional Comments: * If worked in a fairly cool flame the seed bubbles will normally recede and not cause a problem. * Encase it to work hot because it boils easily. 106 - Indian Red Crayon - Opaque Reddish Brown rod Not a striking color. Flame Atmosphere: Oxidizing or Neutral. It will scum in a reducing flame. Encasing: Appears slightly lighter Clarity: Contains seed bubbles, many near the surface. Blown Color: When blown it stays opaque unless very thin when it becomes translucent. The seed bubbles cause surface dimples so it should be encased to blow. Trailing and Drawing: Draws down to about 1mm before becoming translucent. Trailing isn't good because of the seed bubbles. Long Strike: No noticeable change. Additional Comments: * If worked in a fairly cool flame the seed bubbles will normally recede and not cause a problem. * Encase it to work hot because it boils fairly easily. * It does not color shift to red in the flame or in the annealer. 135 - Red Agate - Semi-Translucent Pinkish-Brown rod Annealer Strike: Slightly darker reddish brown Flame Strike: A fairly hard color to strike. * Oxidizing flame: Carnelian red, similar to antique agate marbles. Requires Over Strike. * Neutral flame: Slightly lighter red than oxidizing flame. * Reducing flame: Brownish red Striking Cycle: Hard to strike. Requires Over Striking to achieve proper color. Encasing: Appears slightly lighter Clarity: Contains seed bubbles, many near the surface. Blown Color: Translucent pinkish red. The seed bubbles cause surface dimples so it should be encased to blow. Trailing and Drawing: Stringers and trailing tend to be very lumpy. Long Strike: Slightly darker reddish brown. Additional Comments: * If worked in a fairly cool flame the seed bubbles will normally recede and not cause a problem. * Encase it to work hot because it boils fairly easily. 138 - Ruby Strike - Transparent Clear rod Annealer Strike: Transparent dark ruby red - takes time. Flame Strike: Not recommended. Flame striking causes translucent pinkish streaks. When subsequently annealed the streaks do appear ruby red, but they stay visible rather than allowing the piece to be transparent. Striking Cycle: Strike to clear and then "Annealer Strike". Encasing: No noticeable effect. Clarity: Contains some micro bubbles but they don't hinder any of the working properties. Blown Color: Rich transparent red. Trailing and Drawing: It trails and draws well. Long Strike: Necessary to anneal for a long time to achieve the best color, but not necessarily 8 hours. If under struck it stays clear with wispy transparent red streaks through the thickest portions. Additional Comments: * It's beautiful! [the understruck state with the wispy streaks sounds rather fetching, actually] 182 - Blush - Opaque Beige rod Annealer Strike: Light to medium brown Flame Strike: Not affected Striking Cycle: Not hard to strike but requires Over Striking to achieve proper color. Encasing: Appears slightly lighter Clarity: Contains seed bubbles, many near the surface. Blown Color: Opaque medium brown unless very thin. The seed bubbles cause surface dimples so it should be encased to blow. Trailing and Drawing: Stringers and trailing tend to be very lumpy. Long Strike: Slightly darker reddish brown. Additional Comments: * If worked in a fairly cool flame the seed bubbles will normally recede and not cause a problem. * Encase it to work hot because it boils fairly easily. 204 - Orange Crayon - Opaque Bright Orange rod Not a striking color. Flame Atmosphere: Not affected Encasing: No noticeable effect. Clarity: Contains lots of seed bubbles, many near the surface. Blown Color: When blown thin it becomes translucent and the seed bubbles cause surface dimples so it should be encased to blow. Trailing and Drawing: Draws down to about 2mm before becoming translucent. If layered over black it needs to be at least that thick or the black will show through. Trailing isn't good because of the seed bubbles. Long Strike: Very slightly darker orange, although almost imperceptible. Additional Comments: * If worked in a fairly cool flame the seed bubbles will normally recede and not cause a problem. * Encase it to work hot because it boils easily. * It does not color shift to red in the flame or in the annealer. 304 - Yellow Crayon - Opaque Dark Yellow rod Not a striking color. Flame Atmosphere: Not affected Encasing: No noticeable effect. Clarity: Contains lots of seed bubbles, many near the surface. Blown Color: When blown thin it becomes translucent and the seed bubbles cause surface dimples so it should be encased to blow. Trailing and Drawing: Draws down to about 2mm before becoming translucent. If layered over black it needs to be at least that thick or the black will show through. Trailing isn't good because of the seed bubbles. Long Strike: Very slightly darker yellow, although almost imperceptible. Additional Comments: * If worked in a fairly cool flame the seed bubbles will normally recede and not cause a problem. * Encase it to work hot because it boils easily. * It does not color shift to orange in the flame or in the annealer. 