Perplexing cracks
 

I made a set of boro beads yesterday using caramel and slyme rods, with Amazon Night and clear frit and a clear simax encasement. Out of seven beads, I did surface swirls on four and left three as regular donuts. The donuts cracked, only on the slyme side. The swirled ones did not crack (yet...). Any idea why this would be? The cracks were very simple, most have just one crack from the center to the outside but not through to the caramel side. One has two of those cracks, opposite each other. I didn't do anything that I don't normally do, and I very rarely have any cracking issues. I'm stumped. Front bead in third pic shows one of the cracks.

Those are pretty!!
Is slyme like some other greens? Compatibilty issues?

Thank you! I dont' recall reading that slyme had problems - I've used it before with no problems. The color did not come out this time like I expected either. Previous beads came out more neon-ish.

Try putting a wrap of clear down first. I made some beads with Slyme and some other glass. One cracked just like yours and I was wondering WTH? until I realized I didn't have any clear wrap on that one.

Aha! Thank you so much for the suggestion. I'll try that. Any idea why only the unswirled ones would have cracked?

No, I have no idea. Isn't boro fun? :lol:

LOL yes, it always keeps me guessing. I'm hopelessly addicted :grin:

Jenny might chime in, but I think Slyme's one of those colors that varies a lot from batch to batch, and it might not encase well.

beautiful color combo hope the cracking issue works out.

Thanks Tom. That would be great if Jenny can shed some light on my mystery. I just went out to double check, and the particular rod I used does not have a label. It came from my Slyme stash, but there are two rods that look exactly the same but do not have a label. Not sure which version it might be, unfortunately.

Thanks Deb. I do too.

If only the swirled ones cracked it might be an annealing issue as the swirled ones could have more stress to relieve.

Actually the swirled ones are the only ones that didn't crack! Weird, huh? I am doing a regular annealing cycle (Mr. Smiley's) and they go straight in, no batch annealing or anything. Basically I made all 7 beads exactly the same, same colors, same time in the flame, same everything -- except at the end I did the swirls in the clear encasement. So even if it is the Slyme, why didn't the swirly ones crack? This one has me stumped.

Very strange - they sure are pretty though!

Thank you :wink:

If the crack rises from the inside of the bead hole at an angle perpendicular mandrel, IMO this is a thermal/COE issue.

move that color away from the mandrel. suggestion of clear wrap is a good one.

the reason why your swirled ones may not have cracked; the 'tension line' has been distributed, given a greater surface area to work out its problems.

if the crack moves in an arc with the curve of the bead it can only be COE/compatibility issues. in this case you have discovered a match anomaly, where the scale of combination used (it's a small bead) set off some odd problem. this happens and there is no cure. again, the swirling would have given the color more area to work out its issues.

if the crack is flat, with no branches, it is thermal.

if the crack is not flat, has branches, it is COE.

IMO, you are looking at a combination of the two.

good luck.

wow, that is wonderful information! Thank you for posting this.

another vote for a wrap of clear before laying down color.

While we are on this subject, what are the other big ones that like clear as a base? Is it the exotics? Trying to remember. I really need a cheat sheet with this stuff, so many colors and hard to remember the tricks.

Probably the ones that talk about not garaging at too high a temperature or for too long. I sometimes have trouble with things that have glitter inside, but some new ones have come out that say they don't have those problems. I get some very pretty checking from most greens, too! :lol: People always love those -- "oooooh, can I have that one? that's gorgeous!" -- and then I have to explain that it's basically a time bomb and eventually it will break all the way through and no, I don't let people have those.

OH! I have no idea how to help you on that but those beads are amazing...
Makes me wanna makes some boro beads today instead of the soft glass like usual...
Very nice beads! =D> Sorry for the cracks...

Good point about the greens and sparkly glasses, Donna. I'm going to have to research this a bit further and report back. I need to make that cheat sheet before something like this happens again.

Thank you Sharlee! If you want some boro shorts to play with, I'd be happy to share :grin:

Slyme
 

Hi Susan! I am so sorry to hear you are having cracks!
Thanks, Baywinger, for alerting me to this thread.

First off, I think Harold has some very sound advice there. Thanks for that, my friend.

Second, "green" does not equal "problem", but glitter often does. In the old days all the aventurines were green in boro, and had a checking problem if garaged too long, annealed too high, or reduced too much. Paul Trautman changed the game with his new aventurine technology, in the Heavy Blue Leprechaun and the Mighty Moss -- those have proven stable in implosions (within reason.)

Third, there can indeed be an issue with Slyme and no you are not crazy.:)
The TAG Candy colors (Slyme, Kiwi, Pink Cadillac and Wisteria) can be a tad soft with a slightly higher COE. It comes up infrequently, but we are now publishing that information because we think you deserve to know. IMHO, the softer colors like to be on the inside more than the outside, and Harold's theory about the stress being better distributed on the swirl beads would apply here...

Fourth, not all colors play well together. You have a heck of a lot of things going on in those beads, and Amazon Night is similar to the Exotics. Lots and lots of chemicals in there! I cannot say for sure whether Slyme plays well with every one of the colors in your combo, but apparently it works often enough that you have done it before?

Fifth, there can be a little variation in the Slyme from batch to batch. But there is far less variation now than when the color was new. We are learning more about this color as more and more people work it, too. For example, Paul feels you can keep it more opaque if you use a softer, more reducing flame and keep the work fairly cool; we know you can get more transparency where you use a hotter, more penetrating flame.

FWIW, I do think the soft-glass folks are more accustomed to thinking of how compatible their colors are -- or aren't -- and are more used to doing a pull test to compare compatibility and viscosity between colors and brands. I feel it is always wise to test a new combo before putting a lot of time and money into a piece.

Thanks so much for feedback, and I hope this helps solve the issue! As with so many things in glass.... it's complicated. :wave:

Thanks so much, Jenny! Really great info, and the pull test comment was a great reminder too.

Ditto. Thanks for the info. I can add Wisteria to the list of add-a-wrap-of-clear-first knowing it *may* not have been me that time.

Those are gorgeous!

8-[.... are you gonna sell the ''none cracked'' ones?
I might be interested to buy them....

I really don't feel comfortable selling them considering the cracking issue, but you can have them if you send me your address :wink:

oh ! I am dancing around, of hapiness!
Wow, this is too much! Can I get your adress to send you something in exchange?
I have some boro frit that I will never use...

PM you for the adress!!

You are just too cute, Liz! No worries, it's my pleasure to send them. I'm glad they will be enjoyed :-D

HURRAY! They are here and wonderful!
I am so happy! Thank you so very much!
Can't wait to do something with it!