Gilson Opals in stock

[tuffnell glass]

Hi ,
      We have just unpacked these little beauties this afternoon .

                                                  

Gilson opals are used with Boro glass to inject a bit of sparkle , we have both "rough" and "dust" in black and white and they are all in 1grm packs on the website http://tuffnellglass.com/contents/en-uk/d321_Gilson_Opals.html

Best wishes ,
Martin
Tuffnell Glass

[ajda]

Martin, have you - or anyone else out there - had a go with this stuff? Or can you point me towards any really good info on using them with boro? It seems quite a high investment for a gram, so I'd like to know more about it before trying! I've done a bit of googling - and from what I have read so far, there seem to be different quality grades of Gilson Opals, as well as different sizes from dust to large lumps... I've seen artificial opals used in jewellery, but not in glass - and it's obviously difficult to photograph, so pictures are of limited use... Any help/info would be appreciated!

[garishglobes]

http://lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=262710   

I love opals, Jamie absolutely adores them. They are expensive but look very nice. The dust - you only need a tiny pinch at a go. The real key is to make sure you don't work too hot with them and don't touch them with the flame, a bit like dichro. The black particularly seems susceptible to overheating. The Gilson opals are compatible with borosilicate glass and you can do things like put an encased one on the end of a clear rod, add a bit more clear (maybe) and then do a vortex, so that you end up with an opal in front of the vortex. We have a narrow-ish tube with about 1.5mm wall that we pop the opal chip in, melting the glass around it to form an encasement before using. This works well but it is easy to get a little tiny air bubble where the clear finally joins around the opal. This can be avoided by just sucking the tube at the right moment (with the glass quite liquid!) to remove that final air pocket.

[ajda]

Thanks for that! I will read and study a bit more before I invest...

[tuffnell glass]

Hi Emma,
                 Thanks for all the information .

Best wishes ,

Martin

[garishglobes]