381 - Warm Yellow - Translucent Clear rod Annealer Strike: Light yellow to dark reddish brown Flame Strike: A variety of colors from light yellow to amber, to blues and even some purples. * Oxidizing flame: Yellows and ambers * Neutral flame: The same colors but with a slight purple luster on the surface * Reducing flame: Light blue to purple luster Striking Cycle: This color strikes quickly so for light yellows and ambers it must be reheated very lightly. Encasing: Encasing over an oxidized yellow or amber will result in a "veiled" light yellow. Encasing over a reduced blue or purple will excuse the ignorant newbie -- what's "veiled" -- I assume a technical term for some kind of haze or bloom on the glass? result in a gorgeous veiled pinkish orange. Clarity: Contains micro bubbles but they don't hinder most of the working properties. Blown Color: Very pale transparent yellow. The micro bubbles cause a slight surface texture when blown thin so it should be encased for blowing. Trailing and Drawing: It trails and draws well. Long Strike: Continued darkening, and in rod form the color anneals to an extremely dark reddish brown. Additional Comments: * It tends to fume lightly over adjacent colors if not encased. * If a reducing rather than oxidizing flame is used to build the piece the resulting color will be a dirty caramel color - not too appealing. However, if this color is encased it turns to a very nice milky cream color. 383 - Silver Strike 3 - Translucent Milky rod Annealer Strike: Medium yellow to chocolate brown Flame Strike: A variety of colors from medium yellow to oranges, pinks and even some purples. * Oxidizing flame: deep yellows, ambers and reddish orange. Over Striking can also achieve pink and light purple lusters. * Neutral flame: The same colors as an oxidizing flame but with the addition of a slightly green luster when Over Striking. * Reducing flame: Light bluish-green to purple luster when Over Striking. Striking Cycle: This color strikes fairly quickly. Encasing: Encasing over deep yellow or amber will result in a "veiled" light yellow. Encasing over bluish-green or purple will result in a gorgeous veiled deep pinkish orange with blue overtones. Clarity: Very smooth. Blown Color: Rich transparent yellow, and the surface texture is good. Trailing and Drawing: It trails and draws well. Long Strike: Continued darkening, and in rod form the color anneals to a rich chocolate brown. Additional Comments: * It tends to fume over adjacent colors if not encased. * If a reducing rather than oxidizing flame is used to build the piece the resulting color will be a striated milky caramel. 385 - Silver Strike 5 - Semi-Translucent Tan rod Annealer Strike: Tan to a nice dark caramel Flame Strike: A variety of colors from medium brownish orange, to caramels and even lavender. * Oxidizing flame: Brownish orange to reddish brown with green and lavender highlights. Over Striking can achieve many variations. * Neutral flame: Similar to oxidizing flame. * Reducing flame: Similar to oxidizing flame. Very nice lavender possible. Striking Cycle: Over Striking is necessary for most of the possible effects. Encasing: Encasing over brownish orange will result in a "veiled" light orange. Encasing over lavender or multi-effects tends to result in a veiled pinkish orange with some blue overtones. Clarity: Very smooth. Blown Color: Rich transparent pinkish orange and the surface texture is good. Trailing and Drawing: It trails and draws well. Long Strike: Continued darkening, and in rod form the color anneals to a dark caramel. Additional Comments: * It fumes over the entire piece if not encased. * If a reducing rather than oxidizing flame is used to build the piece the resulting color will be a striated greenish gray - not a pretty color. 386 - Purple Luster - Translucent Clear rod Annealer Strike: Light yellow to dark burgundy Flame Strike: A variety of colors from light yellow to pinks, reds, blues, blue green and deep purples. * Oxidizing flame: Yellows, pinks, and dark reds with blue and purple lusters * Neutral flame: Deep blue to purple luster * Reducing flame: blue green to purple luster Striking Cycle: This color strikes quickly so for light yellows it must be reheated very lightly. Encasing: Encasing over a blue or purple will result in a gorgeous veiled pinkish red with blue highlights. Encasing over blue green will result in pinkish red with a milky veil. Clarity: Contains micro bubbles but they don't hinder any of the working properties. Blown Color: Rich transparent caramel with purple highlights. Trailing and Drawing: It trails and draws well. Long Strike: Continued darkening, and in rod form it turns such a dark red that it is virtually black. Additional Comments: * It tends to fume lightly over adjacent colors if not encased. * If a reducing rather than oxidizing flame is used to build the piece the resulting color will be a dirty greenish gray - not too appealing. * It's gorgeous 388 - Caramel - Translucent Light Yellow rod Annealer Strike: Light yellow to dark reddish brown Flame Strike: A variety of colors from dark amber to pinks, blues, purples and turquoise. * Oxidizing flame: Ambers, caramels and pinks with blue lusters * Neutral flame: Caramels with purple luster * Reducing