Dichroic help

[Deb Hopeful Journeys]

I have a local jewelry designer that would like me to make some dichroic beads. I have some dichroic, but have not had much success with using it.

If anyone has some good suggestions on how to use dichroic and also the best place to buy it.

If I can figure this out, it will be a good and profitable thing for me.

Thanks for the help!

[TheRoyalBead]

Deb, whatever you do, make sure you don't get it at J. Ring. I got some there once and they had it in the wrong COE bin ( had the 90 mixed with the 104) and all my beads cracked a few weeks later because of incompatibility issues. Major pain in the butt!

[Deb Hopeful Journeys]

Hey Kim,

I think it is the dichroic that I am using. I saw a thread a while back about a few vendors that sell dichroic that is better then some others.

I'm hoping to get some feedback on that, so I can order some.

Thanks,

[Sparklelover]

Hi Deb,

The best dichroic for flame work is CBS. You can fuse with any of the others, but the coating on the Sandburg stands up to the flame much better than any other one I have ever tried, and I have been using dichroic in lampworked beads for about 14 years now.

Also, the Bullseye (coe 90) or Spectrum (coe 96) is MUCH easier to work with.

Hope it works out for you.

Vicki

[Deb Hopeful Journeys]

Ok, I have to admit. I find shopping at Frantz horrible. That is one of the reasons I've never ordered.

If you cold post item number or a link to what to purchase. I can't seem to find CBS dichro in 104 coe or does it not come in the coe

[Deb Hopeful Journeys]

I guess I should say what color I'm looking for.

Here is what I would like to do. Make a white base bead, add a clear/rainbow dichro and then encase in like blue clear or turq clear, etc.

[Deb Hopeful Journeys]

Originally Posted by kimberly

Here is a link to a page of some of the dichroic rainbow strips that they have. I am not sure, really, if it is CBS. I use it and like it. It is fused so it is pretty easy to use. You could give them a call and ask if it is CBS dichro.

http://frantzartglass.com/items.asp?CartId={CC5DFFEVERESTFF-C5B0-4EB0-99A5-A3BC9C60256A}&Bc=MORCLRDICSTP

Thank you!!! This is what I'm looking for. If you click on the image of the dichro, it tells you who makes it. From what I have clicked on it is from CBS.

Thanks for all your help!

[Artistic License]

I just bought some 104 coe dicro from Moretti and More and he gets it from Franz. It is the CBS coating. It holds up well at the torch. Moretti and More can be found on e-bay and I'm sure he can get it for you. Infact he might still have some left from the purchase me made from Franz for me just about a week ago.
Red

[Bellagirl]

I concur that CBS is great and it works best for me. I also think 90 or 96 coe is less likely to burn out.

Be sure and work it allot cooler than you would a normal bead and tweezer off any dicro that weeps up at seams/edges or you will get a scummy look there.

Also, can work with dicro side out if you work cool and small. I make small pressed beads for watches and bracelets this way. I don't mind the black backing forming lines as I like it as a desgn element. (See examples) Rainbow gives color variation per bead.

Good luck on your business venture.

Jolene

[crystalflipz]

Ron at R4 has the best Dichro I have found for COE 104 glass. I generally heat up the non-dichro side and then lay it down on the glass, but so far I have not been able to burn the stuff, and I tend to work pretty hot. I usually lay my dichro down and then mash the clear flat so it spreads over the edges of the dichro, and then may or may not encase, depending on how thick I want the final bead. They have lots of colors, and the stuff has TONS of sparkle.
Here's a link:
http://www.fineartbyrocio.com/glass.html
Hope this helps,
Carol

[Griffin Dove]

Low flame, and a little more oxidizing than usual. Slow-going. If you are bored, you are doing it right. Deanna

[Deb Hopeful Journeys]

WOW, I go to bed and come back to some additional information.

Thanks so much everyone for posting!!

[Emily]

Carol Fonda and Monty Clark sell CBS dichro -- various COEs, including 104. www.dichroic-glass.com. Sometimes they have 104 scrap at a really good price -- great if you don't need pieces of a particular shape or size. Call them and ask what they have in stock. Sometimes after a bead show, the stock of 104 COE is low.

This is unfused dichro -- just sheets of glass with the dichro coating. For whatever reason, dichro seems to be less likely to burn off if it's been taken up to slumping temperature in the kiln. The glass suppliers sell "fused" dichro strips, which are pre-cut strips that have been heated in the kiln until the glass rounds a little bit. I do find that they're easier to use (harder to ruin) than strips cut from sheet dichro that hasn't been run through the kiln. Because I like wider strips than are available in the pre-fused dichro, I buy sheet dichro and fuse my own. (You're not fusing anything to the glass; you're just taking it up to temperature, holding it for a little bit, then cooling and annealing.) I call it either fusing or slumping. I don't know what the correct term would be, because you're not attaching two pieces of glass to each other, nor are you really altering the shape (slumping or sagging) of the one piece. Call it what you want.

I follow a schedule that I got from AlexM on WetCanvas a while ago. I'm not a fuser, so please nobody jump all over me if this violates some basic principle of fusing/slumping/whatever. It seems to work for me.

I always put the dichro side down. Use a kiln shelf with a few thin coats of kiln wash on it. Heat from zero (or room temperature) to 1000 F over the course of an hour, then 1000 to somewhere between 1350 and 1400 over the course of 35 to 45 minutes. You have to do it a few times and decide what the best temp is for your kiln and the amount of rounding that you want on your strips. I like my strips to stay fairly flat, with the edges just a little bit rounded. Once the kiln reaches your chosen temperature (1350 or whatever), hold for 10 minutes. Cool rapidly to 1050-1100. Then anneal and cool as normal. The edges of the strips should be slightly rounded. Mine don't come out as round as the purchased dichro strips, but I cut my strips a lot wider. If your kiln has a peephole (and you're wearing eye protection), you can peep in to see if the edges are rounding.

You still have to be careful when you're using the dichro. The strips are still liable to thermal-shock (the more so the bigger they are), and the coating will still fry if you hit it with the flame. The pre-fusing/slumping/whatever just makes it a little more resilient.

The coating on the "Premium" dichro colors is thicker and harder to burn off. True fact. It looks brighter, too. To make the premium colors, the sheets of glass get an extra pass from the coating machine. If you want a rainbow/multicolored dichro, go for Rainbow 2 rather than Rainbow 1 -- costs a little more, but worth it. The Rainbow 1 colors (this is true for "Mixture," too) are a little bit washed-out and pastel.

[Deb Hopeful Journeys]

Thanks for all the info Emily!!!