Post by karenkellybella on Aug 5, 2016 5:19:38 GMT -5
Hi! I'm really new to this so forgive me if I'm posting in the wrong section!
I've always collected rocks and crystals. I enjoy finding them in the wild as well as purchasing tumbled specimens from rock shops.
A few months ago I found an almost fist sized piece of purple slag glass but I didn't know what it was. A local rock shop inspected it, and since there were no inclusions or air bubbles, they told me it was amethyst. Since then, I've collected about 70-80 pieces and most of them do have inclusions, seemingly iron, as well as air bubbles.
I live next to what was once The Stoveworks in Atlanta AND the belt line, an old rail line which lies between my home and the Stoveworks is where I find these pretties. I've read that the glass can be a product of iron smelting, coal box clean out on rail engines or, melted window glass. In 1917, a huge fire decimated this part of town. I read one place that the purple color might be from manganese which was added to window glass to remove the green tint and that it's the manganese darkens to purple after being buried for many years. Honestly, I have no idea where the slag originated. Whatever its origin, these glass chunks are tied to Old 4th Ward's history.
I'm an artist. I paint, sculpt, weld, etc. but the only glass work I've done is stained glass and some shallow slump mold stuff years ago.
I'd like to cut these pieces of slag to make jewelry. What is the best way to do this? I broke a few chunks with a hammer just to see how thin they need to be to show good color. The pieces range in color from black to grey to purple to several shades of green.
Here are some pics
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imgur.com/gallery/TBUwh[/img]
I've always collected rocks and crystals. I enjoy finding them in the wild as well as purchasing tumbled specimens from rock shops.
A few months ago I found an almost fist sized piece of purple slag glass but I didn't know what it was. A local rock shop inspected it, and since there were no inclusions or air bubbles, they told me it was amethyst. Since then, I've collected about 70-80 pieces and most of them do have inclusions, seemingly iron, as well as air bubbles.
I live next to what was once The Stoveworks in Atlanta AND the belt line, an old rail line which lies between my home and the Stoveworks is where I find these pretties. I've read that the glass can be a product of iron smelting, coal box clean out on rail engines or, melted window glass. In 1917, a huge fire decimated this part of town. I read one place that the purple color might be from manganese which was added to window glass to remove the green tint and that it's the manganese darkens to purple after being buried for many years. Honestly, I have no idea where the slag originated. Whatever its origin, these glass chunks are tied to Old 4th Ward's history.
I'm an artist. I paint, sculpt, weld, etc. but the only glass work I've done is stained glass and some shallow slump mold stuff years ago.
I'd like to cut these pieces of slag to make jewelry. What is the best way to do this? I broke a few chunks with a hammer just to see how thin they need to be to show good color. The pieces range in color from black to grey to purple to several shades of green.
Here are some pics
