Explore the possibilities of a palette of green rings capped with Opaline!
As an overlay, Opaline scatters light for a dramatic impact on base colors. Note the blue hue it adds to the dark-valued green here and the subtle changes with lighter-valued greens. But when held up to the light, it’s as if the Opaline layer disappears.
Simple Secrets of Ring Cutting
For a good fit, inner pieces must be slightly smaller in diameter. A central circle cut to the same dimension as the inner ring will not fit, in the same way a ring and circle cut from the same sheet won’t fit back together. Larger, narrower rings are easier to cut because they’re more flexible than smaller, wider rings.
A plate with a Central Circle and a Ring
- Cut a cap, or the top layer, of Opaline (000403-0030).
- Cut a circle for the ring the same diameter as the cap. Before scoring the sheet, mark the placement of the circle cutter’s suction cup on the sheet glass with an ultra fine point Sharpie. You’ll use these to re-align the circle cutter in a later step.
- Adjust the cutting head to the dimension that will be the inner diameter of the ring. Tip: Keep this ring relatively narrow, less than an inch wide.
- Re-align the suction cup with the marks from Step 2. Score and run gently to avoid breaking the ring. Make a single score perpendicular to the inner circle and run it gently, then wiggle the ends of the ring up and down to ease it off of the central circle. This will leave a seam in the ring, but this usually fuses together with little visibility, particularly under a cap of Opaline.
- Adjust the cutting head to a slightly a smaller dimension for the center of the design. A millimeter or two should do the trick. Score, run, and break out the circle as usual.
- Once you’re sure the pieces fit, clean and fire to a full fuse. We then slumped our plate into a Large Cone Bowl Mold (008975).
Follow the same steps to add more rings, making sure the circles are slightly smaller at each color transition.
