Ok...now I'm a little stuck

[menty666]

A friend of mine wants a paper weight with a glow nebula like this one

http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/milkyway.jpg

I've never done something like that before. I'm thinking maybe a cane made with brilliant blue, and some glow frit, wrapped in a coil on a maria, slightly imploded just to pull it apart a little then backed with black and blue.

But I'm open to suggestions. Any better ones? :)

[menty666]

Hmm...looking at it closer, it's just a giant vortex. I've got some bx lazuli rod I could pulverize, mix with some glow frit then stripe on, twist and such...that should work.

edit..I just looked at his request and he wants the nebula as a flat pane. I wonder what'll happen if I make it as a vortex, then heat the heck out of it and flatten it some.

[richsantaclaus]

What about making a VERY dark background and flatten it into a disk. Then start with the glow frit and your own home made twistie of lighter blue and a dark color and starting at the center of the flattened disk where you placed the glow frit, start a spiral all the way out to circumference, then all a big dome of clear for the view window. That's how I would do it in soft glass - maybe it would work in Boro? Good luck n whatever you decide to do!

[mer]

you might get a little play out of ground up silver dust. seriously though, no custom orders for me, too frustrating.

[puddletown]

no need to use dust, just file off some silver with a file, and do a pick up. pt it over some black, there you go

[menty666]

Trouble is he's dead set on the glow glass. I have some, that's not the big problem, I've just never done the nebula thing. I like the silver dust idea, I have an ingot I could give a few scrapes to.

My other nagging thing is I'm worried about it cracking from the glow glass; I've seen several mentions it doesn't like to go deep and this is going to be about the size of a racket ball. I'll have to play and see what I can do.

And I hate custom requests too, but money's money :)

[HOSS]

Yeah that's going to be a tricky one, good luck! Definitely interested to see what you come up with. I think you might be on to something with the flattened vortex idea. Besides the glow stuff and silver shavings, it mgiht also be worth trying to get some dichro in there, and/or maybe some watered down disco sparkle/steel wool. Maybe try a few smaller ones first, and work your way up. If you can master this look, you could probably make a bundle off space geeks like me.

Guess I don't really have much useful advice but for the sake of accuracy, that isn't a nebula, its a galaxy... big difference. A nebula would actually be a lot easier. :D To be specific, that's our own 100,000 lightyear barred-spiral neighborhood (the milky way). Or at least an artists conception of it, we can't actually see it from that angle because, you know... we're all up in it. Like trying to see your own face without a mirror.

To really make it realistic, instead of being completely flat, it should bulge in the middle, and get thinner towards the edges... but this should be challenging enough as it is, no need to make it any more complicated. ;)

[mer]

no need to use dust, just file off some silver with a file, and do a pick up. pt it over some black, there you go

my terminology must be off, that's how i make what i was calling dust. is there a place that sells it in a finely ground form?

i've also found that holding the coin in vice grips and clamping the file to the bench over a piece of white paper makes the job a little easier. it's still kind of a pita though, if someplace had it in varying grades of coarseness i'd probably just pay.


And I hate custom requests too, but money's money

word up, stack that paper.

[menty666]

Guess I don't really have much useful advice but for the sake of accuracy, that isn't a nebula, its a galaxy... big difference.

I stand corrected :)

[p.j.]

you could make the twisted glow cane, stripe it on a med wall tube, give it a quick twist with a punty. then implode that, and put a black background on it with the silver. if you used the right sized tube you could have a large vortex,not that deep, but still good depth from the implosion.

[LFC]

i think if you aproched it the same way you did a dicrho galaxy marble you would be ok just in place of where you would normaly plave your dicro on your rod before you fold it over i would just place your silver dust and podered glow glass this should give that vortexie nubula look when you twist it up.....at least that is what i would do....

[boxfan willy]

Ok, I'm not sure this is right, but it is how I would do it.

1. I have used glow sticks on 1.5" vortex's with no checking issues. That said, the only frit Joe has right now is extremely large.
2. If you make you own silver filings via the file method, go over it with a rare earth magnet(I use a speaker magnet). this will pull out all the ferrous material from the file. Not getting the iron out of the filings could shift the COE(has happened to me with disastrous results).

That said, I would roll with the vortex approach. Gather up a clear, vortex shaped prep bit. Either stuff it in an appropriate optic(5 to 6 side) ar do it by hand with a straight edged knife. Then roll it in the silver dust with a light application. The filings will stick to the 5 or 6 raised areas. Fill in the valleys with clear, then carefully encase in black or appropriate dark color. Be careful not to get much flame on the silver, or it could fume muddy up and take away from the distinct starlike silver filings. Not sure what you could do with the center. Maybe a big dab of filings before the encasement. Spin it up then build up over the black as you would for any vortex, back pattern and shape.

