Hot take: I see a lot of folks rushing the initial gather on a new furnace run

I've watched a few people at the studio this month try to get a gather in under 30 seconds from a fresh pot of color. The glass is way too hot and soupy, so it doesn't stick right to the pipe and you get a weak, uneven base. I learned this the hard way after three failed attempts at a simple tumbler. You need to let that new batch settle for a good minute, maybe two, before you even think about dipping in. It makes the whole piece more stable from the start. Has anyone else found a specific wait time that works best for their setup?

3 comments

3 Comments

andrew_gonzalez881mo ago

What kind of color are you using? I've noticed some opaque colors, like a dense black, seem to need way longer to settle than a transparent amber. I rushed an opal yellow once and it was a bubbly mess that just slid around the pipe.

pat_coleman1mo ago

Yeah that's a common mix-up, andrew_gonzalez88. Opacity itself isn't the main thing slowing down the settle time. It's more about the metals used to get that color. A dense black usually has a ton of iron or cobalt, which just holds heat like crazy. Same deal with some opal colors, they're packed with stuff that traps bubbles. A transparent amber is often way simpler in its mix, so it calms down faster. Rushing any color with a complex recipe is asking for trouble lol.

felix_lane991mo ago

Oh man, pat_coleman just saved you a ton of future headaches. His point about the metals is key, because blaming the opacity is how you end up with another bubbly mess. Some colors are just built different and you gotta respect the cook time.