strongest glass?

[artoflife]

Hey guys I still have not started working with glass so I don't know if this is a stupid question or not but I was at a ornament store the other day and noticed a section that was a bunch of cool little pieces that looked like they were torch blown like I have seen on here. I was looking at them close and holding them and noticed that most of them were pretty thin and I felt like if I were to drop it, it would break. I have a pipe that I bought a few years ago which was obviously torch made because from what I have been learning it seems all hand size pipes are made from a torch and glass rod.

anyway my question is how do you make a piece thicker and stronger? My pipe is super super thick and they called it double blown? I feel like I could drop it on cement and it would just be scratched. Is there thicker glass rods you use to make such a heave duty pipe or do you have to make a piece and then layer it somehow with more glass to double it up? hence the word double blown?

I know this question is somewhat pointless because I'm not even capable of making any such thing yet but I'm just curious and would like to know the answer

Thanks

[Kato]

glass comes in all sorts of diameters and thickness. the ornaments you saw were probably blown out, where as your pipe is mostly condensed glass. Honestly you could take 4 inches of 25x4 mm tubing and make either a pipe like you have or an ornament like you saw. It's just matters what kind of wizard spell you put on it. :)

[Master Yoda]

Most likely they where made from tube, not rod. To make glass (any glass) stronger simply make it thicker, to assure proper strength though the glass much be annealed properly, which can become much trickier the thicker the glass gets. So there can be situations where a thinner, properly annealed glass object is more durable then a similar thicker, poorly annealed one is.

As far as I know fused quartz blows boro out of the water in terms as strength. But due to it's high melting temp it is rarely used to make anything functional outside of lab settings.

Oh and Kato, I only know one spell but it is the infamous Lv. 9 "Wish"

[Julian]

The style for ornaments is to make them thin. Typically you want them to be light, so they don't weight down a tree, and large so you blow them out thin (it's fun!). Pipes need to be more durable, so usually they're made more thick.

Boro is a little stronger than soft glass, and less likely to chip, but no glass piece is indestructible.

The 'double blown' term isn't actually meaningful to glassblowers. Generally, you make something more thick by condensing it and not blowing it out. Whether you layer it, encase it etc. only makes a difference in how much glass you have, because you can always blow something out thin, or condense it as thick as desired.

A consistent wall thickness is important for strength, which comes with skill and experience. It's important that any blown glass piece be annealed in a kiln, too. Annealing relieves stress, which can mean the difference between something shattering or bouncing.

[jseden]

Despite its high working temp, Quartz is actually very fragile. Its low elastic limit makes it extremely brittle. I think some of the stronger glasses are those of higher C.O.E.

[jseden]

See corning gorilla glass

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla_Glass

Other than that, I think the strongest would be the most flexible

[Julian]

Tempered glass has magic powers, too... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toughened_glass but I don't know of way to make that work with flameworked glass.

[Frostbite]

I have a piece made from Schott Duran, real thick blocky spoon...i swear I could throw it accross an asphalt parking lot and it couldn't get a scratch..no idea what makes the duran so much stronger than other schott boro like artistic (other than maybe my imagination?)

[jseden]

Julian..

You can make prince rupert drops with a torch

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Rupert's_Drop

Tempered glasses strength goes out the window as soon as you break the surface though

[smolder holder]

Yes! Prince ruperts drops with softglass on a torch. My kids loved that!

[artoflife]

Thanks for that information guys, that makes a lot more sense now! I really love that thick glass and the way mine is done looks sweet. It has like fire red swirls deep inside it and then the outer shell is like a smoked burnt orange so you can see that there is depth in the glass. It looks fricken awesome! I'm excited do start working and getting to the point where I can put my imagination into a good piece!

I was really surprised tho, Those ornaments were only $4 a piece. That seemed really cheap to me after learning what all goes into making a piece. It was about 3inch tall and 1inch diameter but it still looked like it took some time being that it had different shapes and colors. I assume the individual makes those non stop and then sells them to the store for cheaper then 4 a piece because the store is obviously going to raise the price. So either an experienced torcher can whip those out quicker then I think or the real money is in doing your own custom work pieces and selling them on your own at craft shows or maybe online and making the full profit.

I don't even plan on selling anything for a while tho. I'm only thinking of this as a hobby because I love this kind of art work and I'm probably going to want to keep anything cool I make anyway lol

[jseden]

could be imports.. or not. There I know some orniments Ide very happily sell for $4 all day

[full_kiln]

Gorilla glass is aluminosilicate

[jseden]

Theoretically..

[full_kiln]

Theoretically it can hold 1 million psi

[themoch]

... you had me at Double Blown.


i'd share the link to the wiki so you could read up on industry terms, but it seems that the wiki is down... LAME!

[Julian]

Unfortunately the Wiki needs to upgraded from a rather ancient version of mediawiki to the newest one, and due to the significant version difference there are a few sings and snags. In the meantime we had to place it on hold, but thanks for the reminder el Moch.

[Greymatter Glass]

no idea what makes the duran so much stronger than other schott boro like artistic (other than maybe my imagination?)

Just imagination. When you get it, it's the same glass, chemically, if not mechanically. After it's been worked and annealed you shouldn't be able to tell them apart.