Not so new anymore lampwork, and some lampwork experimenting

I made these beads a couple of weeks ago, the first time I have had time to light my torch in a month.

They're Moretti light teal, Moretti light teal with Hilo Bay beach sand encased in clear and the longer bead had some Moretti dark ivory glass in it as well.

Today I did some experimenting with P.I.G glass (a glass that was made in India but isn't made anymore). What I can tell so far is that none of the beads broke right in the kiln. The Indian glass looks awful on the outside, at least some of it, but I could tell it was going to before I put the beads into the kiln. I only used one rod of it, and I did not only preheat it on top of my kiln as I normally do with all my glass, but stuck it into the kiln for more preheating after the tip of the rod shattered when I tried to gently, in the backflame, heat it more. While I know that some poeple disagree, for me this glass is frit material. On a hothead it is stiff and hard to melt to a round bead, especially into a small round bead as I usually make, and for all I can tell so far, the outsides of my beads made with this glass look like cheap imports of the kind all bead sellers are offered from China and India. I really honestly don't want to make that kind of beads deliberately.

Another experiment I did today was with recycled glass frit that I don't know the COE of. Mixed glass, mixed sizes. Again, none of it came out of the kiln broken. I have to say, though, that the beads I made with Moretti/Effetre glass with this frit are a lot smoother than the beads I made with the Indian glass.

For all of these, watch this space. (but I'm not promising this to happen in the next day or two. I have a job, and beads to get off mandrels, and then beads to clean.)