Glass Tubing/Rod comparison?

[Glass Pyro]

What do you guys think as far as most cost effective glass.

I am looking for best bang for my buck without sacrificing quality.

I have been using Simax, that was what I was sold as a newbie.

But Now I am seeing Kimax and UST Glass, who makes the cheapest best glass.

I already got a few cases of Kimax yesterday, hope I made a good choice, seemed cheaper.

Please voice your opinions, I am trying to get the most bang for my buckaroo.

I shop at Mountain Glass Arts usually.

[jr23]

I like Pyrex and Simax, The kimble I tried seemed to have more chords or lines in it and I did not like it because of the ratio of what I would call seconds in the case. I only tried it once.

[J Howard]

i swear by simax myself

[mer]

i liked pyrex at first because it seemed to move a little more slowly. i tried to use chinese clear to save money but i found the amount of cracking and already broken tubes pretty much wiped out my savings. i use simax and i'm stoked with it but i've heard good things about sba too. hope that helps.

[nodice]

If you're just lookin for the cheapest glass, ust is your best bet. It usually costs half as much as kimax, simax, schott. or pyrex....

[blazemaster83]

i bought a case of UST and it worked nice, just like simax. the only thing i didnt like, is that the are not polished ends, they are rough cut, and some have some bad chips. but i guess thats what you get with a bit cheaper materials...

[garrick]

simax is all i use, for me its tried and true. you are not saving yourself any money if a 1/4 of a tube explodes for no reason.

[Lurch]

I use Pyrex 95% of the time. If not then Schott...

[Greymatter Glass]

I sell Schott BoroArtistic from UST. It's important to note there are 2 clear glasses from UST, the chinese glass and the Schott BA. I sell the BoroArtistic from Schott because I think it's great glass - so is Simax, but the BA is more cost effective for me.

I do not sell Chinese clear. The Schott BA is such a superior glass it's not worth the hassle of selling the "cheapest" glass since BA is affordable.

If you'd like to try some of the BA pm me your mailing address and I'll ship you a small sample. You'll notice that it takes and holds fume differently, allowing more "halo" to develop than other glass I've used.

-Doug

[mer]

does anybody carry schott duran anymore?

[Glass Pyro]

So I am thinking Simax is the best way to go for me......I will find out how the Kimax is though, since I already got some.

Thanks guys.

[VinE]

does anybody carry schott duran anymore?

i think trevs does.

[nodice]

....The Schott BA is such a superior glass ....

What makes it superior to the other ust glass? I can tell you that not only can most(if not all) of my customers not tell the difference in the final product, but I've had glassworkers look at my peices and ask me what kinda glass I use cause the peices looked nice. Course at the time I was using the cheap ust glass stuff, and this can just be cause my stuff isn't the best quality:). Not saying that I haven't had certain problems with the ust glass, but I've had little problems at one time or another with every kind of glass I've used. For instance, I've gotten schott tubing and rod that has scratches/bubbles down most of the tube/rod, lines in the fuming, and it grows silver like it's noones business(this could be good or bad depending...). It also seems to need to be hotter to move the same as other clear glass(kinda like cobalt, but not so extream). Not that I'm saying everyone should use ust glass, but I just don't get what makes schott so good.

[superstupid]

What makes it superior to the other ust glass? I can tell you that not only can most(if not all) of my customers not tell the difference in the final product, but I've had glassworkers look at my peices and ask me what kinda glass I use cause the peices looked nice. Course at the time I was using the cheap ust glass stuff, and this can just be cause my stuff isn't the best quality:). Not saying that I haven't had certain problems with the ust glass, but I've had little problems at one time or another with every kind of glass I've used. For instance, I've gotten schott tubing and rod that has scratches/bubbles down most of the tube/rod, lines in the fuming, and it grows silver like it's noones business(this could be good or bad depending...). It also seems to need to be hotter to move the same as other clear glass(kinda like cobalt, but not so extream). Not that I'm saying everyone should use ust glass, but I just don't get what makes schott so good.

what garrick said. i picked up some ust in smaller sizes when i first started out, and mostly used it for blowtubes. well, i could get but maybe six or seven pieces done and already have gone through a whole tube of 12.7 from it shattering on me from doing the maria/cool/knock off end thing. i thought it was just an unreliable way to do it until i got some schott. problem solved. the 19mm liked to crack alot too, and i thought there was alot of bubbles in the rods. its still a good deal but i get frustrated over that shit and have no problem paying for it to stop. some might be different. now i pretty much use shot exclusively(except my 32x2 because they dont make it) because its cheaper than simax, and better than the other brands ive tried. oh, and the fuming can get out of hand , you just have to add silver in smaller amounts and your good.

