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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips |
2017-03-22, 8:25pm
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Miata and Sunshine! Yay!
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Lauscha clear question
This may have been covered multiple times before, but I haven't seen it. Is Lauscha clear compatible with all 104 glass? I just recently bought a good bit of the clear from someone destashing. I have a bead that I took a very long time making, because I wanted it to be perfect. It was as close to perfect as I've gotten, but......I encased it in the new Lauscha and the encasing cracked! I thought maybe I had admired it a little too long before I out it in the kiln, so I put it back into the kiln and brought it back up to temperature, put it back into the flame, heated it to orange, and "healed" the cracks, then back into the kiln for an extended annealing. Just went out to check on it, and there are cracks again! I'm seriously considering just sitting down and crying! It's almost like there was a rod of 90 or 96 or even boro mixed in with the 104! It was a thicker rod, but I just don't know! I'm almost scared to use any of the rest of it! If there is a known problem with compatibility with Lauscha clear, then I just won't use it with anything but Lauscha, but I'd sure like to know.
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2017-03-22, 11:58pm
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What a shame! What kind of glass were you encasing?
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Kristin ~
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2017-03-23, 7:45am
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There have been problems before with the Lauscha clear encasing. Can you show a picture of the crack to determine if it's a compatability problem.
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2017-03-23, 7:45am
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Member
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I had an old batch of lauscha clear that gave me a lot of cracks, the new "soft" clear is supposedly better. I was told that the old clear is wonderful if you REALLY take your time encasing and make sure that it is good and glowy before garaging it for a long time. Like Kristin asked, may depend on what you are encasing as well.
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2017-03-23, 8:09am
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Miata and Sunshine! Yay!
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I was encasing CIM Tuxedo with Riley's dicro, and 104 murrini. I haven't been able to make myself go look in the kiln yet this morning....but I'll take a picture if there are still cracks.
Now, do you see why I want to save it? The cracks last night were all over the bottom of the bead and through the middle. They are gone. I think I'm going to try again by the same method, only raising the anneal temp to 980 and keeping it there for an hour and a half. Opinions? Is it worth saving?
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2017-03-23, 1:27pm
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oh heck ya, that is worth saving. GORGEOUS! But you might need a magic wand. That sounds like incompatibility to me. I hope you find a way to salvage it.
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2017-03-23, 3:00pm
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Naysayer
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Yeah if it's happened twice to it, it's incompatibility for sure. I never use Lauscha (any color) from horror stories of old, but some do like it and use the clear. And, there is more than one kind of clear now isn't there? Soft, regular, reformulated...something like that. Maybe the ones that use it use a certain one?
I'm sorry this happened. You can try at 980 but if it's one or more of the glasses not working together it won't matter what temp.
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2017-03-23, 6:55pm
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If this was from somebody's destash, it's quite possible it came from teh same batch my Lauscha is from. I only use it to make icicles. Period.
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Soft glass on a Minor/concentrator since 1996
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2017-03-23, 8:44pm
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Miata and Sunshine! Yay!
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I've decided, since this bead was not salvageable, no matter what I did, dammit, that I will segregate the Lauscha clear from all other clears, and use it only with other Lauscha glass or by itself. This just makes me sick! The Lauscha clear is gloriously clear....but I'll stick with Zephyr from now on.
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2017-03-24, 9:45am
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you mentioned it was taking you a looong time to encase. Was this due to concentration or the glass melting slowly? I love Lauscha clear. I use it all the time to encase florals and I have never had a problem that turned out to be the clear. I have a bad batch of ink blue that caused those same cracks.
Since you said you did not buy it directly from a distributer, it may not be lauscha. I purchased lauscha from jo-dell years ago. It was not lauscha. Not sure what it is but it was not lauscha. It also does not work with anything. I tested it with 90,96,and 104. cracks...
I also have a batch of KAS-Kugler clear. It is beautiful clear glass but does not work with anything but itself. They are slightly fatter rods and crystal clear. That is my guess! I think I may try them both together and see if they turn out to be the same glass... You got me thinking.
Back to Lauscha, I loove it! The clear always works on transparents. Reds and yellows in opaque, not so much. But I have tried other clears on those colors and they did not work well either.
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2017-03-24, 10:23am
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novembersfyre everywhere
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Every single time I have used dichro on CIM it has cracked. I haven't tried Riley's dichro but I would think it is a CIM problem not a problem with the dichro. I can't remember what CIM colors I used however. I went on to use the same dichro that cracked on the CIM with Effetre as well as Vetrofond and had no issues. Lauscha clear is a little touchy and I have always annealed Lauscha at a higher temperature than other 104 glass. CIM + dichro +Lauscha is a recipe for disaster.
