Dark batch of psyche?

[DreamMuse]

I recently purchased some Psyche from ABR and I noticed that the rods are very dark compared to the last batch I purchased directly from DH. I'm sure that DH has made more psyche since my purchase, so I'm wondering if there was a batch that the rods looked black instead of showing purple.

Psyche was always very dark in the rod, but if I held it up to the overhead light, some light did shine through and show the rod was a deep purple. These new ones look black and it doesn't look like light shines through at all, except if I pull some thin. If I pull the tip off, the flat glass will look the same color as the old rods, so that's why I'm wondering if it's just a new batch.

I'm having difficulty keeping the reduction compared to the last rods I had, too.

any thoughts?

[dragonart glass]

I got an odd lot at the gathering a few years ago that looks like that. I haven't used enough to notice a lack of reduction but it's definitely purple when thinned out. Funny timing since i tried it for the first time yesterday. Yea, I know, I've had it a while.

[Kevan]

I have some light and some regular. The regular I have is a dark purple. The light is lighter, but not as light as Aurae.

[DreamMuse]

Thanks for your responses.

when I pull thin pieces from both rods, they look the same, which makes me think it's Psyche. But I'm very frustrated at the moment, because I had no trouble at all with the old batch, and I'm having serious issues with this batch, even when I work the same way. Since I still have a couple of rods from the old batch, I can make two beads in a row (one from each batch) and really compare the difference. It's significant.

[DreamMuse]

What do you mean by "overstrike", Elizabeth? Do you mean that it will get the cream colored reduction, or the washed out light blues and greens? I used to get that with my old batch.

This one just goes back to flat black-purple. I don't get any reduction at all.

Edited to add: What I meant to say, was I do get surface reduction effects when I waft it through the reducing flame. It's when I go to encase that bead with the reduction that the reduction goes away as I'm encasing, even though the bead itself is not in the flame.

[DreamMuse]

To show what's happening, here's a test bead that I made with Clio, Kalypso, and dots of Psyche.

I made a barrel of clear, then added thick dots of psyche, clio and kalypso until I covered the clear. I reduced, encased with a stringer that was evidently dirty (hense the splotchyness of the encasing), and you can see the dark spots where the psyche lost all reduction. None of the psyche on this bead kept the reduction effects, but all of the clio and kalypso has an even iridescence.

[Double Helix Glassworks]

I'm sorry we didn't see this thread sooner. We have had two other reports of this problem. One customer sent us the Psyche from ABR and it is not Psyche. I don't know what it is because it is not anything of ours. If you purchased Psyche from ABR and you can't see any purple light transmitted through it and/or it won't keep its luster under encasement, then it isn't Psyche. I would suggest that you contact ABR and ask them to replace it.
Thanks
Jed and Julie
Double Helix Glassworks

[jhana]

bump- I am wondering if this has happened to anyone else?

[DreamMuse]

Yes, the first time I looked at this glass I knew it was different. When I hold Psyche rods up and look at them with the florescent studio lights behind them, they look dark transparant purple. The mystery rods looked black, with no light shining through.

Also, since there's been a discussion in the bathroom, and certain things bear repeating:

Someone asked if it could be Metallic Black instead of psyche, but given my experiences with the Mystery glass, I don't think so. Someone said that Metallic Black is like DSP, and this mystery glass is nothing like DSP. The end of the rod doesn't have any residual iridescence. It just looks like a regular black rod. It gets rainbow iridescence easily in a reduction flame (oil slick on black background), but when encased, some of that translates to a powder blue MOP shine (like a heavy reduction of Psyche), but the rest goes back to black. I've never left it unencased.

Someone else guessed Monet Silver Amethyst, and that's a possibility, but I've never worked with Monet.

However, they also said that Monet will turn the flame magenta. I can take a rod out of the box and double check the flame color when it hits the flame, but I"m going to say that it didn't turn magenta. I would have noticed that, as I've had Diamond Clear before. I don't think it turned the flame an extraordinary color, as I don't remember anything remarkable about it. I thought it could be Psyche, except for the other differences.


I don't have any of the offending beads with me because I"m at home, but if it's important, I can get some tomorrow when I'm at the studio. I wasn't planning to continue this discussion, but I can if it's important.

[Elizabeth Beads]

Originally Posted by jhana

bump- I am wondering if this has happened to anyone else?

Yes, me. Double Helix was fabulous about it but the vendor should step up and do the right thing as they are accountable for the mix-up. That would include replacing the glass and paying for return postage if they want the mystery glass returned.

ETA: I posted this before it was determined that the mystery glass was, after all, a batch of Psyche, as Double Helix says in a post below:

There is a batch that was sent to them in Dec of 2009 (production date 7.22.09) that is darker than the current Psyche stock. It was produced before we found a way to eliminate variances throughout a single pot of glass. Those variances could be responsible for the luster burning off more easily when encasing. Since January of 2010, we have initiated a new production process that yields very homogenous glass.
As always if you have any problem with our glass, let us know and we will replace it.

ABR, we apologize for laying the blame on you when it was our responsibility.

It's no fun being wrong but we're glad that the issue has been resolved because we want both our customers and distributors to be confident in our products.

It's really great that both companies have stepped up and are working together to do the right thing.

[jhana]

Just putting this here to get it all in one place.
She knows about the situation, FWIW.
???? http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...8&postcount=14
http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...5&postcount=11

[Mitosis Glass]

Originally Posted by erose

Yes, me. Double Helix was fabulous about it but the vendor should step up and do the right thing as they are accountable for the mix-up. That would include replacing the glass and paying for return postage if they want the mystery glass returned.

