Different Mica Names?

[VaMarbles]

Are there differences in the two micas on the left (sapphire blue and green) vs the brown one?   Have tons of the brown types with larger pieces of Mica but only a few of these “blizzard” types?   Is blizzard type the right name?

[Ric]

Nice marbles, I'm not sure but I think "blizzard" has to do with whether or not the mica is cased.

[VaMarbles]

13 minutes ago, Ric said:

Nice marbles, I'm not sure but I think "blizzard" has to do with whether or not the mica is cased.

Okay.  I think this one might be cased mica.  Was in the same collection.  Looks like to make it case blizzard you need the mica to be all inside under another thin film of glass.  Tough to get a good pic 

[Ric]

Cased micas have the mica encased under clear on top of the colored base glass so the mica looks silver and doesn't take on the color of the base glass. The mica on this one still looks amber from here.

[Alan]

I'm not sure what the reference to "cased" mica means.  All micas have to have a final layer of glass on the outside.

A mica is a mica.  The mica may be finer or more coarse, depending on how it was diced and sifted (or not).  Also based on how much mica was spread on the marver and how evenly/unevenly.  Like frit on an onionskin, this was a fast and fairly crude process.  Outcomes vary.

[Ric]

6 minutes ago, Alan said:

I'm not sure what the reference to "cased" mica means.  All micas have to have a final layer of glass on the outside.

A mica is a mica.  The mica may be finer or more coarse, depending on how it was diced and sifted (or not).  Also based on how much mica was spread on the marver and how evenly/unevenly.  Like frit on an onionskin, this was a fast and fairly crude process.  Outcomes vary.

I thought this was pretty well accepted terminology/type perhaps cased in clear rather than cased in the same color as the base glass?

[Fire1981]

Back light the Brown one. It looks hand made. The pontil is in the last pic at 11:00🔥

RAR

 

[Ric]

4 minutes ago, Fire1981 said:

Back light the Brown one. It looks hand made. The pontil is in the last pic at 11:00🔥

RAR

There are machine-made micas? I've seen single and double pontils but never a machine-made - unless maybe a JABO contract marble.

[Alan]

47 minutes ago, Ric said:

There are machine-made micas? I've seen single and double pontils but never a machine-made - unless maybe a JABO contract marble.

All vintage micas are cane construction.  All.

[Ric]

16 minutes ago, Alan said:

All vintage micas are cane construction.  All.

That was my understanding too.

[akroorka]

Great discussion lets call in @Chad G.

[Chad G.]

Yes, all micas are cane made as Alan said, never seen one that wasn't.

[The Nickel Guy]

I only have a few but this was an educational thread. Nice marbles too VA!

[VaMarbles]

3 hours ago, Alan said:

I'm not sure what the reference to "cased" mica means.  All micas have to have a final layer of glass on the outside.

A mica is a mica.  The mica may be finer or more coarse, depending on how it was diced and sifted (or not).  Also based on how much mica was spread on the marver and how evenly/unevenly.  Like frit on an onionskin, this was a fast and fairly crude process.  Outcomes vary.

Alan

 

This is where I saw the term cased.  Maybe I’m reading this wrong and will defer to you who has much better knowledge on these Micas.  
 

I guess then can I ask, would all three of the OP and the last picture just be called Micas and nothing else?

[Ric]

Morphy has listed several over the years too.

https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/auctionresults.aspx?searchvalue=cased+mica+marble&searchby=3

 

[Ric]

@VaMarbles Getting back to "blizzards" - maybe it just has to do with how much mica there is. If so, it's pretty subjective. I imagine Minnesotans and Floridians might have different ideas about what constitutes a blizzard.

[Alan]

Perhaps its just me - but I want to know what a specific term is supposed to mean before I just accept its use only because it has become commonplace.  We have a lot of words in this hobby that are casually used (and many more new words recently invented).  Perhaps we should pause and ask ourselves specifically what they mean and why its use is important.  Have we ever seen the term "uncased mica" used?

YMMV.

[Ric]

4 minutes ago, Alan said:

Perhaps its just me . . .

It's not, I agree with you in general. But in reference to micas, I think "cased" actually has some utility since it describes a construction that is significantly different than non-cased versions. If you think about Onion Skins or Peppermints with mica the idea of "cased" loses its significance since they are all cased in clear glass.

[akroorka]

Umm--back to th og--is the on the left a vintage handmade?

Maybe a Chinese knockoff?--just sayin!

Marble--On!!

[Alan]

5 minutes ago, Ric said:

It's not, I agree with you in general. But in reference to micas, I think "cased" actually has some utility since it describes a construction that is significantly different than non-cased versions. If you think about Onion Skins or Peppermints with mica the idea of "cased" loses its significance since they are all cased in clear glass.

Which brings me back to the question:  What is a "cased" mica?

All micas have an outer clear glass gather - otherwise the mica will just gradually fall off.  That is part of the standard cane construction.   (If someone has a vintage mica with naked mica on the outside, please speak up).  What does the word mean in this context?

[Ric]

1 minute ago, Alan said:

All micas have an outer clear glass gather

Why is it that the color of the metallic sheen produced by the mica varies with the color of the base glass? If they were all cased in clear wouldn't you expect the mica to look the same silver color regardless of the base color - like it does on Onion Skins or Peppermints - regardless of what color lies beneath it?

[Alan]

7 minutes ago, Ric said:

Why is it that the color of the metallic sheen produced by the mica varies with the color of the base glass? If they were all cased in clear wouldn't you expect the mica to look the same silver color regardless of the base color - like it does on Onion Skins or Peppermints - regardless of what color lies beneath it?

I think (by appearance) that some had a final gather in clear and other had a gather in the base color.  If the latter, the light reflecting off the silver mica is filtered through that color.  So the reflected light takes on that tint.  A reminder to us all that all marbles are seen and perceived by reflected light.

Perhaps the intent of the word is to describe whether the outer glass is clear or base color.

Also, the thicker the outer layer, the dimmer the light reflected off the mica is.  Or put another way - the less obvious the mica is.

[Ric]

13 minutes ago, Alan said:

Perhaps the intent of the word is to describe whether the outer glass is clear or base color.

That is what I have been saying - apparently, not very well though.

I would expect the mica in cased examples to appear pretty much the same, regardless of the base color.

[Fire1981]

So….cased simply means below the surface glass. No mica on the surface glass with a texture like frit🔥

RAR

[Fire1981]

But there is a clear glass on the outer part of the cane and the core is encased by that with the mica in the clear glass. 🔥

RAR