Before you set that clear aside try a test bead with the CIM + Lauscha or Effetre + dichro + Lauscha. If you get no cracks in either of these situations I would suspect the CIM + dichro situation (again. . .not the fault of the dichro!)
Edited to say: That is a gorgeous bead! I would be trying to save it also!
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2017-03-24, 4:20pm
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Miata and Sunshine! Yay!
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Thanks...it's sitting on top of my hood looking at me through the cracks. I will not throw it away. It's a reminder of what I can do. I didn't take a long time encasing, Dasi...I just took a long time making the bead. I encase like a Tasmanian devil! Whoosh! I'm glad to know about the other options as to what it could be. I'm going to try the different combinations and see what happens! These rods are thick! Big rods like CIM clear. Might just be Kugler. Also, I got a bunch (about a pound I'd guess) of clear stringer sized cane that is supposed to be Lauscha. I'm going to become a scientist and science the hell out of this! (Thank you, Matt Damon!)
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2017-03-25, 7:40pm
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dances with ideas...
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Tillie, it is a gorgeous bead! Ugh!! I would keep it too! As it is still beautiful. I have totally converted to zephyr, which so far has given me no problems.
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”If it makes you happy, then it’s a good thing.” ~ Terryd
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2017-03-27, 9:34am
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Phill
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Any chance of capping it with metal or (if you like to live on the risky side) wrapping the ends in something, say black , white or ivory?
Really sweet work.
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2017-04-01, 11:14pm
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Miata and Sunshine! Yay!
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I don't know, Phill....I think I'm just going to let it sit on my vent hood and mock me. Or at least remind me daily of what I KNOW I am capable of and what to watch out for. I just got a whole bunch more gorgeous murrini and a pound of DH zephyr and I WILL make that bead again and it won't crack next time!
And thank you for your sweet words!
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2017-04-02, 12:26am
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Phill
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Aye, I have a few of those lessons myself sitting in various places around the house.
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2017-04-02, 6:23am
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SCIENCE Teacher!
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I used Lauscha clear for years without a problem. Then I got one bad batch. I seem to remember that someone posted here that Lauscha also makes other COEs so maybe I got something from another COE. I tested some of it and finally sold it all really cheap to someone who had enough time to test it before using it.
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2017-04-19, 7:55am
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Lovin' that glass...
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I have forgotten who wrote this (if you know, somebody please help me credit this), but it is a great way to test for compatibility w/o spending a lot of time making beads to check.
Stringer Test for Compatibility
Not everybody trusts this test but, if done accurately, can be a very reliable.
Take two glasses that you want to test for compatibility. If they are not the same diameter, make them so. If you use unequal amounts of glass, you will get a false reading. The glasses need to be of contrasting colors in order to be able to work with them properly and to read the results of the test.
Heat one end on both rods and then touch them together so that they align down their length. They should overlap about one inch. Now heat the joined area in the flame until they are completely fused together. It is very important that you do not twist. When the joined area of the glass is uniformly hot, pull it out into a stringer. Keep pulling the stringer, keeping it straight, until the glass hardens. Pull at least an 18" stringer. If you twist as you pull, you will cancel out any tell tale effects that would normally show up in non-compatible glasses. You can pull vertically to avoid the effects of gravity.
When the glass cools, cut it to 12" long from the center of the pull. If the stringer bends by itself, the two glasses are of a different COE (coefficient of expansion) and are not exactly compatible. When you heat glass, it expands. When it cools, it contracts. Glass with a high COE expands more when heated and then contracts more when cooled than glass with a lower COE. Since the two glasses were joined while molten, any differences in the amount of contraction as they cool and stiffen will reveal itself by bending the stringer. The glass that is on the concave side of the bend has the higher COE, because it contracted more. If the curve falls away from a straight line too much, it may not be compatible for your application. Glasses used for beadmaking can have more curve in it than glasses used for fusing, especially large fused pieces. Opinions for the amount of acceptable curve range from about ¼" to ¾" as measured by pressing the last ½" of the stringer against a straight edge and measuring the distance the other end of the stringer pulls away from the straight edge.
To make this test more significant, you should also do a test to determine how close to the same temperature the two glasses soften, even when the stringer test shows that the glasses are compatible. The glasses are not annealed under ideal conditions and different glasses may cool and stiffen differently in the open.
