Double Helix: Triton

 The eyelids are Triton. See the post from a few days back,   but I actually got some quite nice colour in this one - although apparently not so much in the photos.

But check out the tips of these dots ... How do I get me mo' o' that?

Double Helix: Kronos

Kronos is not currently showing on the  Double Helix site, so I think that means that it is currently not available.


 To the right - a worked rod, the bits on wire, and the eyelids of the dragon's eye are Kronos.


I treated this as a reduction glass, cooling before reducing.






The rod is quite distinctive, although there have been alternate batches of this, and so I am not sure if this is one.

I did reduce this very lightly. It was a glorious shade of royal blue when it went into the kiln, and it is now more of a midnight blue.

These were also reduced, although more thoroughly. Also somewhat disappointing, compared to how they look going into the kiln. 

Maybe that's why it's not on the site anymore?

Double Helix: Hyperion

I'm digging for gold.

Specifically - I'm looking for a metallic gold look - because "I am trying to replicate an effect that I got on a bead once but I don't remember what I used."

Like that's never happened to you.

Not sure this was it, but it is interesting and all part of the learning curve.









Hyperion is a light amber that strikes to a deep amber and reduces to an effect from light lustre to mirror.

Held up to the light - it is transparent. 

 Depending on the angle - the lustre may show rainbow colours or just be completely reflective.

 Interestingly - the darker the base - the more reflective it is. I think this might be a "thing" - because they do paint black behind the silver layer on a mirror to make it more reflective.

This particular piece, I had a slightly reducing flame and the inital melt went that sludgey grey-brown that we all know and hate. I turned up the oxygen and covered the reduction in fresh glass - but the end result is that the opacity makes for a more reflective piece.

 Same thing here - I tried reducing and encasing and it looked like crap - so I covered it with more Hyperion and reduced it again, and wow - mirror!

 Look at that reflection!

 On the back - you can see some of the colours that you can see in the photo on Double Helix's site, where you can see a bit of the encasing. I think I must have over reduced it before encasing - according to their working notes. Which was why I was unhappy and covered it up.

In person - these are very nice and the mirror effect is very impressive.

As with the Triton I mentioned the other day - best effects come from waiting until all the glow is out of the glass before reducing.

Double Helix Triton: Natural Gas vs Propane

I've had some issues with some of the glass that I reduce losing it's reduction effect in the kiln - so before I chewed through pounds of Triton, reduced it all shiny only to have it possibly lose its effect - I wanted to make sure that it was going to stay looking glorious.

I did two small test batches - in two different studios. What I was testing was the kiln. The kiln at the BeadFX studio has a largish gap at the door, and my own seals quite well - and I wanted to make sure that wasn't making a difference.

But what else is different is that the BeadFX studio is natural gas (boosted) and tanked oxygen, and my own studio is propane and a concentrator.

And while both batches have retained their glossy metallic reduction - so no worries there - what I did find is that the pieces made at the BeadFX studio have a coloured rainbow effect that I did not get in my own studio.



These are made in my own studio. This is Double Helix Triton. Let cool to no glow. Reduce further out than the candles are (turn the oxy down to produce candles about 4 inches long), don't let the glass reheat to glowing.

And here are the ones made in the BeadFX studio. The gas used is natural gas, vs propane. Is this the defining difference? I don't know. But you can see there is much more of a rainbow effect.

 Same group, black background. Because I like black.

Side by side, propane batch on the left, nat gas on the right.

Interesting, no? Like I said - I don't know that the gas is the primary difference. Maybe it's the tanked vs concentrator oxygen. The difference isn't overwhelming, but it's there.

I think that the biggest take-away from this is: when you read a tutorial or see a bead made with the exotic glasses, or, for that matter, any glass - you need to keep in mind that if you are not getting the same results, there are other factors at play than just your technique.



I have written about Triton before, Metallic Dragon, and in comparison with Kronos and Clio.