[Greymatter Glass]

The Schott BA is better for several reasons. It's not going to revolutionize the way people work with glass forever or anything, but it is superior to the Chinese made tube:

It has higher mechanical tolerances - i.e. less out-of-round, less inconsistency in length, more even wall thickness etc.

Schott BA vs. UST China clear stock has higher chemical tolerances during manufacturing - the likelihood of getting "incompatible" glass is lower (not that I'm aware of any such problems in the Chinese glass).

Fire polished ends! Better packaging! (yes, this does cost more at the production level, but the offset in loss due to breakage covers a lot of that extra cost)

Schott BA does not blow up when introduced to the flame. Sure, every company has some amount of failure, but the rates on the Chinese glass are much higher.

Schott invented borosilicate glass, they have the money and knowledge invested in the industry.

...If you like the Chinese clear go ahead and use it. I'd be happy to quote you some prices for drop shipping from LA. I just don't stock it here in Albuquerque for my shop.

-Doug

[VED]

fuck that cheep chinese shit!!!!! i admit i learned on it and it was fine for small spoons and chilliums. but when you start to make bigger stuff and you loose an hour or mores worth of work because the glass cracks for no reason you will learn to hate it. i have only used simax other wise and it is hands down better glass.

[Big Jay]

Dude exploding chinese tubing is the shit! I highly recomend it to anyone.

[chayes]

Throw a tube of ust on the lathe then throw a tube of the boro artistic on the lathe then you'll start to see a difference. Look at the difference in the glow between the two glasses schott has super nice glow that allows you to read the heat base easier. The ust hass a brighter glow and harder to read. The glasses move differently. Try flaring a foot with ust then try the boro artistic. You may go from something that looks like a fireman helmet to a nice foot. I could go on and on about the differences between these two glasses and why the schott is superior.

I can say safely say that i have had no problems with ust brand exploding when i put it in the flame. Though when i pull a ton of points there is always some that crack on the bench.

[$$$$$$$]

Schott BA is some bullshit.. not the worst, but if your trying to ball out with your silver colors you will get fucked in the ass every time due to overstriking.. I have some Schott BA but once that is gone I'm running back to simax.

[n3rd]

does anybody carry schott duran anymore?

Mark at American Lab Supply in Richmond, CA carries it.

[sunray]

We do carry it at Trev's Glass

[J Howard]

if you ever make the foray into making alot of cups, you'll notice the difference immediately, and will stock better glass just for times when it counts. we were trying the chinese glass for ultra cheap prodo (ie onies) but found that the more expensive simax was cheaper if you played the tape all the way through: in other words included all variables including shatter loss, time to pull points, time to finished product, et cetera. if you only save few bucks a tube, but lose a few points you have to count that. if every piece takes you one minute more on cheap glass, and you make a dollar a minute or more (god bless xmas ornaments!) do the math, and good glass is usually worth it.


if you're a beginner, by all means use crappy glass. it doesn't make too much difference, and learning how to baby the glass into not cracking is a good skill to have as a foundation.

since i've never used the new schott glass, i can't tell you about it (though i'd like to try it). hey doug, can you give me a kwote on a case of 25.4 x 4.0 plus shipping to zip code 13152 -or anybody else for that matter? i'm currently getting simax for 170.00 + shipping on that same case. going by weight, that's about 3.70 a pound if you want to compare apples to apples

[Glass Pyro]

The Kimax is definately cracking more than the Simax, both points and whilst working pieces, you must keep it evenly heated.....but like you said this will teach me to baby the glass more.....I have cases of Kimax now, so I don't really have much of achoice, but it is all good in the hood baby.

Next time I will go back to all Simax.

Thanks for the input guys, keep it coming.