Hints & Tricks on a hothead

Hello

Tonight I found out about reducing, what else do you guys use it for?

Bea

Reducing is where you put less oxygen into the mix so on a dual fuel you turn down the oxygen am on a HH you cover up the holes with foil.

There is a list on the wiki on frit happens that lists the properties of each colour and basically any that say it's a reducer will behave his way. I don't think all of them do on HH though and everyone gets different results so it's an experimentational journey. The sort of glass that do this on the whole are referred to as Double Helix but you can reduce other colours like the copper green.

I've never used a HH so I can't really comment on any other tips but I'm sure someone else can!

Yes, not all Double Helix/TAG etc silver glass works well on a HH. Kalypso, Elektra, Psyche & Nyx all work really well on a HH. There are probably more but I haven't tried them. I found reducing on the HH easier than striking (e.g. Luna 3, Khaos, Dali Lotus).

The trick for reducing is to let the bead cool so there is no glow left in the bead (put it under the bench to check), then just wave it in and out of the flame until you see the silvering develop - make sure that the bead doesn't get too hot at this point!

There is a lot more info on FH about this and tutorials are available too.

I found on the hot head I could get Tongue Pink striking terracotta to change colour but I admit I'm struggling with it on the minor.

Thank you very much, I look forward to trying it hopefully tomorrow eve :-)

Start with it right at the top of the flame and just 'tickle' the bead with it and then you can work down the flame and find the sweet spot. It's different for different strikers.

Well I tried it... my first attempt failed! The second one looks like I am getting some blue... woo hoo! Waiting for ti to cool properly overnight.

Well done, one tip with the expensive glass (double helix, tag & silver rich) is to pull it into stringers or cover a core bead. makes it go a lot further and you won't worry to much if it doesn't strike or reduce well. There is a lot of info on Frit Happens.