Betty Lynn bensign@sw.rr.com
I saw my first cracked marble in the early 70's and they were'nt carried in the stores anywhere back then. Since then I was determined to crack my own marbles. Mother refused to let me try, "too dangerous" she said. So when I saw Jane's examples with a heat gun, I decided to finally give it a go. (I've only waited some 30 odd years to get around to it,lol) I used the marbles and glass blobs for vases.

Always use eye protection. And shoes (hot marbles rolling on the floor, need I say more) I tried to steam some in a metal steamer in a covered pot (steam is hotter than boiling) for 20 minutes then quickly transferred them into an ice bath. a few at a time, with a pair of tongs. I had added salt to the ice and water (supposed to make it colder). I also kept the water boiling to keep the remaining marbles really hot while making the transfers. The results-- were lightly cracked marbles. Usually three main curved fractures, if turned right in a heart shape of sorts,and some smaller random cracks. Best part is they refract light into rainbows really well. The heart shapes were neat. The blobs typically did nothing, only one had the tiniest crack the size of a pinky fingernail clipping (Just like Jane's blobs with a heat gun).

I wanted to try a sharper temperature shock over a larger temperature range.

So next I tried the oven. Since the marbles sink to the bottom of the ice water, and the ice cubes float... I froze a couple of inches of water in a deep bowl the night before. While waiting for the marbles to heat, I added cold water and ice cubes, over the ice layer in the bowl . Tossed in a bit of salt. I put the marbles and blobs into a metal pan right under the broiler and broiled for 15 minutes (500 degrees in my oven) directly under the flame. Then quickly slid them in the ice bath. They sank onto the bottom layer of ice and I could hear a couple crackle faintly. The results-- the marbles were super crackled.

The blobs were really well crackled! Success! And very uniform.

I had tried to recrack some of the steamed marbles that weren't very cracked and a couple of the blobs. Results were the blobs and marbles crackled very well, but 2 marbles broke, however the broken pieces were well crackled and nice. There were no dangerous tinsy shards or slivers that I could find, (so far).

I am actually really excited about the broken pieces. They resemble fat watermelon slices. Each piece has a perfectly smooth rounded side and two sort of flat sides. Lots of potential-- wire wrapping, gluing foils or glitter to the broken facets. Alcohol inks. Using EP or Glossy Accents to soften the sharp edges. Faux dichro techniques... The broken pieces are much lighter and will be well suited for earrings.

I noticed the broken pieces show that the outer 1/3 of the marbles are extra crackled and the inner most core of the marbles aren't as cracked. When looking into the sharp side it looks like a filled geode or the layers of the earth.