Absolutely. If it's their mix-up then it's up to them to fix it.

[artsyuno]

I'm so glad you guys posted this thread. I was using what I thought was psyche today, had the same problem, remembered reading this thread yesterday and held the rod up to the light. It was black. You saved me from a lot of frustration.

And, yes, the vendor should pay the shipping.

[j2canoe]

Sounds like GT's Black Nebula may have gotten in the bin. Rods are black, it will give oil slick colors if worked properly but is finicky and can go to just purply/black if encased after being hit with an oxy flame.

[ABR Dave]

So, I want to respond to this the best I can, without seeming to pass the buck. So bear with me. We just opened two bundles, straight from DH, and they are black. When we chipped a rod on the end, the "toenail" left behind, was thin enough to see purple light transmitted.


We just purchased these bundles in the second half of this year. The batch date is 3-17-10 on the factory labeled rod in the bundle. I understand not all batches get shipped immediately, so take that for what it's worth.

Anyway, I want everyone to know, I offered a full refund to Disa this morning, as well as shipping charges back. Ross did offer for her to send it back when this all first happened. We never got the glass back. We weren't sure why we were paying for all the return expenses, when we simply sent out what was labeled as Psyche by DH.

We did have to fully inspect our stock before making this decision. I didn't want to reship the glass, and it be the same thing (which would've been the case) I have contacted DH and hope to return this batch, so no one else has this same complaint. I wish when other customers complained to DH, as they say they have, they would've contacted us right away. This was the first complaint of this nature we'd received. We have immediately pulled the stock, and are taking the responsibility for reshipping/refunding the customer. The glass we have, labeled as Psyche, is black in appearance. So, hopefully us and DH will get this resolved, and get the right product in our customers hands.

Hopefully, if anyone else feels the need to return this batch of Psyche, DH will assist us in the process. We simply pass this glass along as distributors. We have received bundles labeled as Psyche, that are indeed black. But like I said, we have pulled it from the shelf, as there seems to be a general concern about this batch. This glass is expensive, and we understand that. By pulling almost 10 lbs from our stock, that is a good chunk of change. So, I understand why people don't want to just eat this one. Please contact me if you've had any problems with Psyche from ABR that have not been resolved.

Thanks everyone, have a great day!

[Double Helix Glassworks]

This day has been sooo much fun! Our main computer has been 100% erased! Spent the entire day on the phone reinstalling our operating systems. So, we apologize that we didn’t get a chance to call Dave before his workday was over in Indiana and resolve this with him personally. We thought it best to go ahead and answer this public post today since it doesn’t matter here that ABR is in Indiana and we are in Washington.

Three things:

1. We did contact ABR, repeatedly, to discuss the Psyche tonality issue.

2. Psyche with production dates from 2010 are not in question. Psyche produced in 2010 will show dark purple through the rod when held up to an incandescent light. We have triple checked all 2010 production dates and found that the tonalities and performance of 2010 Psyche is remarkably consistent.

3. We were wrong. The "dark" glass sent to us is indeed Psyche. This Psyche is from 2009, and does not transmit purple when held to an incandescent light. When we were first contacted about the issue we only checked the Psyche that ABR had been sent this year. All of the Psyche produced in 2010 checked out OK on all counts. Today we went back and checked all of the Psyche that was sent to ABR in 2009. There is a batch that was sent to them in Dec of 2009 (production date 7.22.09) that is darker than the current Psyche stock. It was produced before we found a way to eliminate variances throughout a single pot of glass. Those variances could be responsible for the luster burning off more easily when encasing. Since January of 2010, we have initiated a new production process that yields very homogenous glass.

As always if you have any problem with our glass, let us know and we will replace it.

ABR, we apologize for laying the blame on you when it was our responsibility.

It's no fun being wrong but we're glad that the issue has been resolved because we want both our customers and distributors to be confident in our products.

Jed and Julie at Double Helix Glassworks

[squid]

Wow. I am super impressed.

[Mitosis Glass]

Ditto!

[jhana]

Originally Posted by squid

Wow. I am super impressed.

Very.

[ABR Dave]

Just wanted to post a follow up.

I found out later that DH had contacted us, and spoke with someone here. So, I apologize for that bit of misinformation.


As I told DH, I appreciate their cander both in private and publicly here. They resolved this quite professionally, and I appreciate it.

Those of you that have been to ABR, know that we stock an insane amount of color rod here. We must use our available space to it's maximum potential. This does sometimes result in open bundles, and thus batches getting mixed.

To remedy this, I have asked our warehouse to try to rotate stock better on this particular type, and price, of glass. We have returned the Dark Batch to DH, and will soon have stock of newer batches. We did find some batches labeled as recent as 3-17-10, that were black in appearance. So, we appreciate DH's help in swapping out stock. Thank you all for your patience while we ironed this out.

By the way, we still have 30% off Double Helix until the end of the week!

[DreamMuse]

I am also very impressed, by both sides

I've opted to send the black Psyche back to DH (thank you!!) for exchange with the dark purple Psyche that we all know and love. You know, the rich grape purple in the rod that you just want to lick, and the forthcoming beads with the gorgeous blue iridescence that you just want to hug... that's all I've wanted, all along

Thanks to both companies, for working it all out so fantastically.

[asimeral]

After light-sorting of my rods, I found the true Psyche...


Jed, is it OK if I send these 3 bad ones back to you?

[squid]

I would email DH - I don't think they routinely read LE.

[asimeral]

Thanks, Squid!