Satake

Want to know about Satake glass before you try it? Here is a FAQ. Satake is a soft glass, but when used with the proper torch settings it works similar to boro.

1. Okay, so what's the deal with 'lead' vs. 'soda' glass? Aren't they both soda lime glass?

Yes, they are both soda lime glass, but part of Satake's color line is leaded and the other part is not - they had to differentiate them somehow, so that's what they came up with.

2. Well, how do I tell the soda from the lead? Is it an important difference?

Ever try to make a bead with one rod of 96 COE glass and one of 104 COE? Then you already know the problem. Since there are 2 COE's for Satake, here is an easy reference list for you, along with a breakdown of which is lead and which is soda. Lead colors: (94 of them) 120 COE A-01 to A-26 no lead in E G-01 to G-35 S-01 to S-33

Soda colors: (66 of them) 113 COE A-27 to A-40 E - all of them G-36 to G-40 S-34 to S-40

Including both soda and lead, there are a total of 160 colors. These colors include primary colors, pastel colors, and colors based on tones from traditional Japanese kimonos, as well as several others that are really cool and different.

3. What if I DO use them together - anything I should look out for?

Due to the differences in COE, if you limit use between them to a thin stringer or dots of one on the other there should be low risk of cracking. HOWEVER there are other pitfalls as well - in the case of soda reds/yellows/oranges, unless you encase it in soda clear there is an ugly chemical reaction between the pigments in the soda and the lead glass, or if you put lead of any color (including clear) on red/yellow/orange soda, it turns black. All the other soda colors don't appear to have that issue with lead. This is due to a chemical reaction between the lead in the lead glass and the pigments used in the soda glass to create reds/yellows/oranges - one of the reasons there aren't many reds and oranges in the lead glass line.

So - if you just GOTTA put soda on lead, make sure that if it is red/yellow/orange you encase it in clear first. If you gotta put lead on soda, make sure it's not over red/yellow/orange unless that area is already encased in clear, or some other buffer color.

4. What is the annealing schedule?

This is the annealing schedule recommended by Satake glass: Anneal at 890°F for 10-20 minutes. Lower to 750°F, 20 minutes for small beads, 1 hour for large beads. Lower to 390°F for 2 hours. Turn off and cool to room temperature.

From experiments at Dogmaw Glass, we find that 890°F is way high, and we tend to get flat spots and beads sticking together. From experience (and talking to other Satake lampworkers) we currently garage beads at 790°F, then raise the temperature to 850°F for 1 hour, then cool at a rate 100°F per hour. This works quite well, and doesn't make flat bits or make beads stick together.

Because beads made from Satake hold heat for much longer than other brands of soda glass, they are also well suited to cooling in vermiculite or under a fiber blanket and then being batch annealed, but the best method is to just pop them in the kiln.

WARNING: Because of its thermal characteristics, Satake glass stays soft much longer than other brands of glass - So be sure it really has firmed up on the surface before you put it in the kiln, fiber blanket, or vermiculite, or you will end up with some unintended surface decoration! Japanese artists are often taught to blow on them while spinning the bead by quickly rolling the mandrel between their thumb and forefinger for a few seconds - it leaves the core more "molten" while the surface is nice and hard, resistant to surface deformation - but no matter how much you love your beads, don't give them a kiss!

5. Any other helpful working tips before I get started?

Satake glass needs to be worked cooler than other soda glass, such as Moretti, BullsEye, Boro, etc. If worked too hot, bubbles will form on and under the surface, and many colors will fade.

Be sure your marvers are clean, and your mashers are rust free. Pitting on the surface of your marver or masher will produce pits in your bead. Rust is especially bad, making the bead pockmarked kinda like the surface of the moon.

Black glass (both lead and soda) will have a hematite look if worked cool, and will lose the metalic look if worked slightly warmer. When black is pulled into a stringer it stays black, unless the stringer is hair fine in which case it might look slightly purple.

Some good points to remember:

1. work cool! This stuff melts like buttah. 2. work pink opaques especially cool. They will lose their color easily. 3. do not encase yellow! I once made 6 really nice yellow encased beads, and every single one cracked nastily. Something about yellow, I guess... 4. be gentle. This glass is much softer than moretti when glowing, and it retains its heat much longer. You will need to be very gentle when shaping things like bicones and barrels. 5. Working Satake glass may make you a better lampworker - it is a more demanding glass than moretti and boro in a lot of ways, but the results are well worth it.

6. Has anyone worked this glass with a hothead torch? If so, what were the results?

Have we used a hothead? You betcha - we ain't kidding when we say it melts like buttah. In fact, in a lot of ways, using a hothead on Satake is easier than on a propane/oxy setup, since the melting point is lower than moretti/bullseye/etc. In fact, Japanese beadworkers using Satake use little air compressors with propane, and get really amazing results. However I have used this glass with a minor, mini cc, national 8M, and betta all with good results.

7. Being as I are a dumb gaijin, how do you actually pronouce Satake?

Just how it's spelled.

Okay, okay. We got it wrong at the start as well, being as we is dumb gaijin too. Depending on your primary language and regional accent, you might pronouce it as "suh-Talk-ee" or "Ser-tacky" or even "Suh-take" (rhymes with rake).

However, use this in the presence of a Japanese speaker and they would have no idea what you were talking about. From hearing native Japanese speakers use it repeatedly in person (wow - people actually talking In Real Life? What is this offline world of which you speak?) the actual Japanese pronunciation is pretty close to "sah-tah-kay", with equal emphasis on each syllable. Now you can go out with confidence into the world of spoken communication!

8. Why are the rods funny shapes and thicknesses?

The rods come from the Satake factory in Japan and are all hand pulled - there can be diameter variation of up to 10mm between rods, depending on who was doing it that day, whether the rod was from the beginning of the pull or the end, or who knows what else (you can see a translation from Japanese of a neat illustrated diagram of the process here.

However, all the rods are about 22 inches long, which means that there can be some real differences in weight from one rod to the next.