Have you ever pulled a rod from the glass cabinet only to find you can't remember the correct spot to later store it? With variations and over 300+ colors in the CoE 104 family comes rogue rods. Here are a few tips and tricks to correctly reclassify pesky rods lingering around the studio.
Intense Black vs. Transparent Black: Pull a think stringer of the rod, approximately 1mm. If the stringer shows a transparent dark purple/black when held to a bright light, then the rod is transparent black. A fine stringer of Intense Black will remain opaque in a bright light:
Transparent Pinks: A few years back, I had 3 batches of transparent pinks become mixed. I placed the rods on a sheet of white paper to verify color differences in a bright light, however it was impossible tell the colors apart. In frustration, I bundled the glass and placed it on a shelf for later. By accident I notice the end segments of the rods were different colors. Taking the bundle outdoors in the bright sun, I was able to separate the colors by looking at the sliced end of the glass:
Side view of sliced ends:
The Shadow Technique: Transparent glass allows the light to shine through, casting a shadow. The shadow projected on the foreground surface is unique to each color wavelength. Notice the difference in the shadows of the CiM Testing photograph:
So when in doubt, try a few of the techniques to help sort things out. Feel free to comment or send me an email with further questions.
Enjoy, Heather
