Reds...
 

I'm fumbling along, making cute little beads, all is lovely - most of the time! I have been asked to attend a Red Hat Society meeting and make some red and purple themed jewellery...

Reds are sometimes tricky, eh? I have Effetre Red and Dark Red and sometimes they come out fine and sometimes they seem muddy, or browny, or dark and icky (sorry, no photos right now, just my fabulous helpful descriptions!! :) ). Am I working them too low in the flame? Sometimes they come out fine...

I also inherited a rod of CiM Sangre, when I bought my studio set up and LOVED it the first time I used it... Clearly it was beginner's luck as I didn't do anything complicated and it looked lovely! Now that I have got some more and used it, it is a striking colour (right?). Sometimes it goes almost bright red (on the verge of being an orangey-red) and sometimes it goes almost brown...

HELP!! What do I need to be doing to get consistent results from these glasses?!?! I am totally intimidated by complicated colours and I didn't realize that reds were going to be so high maintenance!!

Annie.

You should try the Lauscha reds.....

Work cooler. Avoid a reducing flame. Reds like oxygen. I strike all reds, pastel, opal, transparent. Cool until no glow then re-warm evenly. Good luck

Love CIM maraschino red!

Thanks for the suggestions Elizabeth Beads! I will give those tips a try.

Are the other reds that Liz and mtnlaurel mentioned less high maintenance?

I like to put echo silver glass on the sangre and encase it. It comes out red with purply and bluey bits. Sorry I don't have a pic right now. I will take one. Try it. I love sangre. I work it "coolish" with more O2 as well.

Well, I do nothing special when using my lauscha red. Just regular neutral flame.
Transparent lauscha is a striking color but I do not have to adjust my flame or anything.
That is why I love it so much.

Here's transparent red. Almost like candy red!

As stated before, work cooler. Striking colors can be tricky depending on how you work the glass and your torch flame environment. Believe it is sulfur content in the reds (and some oranges?) that cause it to turn brown if overworked.

Yummy and vibrant red beads, Liz!

I highly recommend CIM Maraschino. It is more of a translucent red but the more its in the flame the more opaque it can become. Maraschino should not have that brownish coloring if abused in the flame either.

Also, with the opaque reds, Elizabeth (Beads) gave great advice.

Duane

Yeah, I always say with reds you get anything between a watered down Bloody Mary and a Blood Clot.
My new favorite is Maraschino over a white core.

I'm using a HH, and have had consistent success with Devardi's Cranberry. Not sure if you're looking for a transp or opaque red; it's a transp. It's also a striking red, but strikes for me every time, and never gone that livery color that Sangre does from time to time. And it plays well with silver reduction glass.

HTH
Alli

R104 strawberry. I gent mine from Olympic Color

Oh no... I'm going to have to buy more glass, eh? I was trying to avoid that! :) Thanks for all of the suggestions!!
:)

Annie, the Lauscha reds won't burn or turn brown.
Paula

What's the problem with buying more glass, eh??

You making fun of my Canadianisms?? :) I lived in the US for a couple of years and got used to bracing myself to hear people's reactions when I tacked on the "eh?" and correcting myself from saying "zed"... :)

I think that I might just have to try some of this Lauscha reds...

Thanks everyone!!

Well maybe a bit.
But I love Canada, especially around Tofino and the Kamloops area. Great fishing!

+1!!!!!!