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Hi,

I was doing a bunch of compatability tests with regular spectrum (1" squares on clear fusing strips, brought to 1550 for 10 minutes) and I decided to do 2 tests at once by seeing which would require borax to prevent devit. So I put the solution on half of each square. When I took this pieces out of the kiln, they were all bright & shiny -- no devit in sight. I've run tests on a few of these same glasses before and have gotten devit, so I know that isn't the issue. I'm trying to figure out what happened here -- my current guess is that the borax solution migrated around to cover the entire piece. Does that make sense?

Thanks,
Michelle

mpg wrote:Hi,

I was doing a bunch of compatability tests with regular spectrum (1" squares on clear fusing strips, brought to 1550 for 10 minutes) and I decided to do 2 tests at once by seeing which would require borax to prevent devit. So I put the solution on half of each square. When I took this pieces out of the kiln, they were all bright & shiny -- no devit in sight. I've run tests on a few of these same glasses before and have gotten devit, so I know that isn't the issue. I'm trying to figure out what happened here -- my current guess is that the borax solution migrated around to cover the entire piece. Does that make sense?

Thanks,
Michelle

good question

A few days ago I alluded to this, and I've seen it too. Physicist friend of mine has seen crystalline phenomenon that mimics this, but in a lab using giant silicone crystals. I wonder if it has something to do with nucleation, there needing to be a critical mass of "seed" contaminants for crystal formation to occur, and once it does allows it to perpetuate easily. If you put enough borax on to prevent it from reaching that "activation point", it prevents crystal formation? Or maybe it's magic.

[my current guess is that the borax solution migrated around to cover the entire piece. Does that make sense?

Thanks,
Michelle[/quote]

Interesting. I recently heard that for the first time small numbers of borax, including juveniles, have been seen mixed in with the annual caribou migration.

Didn't know borax mixed well with caribou. I do know it mixes great with gin. It's the kiln cookers cocktail. Leaves you glassy eyed.

once the borax is mixed and sits around for awhile does all the borax settle to the bottom of the jar, or is there still enough borax in the water to have a positive effect on the glass,
thanks
rodney

it's not a suspension, but a solution. it doesn't come out of solution unless there's a drastic temp change. the excess at the bottom is just undissolved borax.

thanks charlie, excellent explanation on this,,,,,,,,,,,,,,now, does a solution that is more concentrated make a difference from a solution that is less concentrated,,,,,i know there has been a million posts on this, but has anyone come up with a mixture that is the VERY BEST EVER,,,,thanks so much,,,,,rodney

Rodney-In my experience, you can have tremendous variation in the strength of the solution and still get good results. It is very forgiving, as I have found by being in a hurry and not doing it "by the book".

Tony Serviente wrote:Rodney-In my experience, you can have tremendous variation in the strength of the solution and still get good results. It is very forgiving, as I have found by being in a hurry and not doing it "by the book".

I totally agree. thin, thick, brushed, sprayed, wet, dried......