WarmGlass.com

Why don't strikers strike when they are produced?

Barry

Barry Kaiser wrote:Why don't strikers strike when they are produced?

Brad's view: Because it saves the company money. They can eliminate a step from their manufacturing process.

Bullseye's view: Because it allows you to get more firings before the glass loses it color (i.e. reds turn brown) or loses compatibility.

About six months ago I found a stash of old Bullseye glass from around 10 years ago in my basement. All of the reds and yellows had been struck at the factory. My conclusion is that the process at the factory has changed in the last decade. As a retailer, I can tell you that it's much harder to sell glasses that haven't been struck than it is to sell ones that have. ("Please believe me, Mr. Customer, that clear glass will REALLY turn the exact shade of purple you want, I promise!") And it's really hard to convince someone that the three different shades of Canary Yellow glass in my shop will all strike to the same shade when they're fired.

Brad,
I know they do not strike until I fuse them. My question is about the original process.
At the factory, the glass comes out in a molten state and then is rolled into a sheet. How does the capacity to strike survive the molten state (and subsequent cooling)?

Barry Kaiser wrote:Brad,
I know they do not strike until I fuse them. My question is about the original process.
At the factory, the glass comes out in a molten state and then is rolled into a sheet. How does the capacity to strike survive the molten state (and subsequent cooling)?

There is a "re-heat" step in the manufacturing process that heats up the glass (once it is in sheet form) hot enough for it to strike. If you leave this step out of the process, you save time (and money).

My suspicion is that the factory used to add this step, but no longer routinely does.

What a GREAT question! AND some great answers!

Rachel
imaglassydiva@aol.com

Interesting

as I understand it is the transfer of covalency of certain moleules that allow this changing of colors to occur. The transfer of additional energy/heat allows the molecules to change thus making different colors, There are some glases that I think are chromium based that can actually strike from blue to green to yellow on 3 sucessive reheats and a vase can be blue at the bottom and yellow at the top with green in between and all from one batch of glass. It's all about the majic of chemistry. There are others that could explain this better, pose the same question on Craftweb to get a better answer.