Help! Striking Colors and Reducing on HH!

[RRadoy]

I cant seem to do either, can anyone describe how to accomplish striking colors and reducing on a Hot Head? I am lost! :confused:

Robin

[goof ball]

Hi Robin,
Sorry to hear you're having troubles. I don't know if this is the "correct" way to strike, but it works for me.

I try and work as cool as possible. I don't want my strikers to ever get totally liquid. Make sense? Just get them molten enough to work, but not hot and out of control. After you get the desired shape, let them cool off. Bring them out of the flame. Once cooled, you might just see the color you want. If not, bring it back to the flame and gently heat it. Once your bead is heated, bring it out of the flame again and let it cool a bit. Check the color. If you want more color, gently heat it again. Just "kiss" the bead with the flame. Don't put the whole bead in the flame, keep the bead below the flame and let the bottom of the flame hit the top of the bead. Take it up to the color you want slowly til you get the hang of it. After a few successes, then you can speed up the process a bit.

If you happen to get the glass totally molten and lose all color, don't despair. Just let it cool off good, then bring it back into the heat. It is possible to burn out the color, but it's also possible to bring it back. And then again, sometimes you totally fry it and then you get to start over! Not much help am I?

Striking red is easy to burn. I can do it quite well! Electric yellow strikes pretty easy. Striking orange can sometimes get too red for my liking if I get it too hot.

While EDP (Moretti 254) isn't considered a true striking color, I can get it to turn beautiful shades of purple/orchid by using this method. I still haven't figured out Powder Pink or Tongue Pink. Czech Tourmaline Pink, I work that a bit hotter and get good results.

As for reducing, I generally don't reduce much. Just not my taste. But when I want to, I just fry the snot out of it. Close to the dark blue part of my flame, but still underneath the flame so the entire bead doesn't get molten.

Maybe someone else will chime in with tricks on reducing.

What fuel are you running? I'm on propylene. If you're on propane w/ the HH, then you're running slightly cooler so you might need to heat your strikers a bit more to get them to strike.

Hope this helps, take care, Mary

[RRadoy]

Im using propane, but I will try your method and post my results, thanks so much!

Robin :wave:

[goof ball]

Hey Robin,
No problem. Holler if you have any more troubles/questions. Like Red Green says..."We're all in this together!" :D

Have a great nite!
Mary

[PolychromeBeads]

The best way to create a reducing flame with a HotHead is to cover the air holes. When I was using my HotHead, I found the cheapest and easiest thing to use was aluminum foil. Take a strip of foil about the width of the air hole area, and wrap it around the torch 2-3 times covering the air holes completely. Do this when the torch is cool or you'll be sorry! :D Squoosh and squeeze it good, so it forms a nice fit. Then wiggle it a bit so it becomes loose enough to slide down onto the thinner neck (and uncovers the air holes). Whe you want to reduce, you slide the foil up, cutting off some or all of the air. Different types of reduction will have different needs, so there will be some experimentation. Be careful when you slide the foil up and down, it will be hot. You may have to use tweezers (I made a little foil lip on mine to grab with the tweezers), or a wet rag to cover your fingers.


Aimee
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/15-Mar-2004/18777-jet5.jpg

[RRadoy]

Aimee- What a great idea! I will try that later today, thanks!

Robin :clap:

[Luthien]

ok, and now for the totally newbie question (you knew it had to come, didn't you? :evil: )

What is a reduction flame, and what do you do with it (and please don't tell me that you reduce with it :p )

I know the answers to all my questions are probably in the books I have ordered, but they aren't here yet :crying:

Regards,
Teresa

[PolychromeBeads]

Teresa, a reduction flame is one that is fuel-rich (less or no air/oxygen, therefore more fuel in the flame). It is very bushy, large and kind of scary when you first see it! There are specific glasses that most beadmakers buy as "reduction frits" that will turn nice and metallic when exposed to a reduction flame. What the reduction flame does is bring any metal in the glass to the surface and make it visible. Some of the regular glasses we work with will also change in a reduction flame (not always a good thing - gold pink will get really yucky!).

If you are really new at this, I'd say playing with reduction can wait! There are plenty of things to experiment with if you keep to the basic stuff! I've been doing this for about 6 years, and I don't use reduction that much. Good luck and have fun!


Aimee
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/29-Mar-2004/18777-jet7.jpg

[Luthien]

Hi Aimee,

Thanks for the explanation! You're right, I'm a beginner and definitely have other things to focus on...like making a round bead :D

Reduction can wait, but at least I know what it is now :clap:

Teresa