WarmGlass.com

Hi there, I have seen some really nice effects with what looks like herringbone dichroic. The surface seems to look cracked and rough and still a little rippled and I'm not sure how to replicate that process. When I try it, the glass either flattens and ends up with a smooth metal coating, or else the edges will not round and soften. If I put thin glass on top it also flattens the dichro a fair bit.

The only thing I can think of to keep the ripples is to cut the piece to shape grind the edges round and then just fire glase it a little, which seems to defeat the object for me, especially if I want to fuse it onto anything.

Back to the "cracked" and rough appearance, is there anything I can add to the surface of the dichro that will cause it to react like that. I can't remember where the picture was I saw, I'll try and dig it out though.

Thanks for any help you can provide.
Nigel

Perhaps you're referring to crinkle dichro? It's got different properties which make the coating sort of bunch up and become textured after firing.

Fire it face-up, exposed to the air, twice. No cap. On the second firing it will turn glittery with a texture like sandpaper.

Is that what you mean?

Crinkle dicro is now on my list of things to try, but that's not what I think I saw. I'm still hunting for the original image, but here is something like it:



The dichro seems to have a loose carrier bag look about it. You can see the dark bits that look like cracks. The edges look rounded, but not ground - as though it was done in a single firing.

This one looks to be capped, but more closely resembles the one I saw.

That's ripple textured dichro. If you buy it on clear glass, you'll see the color of your base glass through the cracks, like the black version. You have to experiment with fusing temperatures to achieve your desired results. The black one does appear to be a simple single-fired piece. The second one, which is clear capped, has been cold worked and then fire polished.

If you are trying to 'match' something you saw, forget it. You'll have to be extremely lucky. The issue is that on a special order of specified numerical values you can still get something different. Then add in the different firing conditions and you've got yourself a situation where frustration can easily set in. I've made pieces that I cannot replicate later even when using the same glass. Different parts of a numerically specified sheet can result in different results. If you are buying scrap, it is an absurdity to even try. Just make something beautiful instead.

I'm not trying to copy any specific piece, I'm just after the process that creates them

Ripple dichro, neat-o, I'm going to look at getting hold of some of that right now

I also thought about dremmeling the low bits in the black herringbone I have, something to try I think.

Thanks guys.
N.

Nigel, here is a source for purchasing small amounts of ripple for your experiments. I have bought glass from them for years and the scrap is usually large enough for pendants/earrings.

http://www.artisandichroic.com/COE90dic ... ssory.aspx