Dichro,

Isn't space age technology wonderful?

There are stories floating around, no doubt apocryphal, of some glass worker who salvaged the original dichro from the space shuttles, and had it taken away from him, because its manufacture or perhaps even existance was top secret.

Nowadays, of course, you can send your glass item off to CBS to have it coated with the 20--40 metallic oxides that give dichroic glass its special quality: to reflect one color of light, while transmitting its complement---hence the name dichroic, or two-colored, glass.

I just luuurrves it. So here is a collection of pages about dichro---what kinds I use, what kinds of beads I make, even what failures I've had with the glitziest (and most expensive) glass I use.

Enjoy.

Sample beads in blue with larger holes. Includes dichro solids, double hollows, and bubbles. Originally posted 12feb07.

 

My take on the big expensive gaudy bead. Updated with an unsuccessful new series from 2006.

 

Collection of pages having to do with the small, designer clear-cased dichro solid beads---the only solid beads---I regularly make.

 

I used to make jacketed hollow beads with dichro cores, usually in dottie formats. But my favorite is this somewhat unusual floral variation. This is one of those creations that just flowed the first time, and I've never had any luck recreating it. It's a personal fave. See also this similar version, from the bead curtain.