Hello Lightning Tamers! Today's post was brought to you by Wayne Strattman for phosphorus powders! In my most recent collaborative series with Daria Sandburgh called Cumulus Gone Nimbus, one of the consistent struggles with the small vessels is creating colorful effects with gases alone. Other modifiers such as colored glass, well I’m not quite ready to use in flameworking (I tend to waste more than I make), but in observing other artists like Mundy Hepburn and Harriet Schwarzrock, I am curious to explore the use of phosphor powders in clear glass as well as with colored glass, to look deeper into prep and applications. Thanks to Wayne Strattman, I can share with you several methods of applying phosphors as well as a local distributor through Wayne himself or internationally through Neon Product in the Netherlands. I hope to follow up on UV lights and some content showing the process for adding these phosphors, pros and cons of applications, cleaning, and others that come to mind. Thank you for your support, -Percy Echols II | Taming Lightning
Distributor in the Netherlands for phosphors and other neon products, very responsive customer service. A USER’S GUIDE TO PHOSPHORS FOR PLASMA ART Phosphors are chemicals, usually applied in the form of powders or powders in a liquid vehicle that translate ultraviolet light made in a plasma discharge into visible light to reveal a variety of colors. Phosphors were first developed in the 19th century when various natural elements were put in Geissler tubes. After the air was partially evacuated and under the action of a high voltage discharge the elements would glow. The ultraviolet light produced caused the rocks to fluoresce. When powdered these “rocks” became our first phosphors. Phosphor technology research progressed through the last century to produce a rainbow of colors. Phosphors have many technical properties and requirements that fill textbooks but here are some basics for the plasma artist. Phosphors can be used in 2 basic modes:
Here are 6 common ways to apply phosphors to glass. (note: In all cases the raw phosphors should be finely ground to powder using a mortar and pestle or equivalent. They come already milled to size but may clump together so need to be reduced to powder either when mixing with a liquid vehicle or for dry dust coating.)
Interesting combinations of phosphor colors can be made with the body colors of the plasma gas itself. For example, a xenon blue plasma combined with a contrasting color like red, green or other color can give a rich multicolored display.
IMPORTANT:
*Avoid breathing airborne dust from phosphor powders. Wear a properly rated respirator mask and work in a well ventilated area when mixing/grinding the dry phosphor powders. *See color chart specifying particle size. Small particle size does not require the use of a binder and will stick by itself using the explosive coating method or can be painted on with alcohol. Larger particle size will require binder to stick. There is no visible difference with such small particle sizes but it makes a difference when choosing a method of application.) *Isopropyl alcohol can be used as a vehicle to mix with the phosphor powder for painting. It will work best to use 100% Isopropyl alcohol with no water in it. *Most phosphors appear white until activated under UV light. *Contact us with any additional questions
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Hello Lightning Tamers
It's time for an update! I'm updating the Elements of Plasma visual diagram to the second edition. Now the reason why I'm doing this instead of updating the previous post is to be able to show a bit of a timeline in terms of my progress on this matter. If you've follow me since the beginning you'll notice that the process of learning plasma does take a bit of time and a bit of understanding to even grasp the fundamentals. Because of this I spend more time learning and re learning more than I produce new content. So If things are truly out of date, they will be removed, via redirection to updated post. It may not seem very efficient but if anyone has any suggestions on updateing and or editions/versions in regard to correct or updated info, please let me know. In this case I sharing an expansion, adding notes that were made during my Virtual Lecture, Taming Lightning: Getting the word out!, for 2020 Glass Art Society Conference and refined through recent collaborative efforts of Intro to Plasma Series with GEEX, the Glass Education Exchange. Below I'll share some images along with the original graphic and some text to expand on what I mean by vessel crafting, alchemy, and technology as it relates to the elements of plasma. -Percy Echols II | Taming Lightning What is the Elements of Plasma?
Vessel Crafting
Alchemy
Technology
Playlist | Intro to Plasma
I still have quite a bit to share with you, so please support Taming Lightning by sharing, leaving a comment, and or by donation!
Thank you, -Percy Echols II | Taming Lightning
UPDATED!!!
Hello Lightning Tamers! When I produced Episode 10: Light up your World with Plasma, it was my initial attempt convey what I've learned about Plasma. Admittedly it was way too early for me to try to teach what little I understood. And so I continue to update and improve on how to share this information. The ongoing collaboration with GEEX, The Glass Education Exchange, has helped with discussing the pile of information, thoughts, and theories I've compiled, and acknowledging the importance of peer discussion as an underutilized part of the process. In this update, I've rewrote this post for the Beginner to provide a Guide for Basic Electrode Attachment.
If your are using any of the following soda-lime glass: system 96, Spruce Pine, Cristalica, or Glasma, the typical neon electrode ( both soda-lime and lead glass) have been shown to be compatible, and of course if you are using Borosilicate Glass you'll have to purchase and use borosilicate Neon electrodes.
To borrow a term shared in both Neon and Scientific glass, to attach your electrode you will need to become well practiced and familiar with making a Weld. Which is the process of joining two connections, will a smooth and ideally, seamless, transition of even thickness.
*In Flameworking you will NOT need to make a long thin tube or neck in your vessel due to having ample control and thermal resistant properties of your glass.
This lead to a little break from the podcast to reach out and schedule some new recordings.
One of the prime advantages I'm taking during this time, is to sit down and put in some learning and research. While I'm familiar with the Gases used in plasma and neon, I decided to dig a little deeper and find out the history of the Noble Gases, and why they were named, as well as some of the other gases such as Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Iodine vapor. I'll be posting a quiz in the next few days from my research. To give you an opportunity to refresh your knowledge on these gases, I put together a playlist for you to enjoy from the Podcast Chemistry in its Element produced by Chemistry World. Very brief and informative episodes. I encourage you the take a listen to podcasts on other elements as well. There's are really good article I want to read for you, until the enjoy! Be safe, Be healthy, Be strong, -Percy Echols II | Taming Lightning
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Disclaimer
Welcome to Taming Lightning, I'm Percy Echols II. I'm the creator and host of Taming Lightning, as well as the emerging plasma tech at Pittsburgh Glass Center, where I'm researching and developing a space to explore Plasma and Neon Light as an Artist Medium.
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