corning question?

[newmexicomagma]

did anyone buy any corning 38 heavy wall from glasscraft. my buddy had a bunch and it cracked and checked every pipe. multiple blowers have used it and the same thing happens. i was just wondering cause he has already talked to glasscraft and if anyone else has had the problem it would help the case of getting pyrex to replace it. thanks.

[phab]

...was it pyrex 777 glass he bought? , just wondering. on an unrelated corning topic theyre having some problems. i saw the ceo on the news this morning but i didnt get a chance to hear the interview.

http://www.kwtx.com/money/headlines/38447989.html

[newmexicomagma]

i dont know, but every piece that was made from the tubing ended cracking bad in the kiln and then out of the kiln it would crack while you were holding it. craziest thing ever. anyways was just wondering if anyone else had a problem with corning glass. KIMBLE ALL THE WAY BABY!!!!!!!

[Snurf]

I haven't tried the Corning 38mm, but i did find out that Glass craft charges a crap load for Corning. glass craft sells Corning 50x5 for 5.00 an lb. They sell Simax 50x5 for 3.50 an lb. Kimble is good to but they have all the big sizes of that on back order. I'm a big simax fan, and glad they give a great deal on it when ya buy it by the case.

[notsure]

I got a case of the corning 38 about 2 months ago used it up and had not problems. Only got it cause they're out of kimble though and don't recommend it because of price and quality.

[michaeL25]

I have all corning. cases of 5,8,12,16,24 rod cases of 12,32,50,60something tube. it's all i've ever used since i started. haven't had any problems with it, but then again, i don't know if anything else is superior. seems like everyone has their own opinion. I'd like to try Kimble, since it's made in the states.

[jr23]

M25 pyrex was all I used and in the last year I stopped buying it as the last 50mil I got from them almost bounced itself of the rollers I got it from wale and it was the worst stuff ever. After that and reading stuff just like magma said I did some research and discovered it has been getting worse and worse over the last few years! When you get your big tube give it a roll on the floor if you don't have a bench roller and you will see what I mean! I use Ba for prodo and I have some simax I keep around for mibs and nice stuff!

[J Howard]

corning's glass has sucked since 2001. they slightly changed the formula and changed the factory where it was made (according to tom wilson, ex corning factory manager and northstar owner)

the best pyrex brand glass came from the factories in Japan where they could use more salt as a cap (different environmental laws concerning chlorine emissions). they stopped using that factory in 2001 or so


i absolutely swear by simax and will use nothing else, including schott, schott artistic, or kimble.

i base this on the quality of the surface, how it reacts to silver and gold fume, my production times (fastest w/ simax = about a 5$ an hour raise), and no breakage.
schott would be my 2nd choice, and their artistic my 3rd. i have no qualms paying for the better glass, because i've tested them all and i can actually see the difference in my bottom line, sales (fumed christmas ornaments made out of simax easily outsell the others), and breakage rates, and, (i'll mention it again) production times.

so, use what you what you want, just be sure that if you're cutting corners to save money, do the math all the way out. sometimes saving money up front just costs you in the end.

[michaeL25]

interesting. i've only used the big stuff a couple of times. it definately wasn't as off as the piece you mentioned, but i didn't really inspect it that closely. I'll have to check my stock this weekend.

i do notice that on my 25 mil rod that it's not perfectly smooth, but it's not far off enough to really notice.

thread jack alert: who makes the best clear in terms of working capability (not fuming)? I have simax flat rod, but never really tried anything else.

[newmexicomagma]

ive noticed the same thing about the bigger corning tbing, i put a piece of 50 on rollers and it was bent bad. i feel that being all 33 coe glass it all works so similar it breaks down to personal preference and budget. ive used all the dif glasses and dont see much of a dfference.

[michaeL25]

I didn't see Cravyn's post before my last one. Thanks for the info!

non-chinese clear is all in the same pricing ballpark as far as i'm concerned, so getting the most expensive really doesn't factor in considering all the other areas you gain value, as Cravyn pointed out.

[Johan]

national scientific sells good pyrex...at least i think so. Pyrex seems to react better with fuming, but Simax isn't too far behind. I also like the depth that pyrex gives..maybe thats just me.

Personally i wouldn't buy pyrex from an art supply shop. Most art shops try to get the cheapest deals, while scientific shops tend to focus more on quality.

[somewhere]

corning's glass has sucked since 2001. they slightly changed the formula and changed the factory where it was made (according to tom wilson, ex corning factory manager and northstar owner)

the best pyrex brand glass came from the factories in Japan where they could use more salt as a cap (different environmental laws concerning chlorine emissions). they stopped using that factory in 2001 or so


i absolutely swear by simax and will use nothing else, including schott, schott artistic, or kimble.

i base this on the quality of the surface, how it reacts to silver and gold fume, my production times (fastest w/ simax = about a 5$ an hour raise), and no breakage.
schott would be my 2nd choice, and their artistic my 3rd. i have no qualms paying for the better glass, because i've tested them all and i can actually see the difference in my bottom line, sales (fumed christmas ornaments made out of simax easily outsell the others), and breakage rates, and, (i'll mention it again) production times.

so, use what you what you want, just be sure that if you're cutting corners to save money, do the math all the way out. sometimes saving money up front just costs you in the end.

I find your testimonial interesting but it doesn't sound like you use anything but Simax. Have you ever tried the Kimble artistic line. I'm just curious because I really can't tell the difference between Simax and Kimble Artistic which we order and use both regularly. I'm not looking to argue but I find them so similar I have no problem interchanging them.

[newmexicomagma]

IMO i find all of them to melt and cool the same. ive always thought the rate of expansion determines how the glass moves? i think that it is a arguable statement when it comes to fuming but myself, i dont use alot of fuming. (per se). my buddy just talked to someone from corning today and supposedly some is still made here in america.......anyhoo, ive heard that kimbles artistic line is made under the same standards as their scientific line, which would mean quality boro....? i will give simax props on their polished ends though:) but back to corning he ordered it around october of last year still no one else had the probs with it?

[melter skelter]

the Japanese corning one inch rod was the SHIZNITTleberry :crazy:

[jr23]

yep I miss the one inch pyrex goods When I first started a chick dumped all her supply's at my place and it had 2 of good 1 inch rods I could throw em in the flame being a noob never cracked a one or bubbled up mib len's and stuff. Why is pyrex going downhill anyway. Is it the global market are these companys being bought and sold then chopped for profit margins .

[J Howard]

you couldn't pay me to use kimble, but i have not tried kimble's artistic line. it's got to be really good, because i don't like to mix brands of glass either. (they have different cooling rates, and you ask for problems on large involved pieces when you mix brands. to switch brands, i'd have to eventually switch out all my back stock. if another brand was significantly better, i'd consider it. periodically i'll order samples from the other companies, or nice people like kristian will give me a kick down to test them out, just to see if there's been any changes. but i will admit, i've yet to try the KA. if any distributors are reading this, and you'd like a professional comparison of it, i can do a decent test with a 1/3 tube of 1" hvy wall. i don't work for or have any relations to simax, i just like it. but i'd be happy to give you a straight up review.

[michaeL25]

Yup. my >50mm pyrex is not round. i just thought i couldn't pull a >50mm point, but i at least have the excuse of uneven wall thickness and out of round tubing now.. I was able to turn out a ~1.7 inch (all tube, no added lens) or so disc flip to implosion mib without the tubing getting too wonky. my 32 heavy pyrex doesn't like to get worked that much for some reason. i'm going to order some simax, kimble and duran to see how they compare.