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Glacier_Arts_Studio
09-16-2007, 11:41 PM
i just thought i would share this and ask,

what do you know about coloring glass...???

Colored Glass Chemistry
From Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.,
Your Guide to Chemistry.
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How Does It Work?
Processes

Early glass derived its color from impurities that were present when the glass was formed. For example, 'black bottle glass' was a dark brown or green glass, first produced in 17th Century England. This glass was dark due to the effects of the iron impurities in the sand used to make the glass and the sulfur from the smoke of the burning coal used to melt the glass.

In addition to natural impurities, glass is colored by purposely introducing minerals or purified metal salts (pigments). Examples of popular colored glasses include ruby glass (invented in 1679, using gold chloride) and uranium glass (invented in the 1830s, glass that glows in the dark, made using uranium oxide).

Sometimes it is necessary to remove unwanted color caused by impurities to make clear glass or to prepare it for coloring. Decolorizers are used to precipitate out iron and sulfur compounds. Manganese dioxide and cerium oxide are common decolorizers.

Special Effects

Many special effects can be applied to glass to affect its color and overall appearance. Iridescent glass, sometimes called iris glass, is made by adding metallic compounds to the glass or by spraying the surface with stannous chloride or lead chloride and reheating it in a reducing atmosphere. Ancient glasses appear iridescent from the reflection of light off of many layers of weathering.

Dichroic glass is an iridescent effect in which the glass appears to be different colors, depending on the angle from which it is viewed. This effect is caused by applying very thin layers of colloidal metals (e.g., gold or silver) to the glass. The thin layers are usually coated with clear glass to protect them from wear or oxidation.

Glass Pigments

Compounds Colors

iron oxides------------------------greens, browns
manganese oxides---------------deep amber, amethyst, decolorizer
cobalt oxide-----------------------deep blue
gold chloride----------------------ruby red
selenium compounds-------------reds
carbon oxides---------------------amber/brown
mix of mangnese, cobalt, iron---black
antimony oxides------------------white
uranium oxides-------------------yellow green (glows!)
sulfur compounds----------------amber/brown
copper compounds---------------light blue, red
tin compounds--------------------white
lead with antimony---------------yellow


source (http://chemistry.about.com/cs/inorganic/a/aa032503a.htm)

:chilling:

menty666
09-17-2007, 05:12 AM
Neat!

wildrokproductions
09-17-2007, 06:28 AM
Many special effects can be applied to glass to affect its color and overall appearance. Iridescent glass, sometimes called iris glass, is made by adding metallic compounds to the glass or by spraying the surface with stannous chloride or lead chloride and reheating it in a reducing atmosphere. Ancient glasses appear iridescent from the reflection of light off of many layers of weathering.

cool! I had an irredesent grafix once, always wondered how it was done. it broke about 9 or 10 yrs agao , and I kept the base just incase i could ever have it replaced. THanks!!!

lucidvisions
09-17-2007, 02:33 PM
Great info! Thanks!

Josh

Greymatter Glass
09-18-2007, 06:04 PM
well, Uranium glass doesn't really glow, it fluoresces under UV... that's all.

The rest... yeah, making color at the torch is an interesting experience, and certainly worth trying if you have proper ventilation, but you're probably not going to beat anything made commercially without a lot of trial and error.

A good source for small amounts of colorant chems is a pottery / ceramic supplier that sells raw chems for glazes. There's no real surprise that glazes and glass colors come from the same chemicals.

I's start with cobalt, iron, and copper based colors.... Germanium oxide is a great chemical to have on had for making amber purples... stay away from lead, cadmium, and antimony for now....

torch mixing chems isn't too hard... start with a small length of 12.7 heavy wall tube, maybe 6" long, closed at one end. Mix the raw chems about 1:50 with clear frit and fill the tube. Start at one end and slowly work out the air from the tube and condense it into a ball.

Mix it like crazy. I use a drill. Add clear as you go to get the density you want.

If you use too much colorant you'll upset the COE and create an incompatible glass. start with about half of what you think you'll need, and work it out from there. I've found 1g of cobalt oxide will color a half a pound of glass to a nice blue. Don't go crazy.

Also, gold and silver compounds can be used to make striking colors, but they're expensive.

-Doug

jokersdesign
09-18-2007, 09:00 PM
cool information

Kool
09-21-2007, 03:42 PM
For several years, I made all of my own color.

That's good info from Doug. But in case anyone reads it and plans on trying out some of that stuff....buy Germanium Dioxide.

Also, I found that the frit thing he mentioned works, but is only necessary for certain colors made from certain chemicals (white, for example). Another good flux is Borax (same stuff pople use for roaches)...once I found that out, it made a huge difference in the quality of the rods I could make and how much easier the process became.

Interesting post, Glacier.

jokersdesign
09-22-2007, 11:25 AM
For several years, I made all of my own color.

That's good info from Doug. But in case anyone reads it and plans on trying out some of that stuff....buy Germanium Dioxide.

Also, I found that the frit thing he mentioned works, but is only necessary for certain colors made from certain chemicals (white, for example). Another good flux is Borax (same stuff pople use for roaches)...once I found that out, it made a huge difference in the quality of the rods I could make and how much easier the process became.

Interesting post, Glacier.

where do you buy all these differnet Dioxides and Oxides?

Kool
09-23-2007, 09:52 AM
There are many chemical companies that sell them. Or, if you are simply looking for one type of chemical, use google or even ebay for some stuff.