flame: blue green to purple luster Striking Cycle: Over Strike creates some very nice effects to a point. If carried on too long the luster turns to a grayish white coating that won't go away easily. Encasing: Encasing over a blue or purple will result in a veiled caramel red with blue highlights. Encasing over caramel results in a veiled caramel with milky highlights. Encasing over blue green results in a gorgeous veiled caramel red with blue green highlights. Clarity: Contains a few micro bubbles but they don't hinder any of the working properties. Blown Color: Rich transparent yellow with purple highlights. Trailing and Drawing: It trails and draws well. Long Strike: Continued darkening, and in rod form it turns a very dark reddish brown. Additional Comments: * It tends to fume lightly over adjacent colors if not encased. * If a reducing rather than oxidizing flame is used to build the piece the resulting color will be a striated tan and off-white. 406 - Olive Green - Opaque Medium Olive Green rod Not a striking color. Flame Atmosphere: Not affected Encasing: Appears slightly lighter Clarity: Contains seed bubbles, many near the surface. Blown Color: Stays opaque unless very thin. It then becomes translucent. The seed bubbles cause surface dimples so it should be encased to blow. Trailing and Drawing: Draws down to about 2mm before becoming translucent. If layered over black it needs to be at least that thick or the black will show through. Trailing isn't good because of the seed bubbles. Long Strike: Slightly lighter and more yellow, although almost imperceptible. Additional Comments: * If worked in a fairly cool flame the seed bubbles will normally recede and not cause a problem. * Encase it to work hot because it boils easily. 421 - Phthalo Green - Transparent Bluish Green rod Not a striking color. Flame Atmosphere: Oxidizing or Neutral flame. Reddish brown streaks form in a reducing flame. Encasing: No noticeable effect. Clarity: Very clean Blown Color: Nice light shade when blown thin. Trailing and Drawing: Draws and trails well. Long Strike: No noticeable effect. Additional Comments: * Very pretty color 431 - True Green - Transparent Light Green rod Not a striking color. Flame Atmosphere: Oxidizing or Neutral flame. Reddish brown streaks form in a reducing flame. Encasing: No noticeable effect. Clarity: Very clean Blown Color: Very, very light shade when blown thin. Trailing and Drawing: Draws and trails well but it's really too light to be useful to me in that form. Long Strike: Loses just a little yellow and actually becomes slightly "greener". Additional Comments: * I'd like to see this color in a higher saturation. 481 - Spring Luster - Transparent Yellow Green rod with Blue Highlights Annealer Strike: Yellow green to dark reddish brown Flame Strike: Any color that can be found in a peacock's neck or tail. * Oxidizing flame: Yellows and greens with rich blue overtones. Stays transparent * Neutral flame: Same as oxidizing except the blues start to lighten and come out as lusters. * Reducing flame: Turquoise lusters. If too much Over Strike nice pinkish tan striations appear. Striking Cycle: Over Strike creates some very nice effects. Encasing: Encasing really makes this color come alive. It simply intensifies the mix of colors that are present in the glass. Any of the effects, when encased, give a multicolored veil with a transparent yellow green base. Clarity: Contains a few bubbles here and there but they don't hinder any of the working properties. Blown Color: Bright yellow green. Trailing and Drawing: It trails and draws well. Long Strike: Continued darkening, and in rod form it turns a very dark rootbeer brown. Additional Comments: * It fumes over adjacent colors if not encased. * If a reducing rather than oxidizing flame is used to build the piece the resulting color will be a striated pinkish tan and opal turquoise. * Absolutely gorgeous! 512 - Cobalt 2 - Transparent Cobalt Blue rod Not a striking color. Flame Atmosphere: Oxidizing or Neutral flame. Scum forms in a reducing flame. Encasing: No noticeable effect. Clarity: Very clean Blown Color: Nice rich blue when blown thin. Trailing and Drawing: Draws and trails well. Long Strike: No noticeable effect. Additional Comments: * What I consider standard cobalt rod 514 - Cobalt 4 - Transparent Dark Cobalt Blue rod Not a striking color. Flame Atmosphere: Oxidizing or Neutral flame. Scum forms in a reducing flame. Encasing: No noticeable effect. Clarity: Very clean Blown Color: Very rich blue when blown thin. Trailing and Drawing: Draws and trails well. Long Strike: No noticeable effect. Additional Comments: * None 515 - Cobalt 5 - Transparent Very Dark Cobalt Blue rod - virtually black. Not a striking color. Flame Atmosphere: Oxidizing or Neutral flame. Scum forms in a reducing flame. Encasing: No noticeable effect. Clarity: Very clean Blown Color: Very dark blue when blown thin. Trailing and Drawing: Draws and trails well. Long Strike: No noticeable effect. Additional Comments: * None Now here, all of a sudden, you get very terse -- as if you had become tired of writing down all this detail for each colour. The change of format and change of detail level is a bit disconcerting, since it's been absolutely consistent so far. Perhaps you need to group the tests into two parts, with separate headings and some kind of explanation for the paucity of text for the last few colours here? 517 - Royal Blue Transparent light blue rod. Lightens very slightly with Long Strike. 