Make single color stringers from the colors to be tested. They must be identical in diameter and the same length. Place them next to each other, but not touching, in a kiln so that they are held at one end. They should be parallel to the floor and elevated from it. This is easiest to do by pinching them between two kiln bricks or shelf posts. Heat them up slowly and observe the temperature at which each bends. If you heat them too quickly, the results may be distorted. For instance, black glass absorbs heat faster than white glass. If you heat up black and white quickly, the black glass will melt first, even if their melting temperatures are identical. For best compatibility, the bending temperatures should be within 50º F of each other.
I found it .... got this from the Arrow Springs website https://www.arrowsprings.com/html/st...atibility.html
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2017-04-20, 12:04am
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Slogan Challenged...
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HI Babette, I've heard that before, thanks for taking the time to explain it in more detail. Very useful!
I'm not sure what this means...."When the glass cools, cut it to 12" long from the center of the pull"
Does that mean 6" on either side of the center?
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2017-04-21, 8:29pm
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Miata and Sunshine! Yay!
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Thanks, Babette! I'm going to do this. Right now I've separated all the Lauscha from the rest and have it quarantined! LOL
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2017-04-23, 6:59am
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I think your problem might be something other than the clear especially if it is Lauscha. It has been years since there have been cracking issues and those were because they tried a change in formula for only one batch.
Lauscha needs heat. Beads need to be gently reheated before popped into a kiln and when mixed with other things it should be annealed longer. I have an annealing schedule from Lauscha on my website and on FB..
There are some threads on LE where Carol Anne (who worked at the Lauscha factory) redid every combination of cracked beads and none of them cracked for her. I have photos on my FB page where she encased most of the effetre colors with Lauscha including reds and yellows. Also, some of the CiM colors have had compatibility issues. It is always a good idea to do a few test beads with new color combos.
Just one more clarification. Soft clear is great for use on hot heads and melts faster than regular clear which is stiffer and good for implosions. The only coe clear rod that they make is 104 except for the Soft clear which is 106. Bead makers and marble makers are using Lauscha clear all the time. I can just about keep it in stock.
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Still North America's Largest Lauscha Dealer!
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2017-04-24, 11:44am
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Hi Tillie, I am have been thinking about your bead and feel so bad that it cracked. There are a few more things I would do. Contact your seller and be sure you didn't get Kugler. And retry the bead with another clear (which is sounds like you are already going to do.)
Also Lauscha doesn't make clear stringers. The smallest they have ever made in clear was 2 to 4 mm and that is not a normal production size for them. Those tiny rods were divine and I wish they would make that size again!
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2017-04-30, 7:55pm
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Miata and Sunshine! Yay!
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I don't remember who I bought the Lauscha from...but pretty sure it was either on the destash page on FB or here in the garage sale. It was some glass whoever I bought from had had for a very long time. The "stringers" are about the size of a 1/8 mandrel, maybe a little bigger. I haven't used any of it again, but as soon as I get my kiln repaired and back up and running, I will try it again at a higher annealing temp. I did remake the bead, as close as I could, with zephyr and it's fine....looks almost as pretty as the Lauscha one.
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2017-04-30, 8:13pm
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Miata and Sunshine! Yay!
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Paula, I finally figured out who I bought it from and have pm'd them to make sure it is Lauscha and not Kugler. I bought a pound each of 7-8 mm clear and 3mm clear (what I was calling stringers). I remade the bead as closely as I could and used zephyr and it is gorgeous. Haven't used anymore of the Lauscha until I find out what exactly I'm working with. As soon as my kiln is repaired and working again, I'll try again with the Lauscha and raise the annealing temp to 980 and also extend the annealing time by 30 minutes or so. Does that sound about right?
Sorry for the double post....old age.
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2017-04-30, 8:31pm
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Miata and Sunshine! Yay!
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Just heard from the seller. She got the glass, which had been in storage for 8+ years, in December and I bought it in early March. She said it was in a box marked Lauscha and tagged as Lauscha. There weren't any tags on it when I bought it, but I don't doubt that she was being as honest as could be about it, as much as she knew. The time frame would sound about right for maybe being a bad batch and also for those stringer sized clear rods!
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2017-04-30, 10:42pm
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Naysayer
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Tillie, best bet is to do as BabbetteC said, that should be plan A. Cracking stories have been going on longer than 8 years, I remember as early as WC days.
Glad to hear you were able to remake it with Zephyr!
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