Silver Glass 101 – Striking Silver Glass Tutorial – Luna 2

Stephanie Bonniwell and I did this tutorial on how to work with Luna 2, a striking silver glass made by Double Helix Glassworks.




Step 1
Start by winding Clear onto the mandrel in a barrel shape with a footprint of about 1.25”/32mm.



Step 2
Wind Luna 2 on top of Clear, taking care to cover the Clear ends with Luna 2.



Step 3Completely encase Clear with Luna 2.



Step 4Heat enough to marver the glass into a smooth barrel shape.



Step 5Reheat and shape both ends. The glass will bloom as you are working and you should see brown tones, as well as of purples and blues.



Step 6While rotating the mandrel, reheat the middle of the bead until translucent and you see this section begin to droop.



Step 7Take it out of the flame and gently marver the middle as it is cooling. Allow the glass to cool until the glow is gone. Carefully place the bead under the table to verify.



Step 8Re-introduce the bead at the top of the flame and slowly reheat until it starts to glow orange. Take it out of the flame and brown tones should bloom at this stage.


Step 9Additional heating and cooling will yield more colors, from dark purples/blues to light purples/ blues. Do NOT heat till translucent again.


Step 10Spot heat when the dark purple meets the light tones, twist with a clear stringer, then snap or burn off the stringer.


Step 11Repeat spot heating and twisting a total of three times on each side of the central dark purple band.


Step 12Reheat the entire bead. Place bead in a preheated kiln to anneal.



Important Note:
Depending on how much you reheat the glass at each strike yields different colors. If overstruck, start all over by heating the glass translucent again.


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