chinese color rods? [Archive]

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misfit

2007-04-25, 11:15am

Has anyone tried the chinese color? how is it to work with? any thoughts?

Thanks
A.

Cosmo

2007-04-25, 11:38am

I am a big fan of the amber and cobalt rods and tubes. They work fine. No compatibility issues.

The black is a different story. I have had quite a few issues with the black. When I work the black, I don't use any other color with it.

misfit

2007-04-25, 12:51pm

Thanks Cosmo, thats very good to know about the black.
Anyone else have any exsperiance, or know about the yellow, pink, lavendar, green or ruby? I don't mind trying new things, and the price makes them very attractive. However I'm too new to boro to be able to tell when issues evolve what is causing them so should avoid known problems still.

;)

A.

Cosmo

2007-04-25, 12:55pm

The green cracks for me no matter how it's used. The other colors seem to be fine, but I haven't used them as much as I have the amber and cobalt. The red tube will go opaque if you over heat it (like NS Ruby). Other than that they seem to be fine.

misfit

2007-04-25, 2:18pm

thanks :) all useful info. ;)

chayes

2007-04-25, 7:20pm

all the colors are pretty nice except the black. Very sensitive to shock and devit and costs 3x as much as the other colors.

Lori Robbins

2007-04-26, 5:26pm

Love the amber. Does not go purple. NICE

Pink is awesome in small amounts.

Lavender (it shifts as in neo) Milon T had probs with his sculpture done with it. I've done small things no prob.

Red is weird but cool. Got to anneal it to turn, and it's like watery blood. Not crystal clear. Like I said weird but cool.

Blue rod. LOVE IT melts like butta - Tubing Love it even more.

Black, sucks, but I need more o2, so might be by bad on it.

Green tubing can't get it to NOT to crack.

misfit

2007-04-26, 5:58pm

Lori, your info is wonderful. Now if I'd only asked you about every color I bought before I did so... ;) Thanks everyone.

angelique_redhead

2007-09-24, 11:49am

So does the green rod crack if you use it alone? Thanks, Angelique

sunray

2007-09-24, 12:00pm

Jared made a beautiful piece out of the green and after it cooled and he took it out of the kiln and set it on his bench it blew itself into a 1000 little pieces, so I wouldn't recommend it .
However this shop loves the black and some of the other colors

angelique_redhead

2007-09-24, 12:03pm

Thanks for letting me know. Can you recommend a nice clear green WYSIWYG boro that's American made? :love: Angelique

Jared made a beautiful piece out of the green and after it cooled and he took it out of the kiln and set it on his bench it blew itself into a 1000 little pieces, so I wouldn't recommend it .
However this shop loves the black and some of the other colors

Cosmo

2007-09-24, 1:13pm

I do need to revise one of my previous statements...

I have gone to using the Asian black for all my black work. I have actually run a marble made with the black through the kiln like 15 times at last count, and no cracking or checking or anything. I have also talked to other people about it and they have had similar results. I use it for the backs of all my pendants and in all my marbles now.

I'm getting ready to start selling it through our store. I'll have it available next week some time...

sunray

2007-09-24, 8:53pm

Northstar jade comes to mind A lot of the glass blowers here use that

angelique_redhead

2007-09-24, 9:10pm

I'll go look at it. I was wanting a transparent emerald color. Thanks! Angelique

Northstar jade comes to mind A lot of the glass blowers here use that

Cosmo

2007-09-25, 5:15am

I'll go look at it. I was wanting a transparent emerald color. Thanks! Angelique

I would try Paris Green.

angelique_redhead

2007-09-25, 6:17am

Thanks, Cosmo! I looked. That is exactly the color I had in mind. :love: Angelique

I would try Paris Green.

glassactcc

2007-09-25, 7:00am

I have never used it but I think it was Malcolm from Artco who told me you have to wait until it's DEAD COLD before you remove it from the kiln. He is going to be carrying it.

Jared made a beautiful piece out of the green and after it cooled and he took it out of the kiln and set it on his bench it blew itself into a 1000 little pieces, so I wouldn't recommend it .
However this shop loves the black and some of the other colors

Cosmo

2007-09-25, 7:52am

Thanks, Cosmo! I looked. That is exactly the color I had in mind. :love: Angelique

Emerald green is not a bad color, either. More blue than Paris Green.

http://soleiletlune.com/webstore/product.php?productid=16264&cat=253&page=3

angelique_redhead

2007-09-25, 8:15am

Who makes the Emerald green boro? Thanks, Angelique
Had a DUH moment. Love the color.

Emerald green is not a bad color, either. More blue than Paris Green.

http://soleiletlune.com/webstore/product.php?productid=16264&cat=253&page=3

2007-09-25, 8:48am

for the black introduce to flame slowly or preheat in kiln and use high oxy flame so it doesnt reduce, i dont use chinese glass, but mickelsen does use the black all the time and thats how he works it.
ro

chayes

2007-09-26, 4:25pm

I have sucessfuly sleeved two sections of black 32mm tubing with 44 heavy and pulled em out into tubes. No problems yet. I even bench cooled a piece, but i'll know more after i make a finished piece with it though.

chayes

2007-09-26, 9:09pm

ok i worked the tubing and it still sucks. Devit problems the glass is still super stiff a royal pain in the ass. So thats what i get for giving this stuff a second try. In my opinion the black tubing is better left in china to make solar water heating.

bclogan

2007-09-28, 6:24pm

What about the asian clear? Is it worth using?

Cosmo

2007-09-30, 9:19am

What about the asian clear? Is it worth using?

Nope. Not at all. That's why it's so cheap. If you want cheap clear, get UST. Granted, UST is made in Asia, but it has better quality control than the generic "Chinese" clear.

G.L.McBead

2007-09-30, 9:35am

Cosmo

2007-09-30, 2:36pm

Apparently the black I had first was from an early batch of the color and was nothing but problems. They apparently have the formula stabilized because I have gone through three or four pounds of it in the past month with no problems.

Cosmo

2007-11-07, 10:16am

Just a little update...

I'm now on the fence about the black. It works well, melts nice and smooth, but when you put colors on top of it, it absorbs them. I'll take some pics later to show you what I mean, but I did a bunch of marbles with it on the back and the background designs sort of disappeared into the black...

Shadymilkman23

2007-11-22, 6:58am

The chinese red will strike opaque at 1150, the amber color is solid, i've never had problems with the amber or the cobalt. The green has some cracking issues. It'll probably be ok if you only use the green for a backing or perhaps an implosion but when you ball it up it will get waves of small cracks in it.

Cosmo

2007-11-22, 7:56pm

Well, I think I have given up on the Chinese colors. The black, anyways. Still a fan of the Amber for now. A couple reasons about the black though...

1. My torch must be too hot for it. When I work pieces with the center fire of my CC, it almost boils it. It's not reduction, and I don't think it's devitrification. Just goes dull. And it almost fumes the color and clear around it.

2. Any colors you put on top of it sink into it. So, you can't do any designs on top of it. You can encase it in clear and it works okay, but that's too much work.

3. I talked to a friend of mine who uses a lot of it, and he has been having a lot of problems with the black cracking cleanly off the clear in pieces. More of a problem in larger pieces, but still not a chance I want to take.

Looks like I'm sticking to Onyx and Black Violet from here on out...