What's the difference?

You've probably come across this term in glass fusing, just when you thought you have your dichro glass needs covered, in comes Dichroic on Clear glass.

Do I need it? you may ask. What's the difference between this and Dichroic on Black?

Dichroic on Clear Glass just means that instead of spraying a thin dichoic layer on black opake glass, it is done on a clear glass base.

You are probably used to using Dichroic on black where the colours literally pop and you get dramatic results with very little effort on it's own or on plain glass. But don't underestimate the magic of clear dichroics.

Using Dichroic on Clear Glass:

Unlike Dichroic on Black glass where you can only use one side and it's the shiny metallic side up. With clear dichroics, you can use either side. The top shiny side with the dichroic crystals, once fused will give a rough texture that is cloudy, great for an ethereal effect but blocking most of your work underneath. This technique is best used over plain coloured glass, or even on it's own.

If you flip the dicho over, you now have in effect a capped dichro bit, doing away with having a clear glass cap over. Fusing with the base side up, gives you a smooth finish, but best of all, a piece with a lot of depth as you are now looking down through the clear cap onto the dichro layer underneath, and the colours underneath that. This dichro layer adds a nice shimmery sheen to the colours below in your piece.

Now, you can't get that effect with dichroic on black glass.