Double Helix RO 670x

This is Rubino Oro - from Double Helix. Rubino Oro. Ruby Gold. Glass made with gold. In this case, priced like it. I don't generally talk about price, but you should know, this glass is $120.00 per pound. US dollars.

So - is it worth it?

It might be.

 It is, in fact - a colour closer to red than pink - a glorious transparent red that is somehow not red.

 If you examine it closely - you can see there is a little variation in the colour - but you need to be very close and use very strong light to see it. It's real, but subtle. A product of striking, perhaps.

 Sigh - when will I learn to wipe the glass down before taking it's picture?

Ok - so - how does it compare to other pinks?
The pony and the pair of legs are some other pink. Transparent pink. I honestly am not sure which one, but something in the rubino or cranberry family.

The difference is remarkable. The "other" glass - sorry - I know that's not very helpful, but I am just so struck by the difference that I wanted to show you - the DH rubino has a purity and clarity to it - a ruby-ness - that makes the other seem almost purple in comparison. 

 The difference is even more striking in just regular lighting. Wow.

What this glass is not. Unlike the Effetre Rubino - this is a solid rod of color - not a clear core with a layer of colour on the outside.

What else this glass does not do is reduce. The classic Effetre rubino oro (456) has a nasty tendency to turn a dull, leaden colour if it does not have enough oxygen. I tried reducing the snot out of this - nothing. De nada. No sooty streaks.

It doesn't seem to need to be struck.

It is very soft, for a transparent.

Is it worth the significantly steeper price? Well - I know most of you making beads will be used to being frugal with your Rubino Oro. Applying it in stringer or small dots. Sure. For the beginner who struggles with rubino reducing - absolutely.

For those of us the say damn the price and buy the glass - this is a pretty nice colour. I'm really taken with it. I'll buy it.


Edit. I found the pink I used for the pony and the legs. BE 1342, Bullseye Cranberry Sapphirine. I was experimenting to see if the lower COE would make the off mandrel sculpture easier to do. 

The magic of teaching

Last week - a class in off-mandrel sculpture turned into an impromptu collaboration - as my demo piece and the student's practice piece seemed to fit together so perfectly that we melded them into one piece.

Cool, eh?

Lauscha 340 Opaque Orange

More treats from the lower strata of the archeological treasure chest that is otherwise known as my glass stash. This is a yummy variegated orange that appears to show a lighter, yellower hue where it stays warm longer.


The rods themselves vary in colour, but I wouldn't call this a streaky glass - although some of the pieces for sure are streaky.


Rather, I think the colour variation comes from heating and cooling and how slowly it cools, or whether it is still glowing when it gets into the kiln. 


The leaf on the far right, 3rd over shows a lot of yellow, probably from firepolishing and going directly into the kiln.

 Completely opaque.

Overall - the effect is wonderful - the variations in colour show the texture beatifully, and it is a creamy delicious glass to work with.

By the way - if you pop over to instagram and follow me there - therealdragonjools - you will see the project these are going into. ;-)

Vetro 412 Dark Yellow

For all the good it does you  - Vetro 412 - long gone except in the stashes of those who re-discover glass that they bought years ago.

The unworked rods are a nice, bright yellow, and the rods appear to have layers of translucent and opaque.



















The glass, however, comes out a warm, streaky golden yellow, like field of fresh corn, roasted and buttered. 

 Somewhat translucent.

 Stunning, no?

This was something of a surprise. A pleasant surprise, notwithstanding that it wasn't even close to what I thought I would get!

Very yummy!

CiM 722 Canyon de Chelly

Way back when, I reviewed Canyon de Chelly - or rather, I compared batches. It was so long ago - it was actually numbered 022 instead of 722.

If you check out Creation is Messy's site, there has been much, much written about Canyon de Chelly and it's strikeability and reactivity.

To which, I would like to add this:

Delightful! I made no particular attempt to strike it - other than the heating and cooling that is a result of working these shapes. The variability is wonderful!

Truly a very worthy addition to the #deadleaf project.