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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips

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  #1  
Old 2013-01-19, 2:56pm
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Default Can you use melt glass onto gold?

My cousin gave me an earring and told me maybe I could use it in some way. I told her she should take it to the jewelry store to see if she could sell it (she lost the matching one of the pair) but she just pressed it on me & told me to take it.
I figure maybe I can make a bead using the earring as part of the design, but I hate to do something to ruin it if that isn't a good idea. Has anyone ever tried? Will it just melt like silver wire, or hold its shape?
Ideas?
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  #2  
Old 2013-01-19, 3:01pm
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If it's pure enough, you can fume with it.
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Old 2013-01-19, 3:17pm
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Yup, fuming, if you have excellent ventilation.
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Old 2013-01-19, 3:24pm
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I got out the magnifying glass & it says JJT 14K on the post. I'm not sure if that is for the entire earring or just the post.
I've never fumed.
So imbedding it in hot glass is out sounds like, thanks for the info.
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Old 2013-01-19, 3:46pm
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The gold I use for fuming is way more pure than 14K. The copper and whatever other alloys are in 14K may really change the results of the fume. If you want to try it, I can give you some simple instructions, it isn't hard. But wear a ventilator mask and have the exhaust going strong. 14K has a pretty high melting temp compared to silver. You should be able to imbed it but be aware that the color of the gold may shift - again, due to the alloys and the composition of the glass you choose. Personally, I'd put it in the scrap to recycle, gold is really high priced right now...PM me if you want to try fuming, anytime.
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Old 2013-01-19, 7:02pm
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If it's 14k it will firescale... ask me how I know.
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Old 2013-01-19, 7:13pm
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Melodie, thank you. I don't have a respirator yet, but if I get one may I PM you then?
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Old 2013-01-19, 7:14pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalera View Post
If it's 14k it will firescale... ask me how I know.
Well, hmmm, maybe I'll just make her a regular bead in exchange & put it in my "maybe I'll use this someday somehow" stuff.
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Old 2013-01-19, 8:25pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eileen View Post
Melodie, thank you. I don't have a respirator yet, but if I get one may I PM you then?
Sure! I don't use a respirator personally, but I have a really powerful exhaust system set up to pull fumes away from my face...contact me anytime!
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Old 2013-01-19, 8:28pm
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Mine does pretty good if I put something (incense, or a match or candle I blow out) to get the smoke trail to watch but I'm no expert.
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  #11  
Old 2013-01-20, 12:38am
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14 carat gold is mainly zinc, it might have a bit of copper too but it's really just brass with enough gold to stop it tarnishing, might not be good to fume with.
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Old 2013-01-20, 7:26am
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Fuming Glass using metal foil or leaf material

Ok, here are some simple fuming instructions. Please make sure your exhaust is working on high and plenty of make up air is coming in from behind you. The fumes follow the exhaust air away from your face then.

This is what works for me. Take a clear rod (I use boro because it isn't shocky and will hold together after being repeatedly put in and out of the heat) and gather the end to about pea sized. Let it cool some and roll it in foil or leaf. Burnish the leaf/foil onto it and roll it again so you get pretty heavy coverage of metal on glass. The better it is burnished, the less burn-off you will lose. When it’s pretty well wrapped, rest it off to the side.

Some people like to use silver wire or gold or silver grains but I find that this works well too, because the leaf is such a pure material without alloy to muck it up, and I have it on hand. DO NOT use sterling wire. This is best done with as pure a metal source as can be found.

Create your bead, vessel, whatever. Keep the bead warm in the outer reaches of the flame while introducing the metal wrapped rod back in with your other hand. The fuming rod should be to within an inch or so of the face of the torch. The fumes rise upward and beyond the rod so position your bead slightly above the flame to “catch” them. Around 3” out.
Generally, I can see a shift in the color of the outer reaches of the flame and rotate my bead there. (With gold you should see green flame.) The fuming begins in that sweet spot.

For the first couple beads, I would really let the fuming accumulate a lot, so that you can learn to what extent it can go. Be patient, it isn’t instantaneous, but rather like painting the bead with fumes. So, rotate and tip your bead regularly so good and even coverage is achieved. (With silver the fuming rod may appear to spark. These are bits of silver burning off. Catch them on the bead if you can.)

Using gold leaf: Pale transparent pink or lavender moretti becomes quite vibrant and when fumed long enough, and gets a golden sheen on the bead. Very lovely. (see attached)

Using silver leaf: Make your bead out of dark ivory. Fume it repeatedly until it becomes deep mustard colored. The addition of silver fumes makes the outer “skin” on the bead more brittle. Let the bead cool a second or two, then reintroduce and heat up, not quite to the point of movement. Repeat. The surface will appear to age and crackle, like old china. The bead will look like aged parchment. I did a sculptural bead and before the crackle, the silver collected in the crevices and appeared white so the sculpture was deep yellow with white-wash in the recesses. Nice.

Try wrapping a black bead with ivory and fume it with silver. It gets kind of ethereal. Experiment with other colors. You can use the same fuming rods over and over, occasionally adding some new metal leaf/foil to them, to refresh.

Good Luck!

Gold Pink
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