Hope this helps,

boxfan

[menty666]

Awesome ideas everyone, thank you very much!! Gotta go wear out that rep button now.

[somberbear]

.... profile tubing....

[Glow Joe]

I can't wait to see how it comes out.....Post pics Tom!!!!!

[menty666]

Here's the first experiment. The marble's got a divot in it from where I melted down the lens unevenly. It's pretty, but not what I was going for. I think Rich's idea of coiling on the maria might work better, though I want to try a more shallow vortex first

Results: http://munkinarts.com/images/testMarble/

[p.j.]

i like the pedant.

maybe implode the vortex a little, then put a lens on the back and front so you dont make the design go out of whack

[menty666]

Test 2's up.

http://munkinarts.com/images/testMarble

[The Lorax]

silver dust, and a black background should do the trick.. the design can change up a ton depending how you strike it also:

http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_430xN.59930917.jpg

^thats what i made when i had the same custom request and the custy was happy...

[menty666]

Nice! Did you stripe any color in there or is it just silver over clear with a twist?

The only problem is the guy's really jonesing for the glow too. I can use the silver easily enough, but I worry it's going to block light getting in to charge the stuff. I'm lucky that I have an early sample of the fine sized glow frit to play with (and bought more, en route). Maybe if I used it in between the clear and the black and then along the egde of the backing color it would give the right effect.

Thanks!

btw....I need to come visit you sometime so you can teach me your loop technique. I'm still screwing those up on my pendants. :)

[AWhiskeyDrunk]

btw....I need to come visit you sometime so you can teach me your loop technique. I'm still screwing those up on my pendants. :)

Stop by Leominster on ur way....I'm in for that ride... could definitely improve my pendant techniques...and my loops...lorax ur pendants are getting sick...

sorry to thread jack...but seems like you got some ideas..

[menty666]

It's an open party :)

[Glow Joe]

It's an open party :)

Just a thought...how bout...glow first....then the silver......light can't get blocked through the lense that way.....and the silver should still do its trick in the background......

[menty666]

Just a thought...how bout...glow first....then the silver......light can't get blocked through the lense that way.....and the silver should still do its trick in the background......

I'll probably wind up doing it both ways ;)

[menty666]

Test 3's up. I think I like how this one came out, aside from the checked center. I used a few different methods, including Rich's suggestion to lay down a clear spiral on the maria.

As far as stuff I've done goes, this is pretty darn spiffy :)

[The Lorax]

Nice! Did you stripe any color in there or is it just silver over clear with a twist?

just made a clear maria, mashed it into the silver dust, twisted, and backed it w/ black. takes one or two tries though to figure out how to strike the silver to your liking since it will tend to over strike easily.

[menty666]

It's finally done!!!! 2" wide, slightly misshapen, but I showed it to my customer and he was happy with it :) Thanks for all the advice folks!

http://munkinarts.com/tkellerman/images/tkg_gxmb_001a.jpg

http://munkinarts.com/tkellerman/images/tkg_gxmb_001b.jpg

http://munkinarts.com/tkellerman/images/tkg_gxmb_001c.jpg

http://munkinarts.com/tkellerman/images/tkg_gxmb_001d.jpg

http://munkinarts.com/tkellerman/images/tkg_gxmb_001e.jpg

http://munkinarts.com/tkellerman/images/tkg_gxmb_001f.jpg

[jes]

would really like to see a pictures of it, I was goin over how I would try to even come close, much peace, jes

[menty666]

would really like to see a pictures of it, I was goin over how I would try to even come close, much peace, jes

Did the pictures not show up? They show up for me, but I've run into the same problem elsewhere today too...it's weird.

[themoch]

yeah, no pic

[menty666]

wow, wtf? This site's on my hot linking whitelist.

Try this: http://munkinarts.com/tkellerman.php

edit: Think I got it...are you using talkglass.com or thegldg.com? One's listed, the other isn't. Off to fix it.

[AWhiskeyDrunk]

also...what are you guys using to shave down your silver?

[faded]

i tried it, ................... :chilling:



silver, gold and copper filings. steel wool background.


19699


19700


19701

[jes]

Got the pics now, really spaced out results, must make you proud. DO they glow in the dark too? Thanks for sharing pics and techniques, jes

[menty666]

sweet faded! The red one's are the copper or gold? I'm going to have to try it. I need to order some stuff soon from Kristian, I may put a piece of gold wire on the list since mine's vanished.


Whiskey...I'm just using a hand file to shave off a PMC experiment gone bad. I use some of it straight, but I tossed some of the glow frit with a little silver dust too to get an extra little bit out of it. The only downside is that you can't really toss the excess frit back into the source container, so I have a second container just for that.

[Glow Joe]

Tom...I'm Speechless......and you know that's a rare thing indeed.........

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!