521 - Phthalo Blue Transparent blue gray rod. Lightens slightly on the aqua side with Long Strike. 531 - Teal Transparent blue green rod. Lightens slightly with Long Strike. 592 - Brilliant Blue Transparent bright blue rod with violet overtones. No noticeable change with Long Strike. 597 - Blue Luster Translucent bright blue rod. Can strike to a variety of colors including greens, turquoise and yellows. Long annealing causes continued darkening. In rod form the color turns a dark reddish orange. 672 - Blue Violet Transparent light purple rod. Loses some of the blue with Long Strike and becomes a light rose violet. 775 - Black Plum Transparent dark rose violet rod. Loses blue with Long Strike and becomes a dark "old" rose. 860 - Warm Brown 5 Transparent rootbeer rod. No noticeable change with Long Strike. 864 - Sienna Brown Transparent light sienna rod with peach overtones. No noticeable change with Long Strike. 931 - Black (Green) Black rod. Thins to a transparent dark forest green. Lightens with Long Strike making some nice blown or trailed colors. With thickness or In rod form it still looks black. 974 - Black (Violet) Black rod. No noticeable change with Long Strike. 993 - Black (Blue) Black rod. No noticeable change with Long Strike. CONCLUSION I was able to answer most of the questions I had at the outset of this project. I found that all of the colors I tested appear to be completely compatible with PyrexÒ as well as with other GA colors. The working more strange renderings of the TM symbol! characteristics of the colors are consistent and well defined, and I tried to document these as best I could. However, your opinion may vary depending on your experience level with borosilicate glass. With regard to whether or not the striking colors are random or repeatable, get rid of "or not" this is "whether A or B" not "whether or not A" I'd have to say they are both. The more basic striking colors like the red agate, ruby strike, and blush are consistent and repeatable. Within the group of silver striking and luster colors, including warm yellow and caramel, "effects" are definitely repeatable but specific colors will take some practice. Armed with my observations about flame atmosphere you should be able to get very close, but half the fun of these colors is in the random effects that they can generate. [and it sounds like a lot of fun, too... I'm envious, but I doubt my feeble oxy supply would be sufficient to work this glass] Most of the colors were not affected by long periods of heating in the torch. However, the silver striking and luster colors are the exception. These colors are most brilliant when they are not overworked. Used in small marbles of 1" or less, I had some great results with these colors because the working time was short enough. However, when used in a large marble that takes multiple reheats due to layering, twisting, or just the mass of glass involved, these colors tend to strike to an opal greenish gray color. Any attempts to get this color to strike back to clear so that it could then be struck in the annealer were futile. suggest commas after "clear" and "annealer" also suggest "My attempts" instead of "Any attempts" Finally, my main goal was see if someone like me, someone without a lot of borosilicate experience, could not only get the effects that the company talks about on their web site, but also get them consistently. To this I'd this is almost an exact replica of the sentence as it appeared in the beginning of the essay. the repetition is a bit odd. is it deliberate? have to answer with a resounding "Yes"! After learning how to handle awk suggest "I'd answer this with a resounding Yes" and "answer" here is a bit odd, because there's been no reference to a question, only to a goal. let's see, how about "The big question was whether someone like me... consistently." striking and annealing these colors I'm confident that other newcomers to suggest "After learning how to strike and anneal these colours" colored borosilicate, as well as those seasoned veterans, can also achieve those? which those? "those who are seasoned v."? suggest "as well as seasoned veterans", just lose the "those" excellent, consistent results with these new borosilicate colors. the words "colour" and "borosilicate" are making too many appearances in this slightly run-on sentence. suggest "consistent results with these new rods from Glass Alchemy" or something like that ABOUT THE AUTHOR Drew Fritts has been working with hot glass since 1994. His marbles are sold in galleries nationwide and are in numerous collections around the world. Email: drewfritts@home.com Web Site: http://marbles.go.to Drew Fritts Marbles, 3875 E. Kingsbury, Springfield, MO 65809. 417-886-0325 Limited Copyright (c) 2001 - 2002 by Glass Line Magazine Copyright (c) 2003 by Drew Fritts - All Rights Reserved --