Glass tubing

[rvp117]

My first glass order is coming up before I know it and I'm just trying to get my bearings.

I've heard some of these smaller torches have trouble cutting anything over 5mm. Don't know how accurate that is?

Should I be going with that chinese import tubing for my first run?

I've been looking at mountain glass because I hear they have great customer service.
I'm gonna go with seconds either from northstar or momka for my color rods.

What about puntys?

[Matt P]

I work 12mm solid rods on my Nortel Minor for pendants, and 19x3mm tubing as well. That being said, it isn't fast haha

I would recommend chinese tubing if you're tight on cash, but I've heard from many that the import rod is total garbage.

The tubing can be a bit harder to work, its real shocky. Basically you can't throw it straight into the flame all at once, but that's not necessarily a great habit anyway. It'll have some bubbles in it, and not perfectly even wall thickness. I'm using it, and its been great to learn on though, especially because I have a very small glass budget. I do buy Simax rod though, and I think with your rod its worth it.

Try searching for a few different things, there's loads of info on what types of tubing to buy and sizes, etc.

Have fun getting into the art/addiction of glass!

oh, and Mountain Glass is great, so it Glasscraft and ABR. I've used all three sites and love them all.

[HOSS]

Get odds rather than seconds. They're good quality glass, just not perfectly straight and round etc. Seconds sometimes have more serious problems like seeds and compatability issues.

Several suppliers also have bags of "shorts" for something like $20/lb, this is usually first quality glass but comes in random color rods usually 3-6" long. Great for beginners because you get to experiment with a bunch of different colors from diferent brands, and its probably the cheapest per lb you'l find on good color.

[Matt P]

What about puntys?

oh, and what about them?

I use 5mm and 10mm for almost all my punties. I finish some pendants off with 3mm rods, but I find I'm using them less lately and just marvering the end of a 5 mm rod a bit more. Trying to get more consistency in my work.

And I second the comment about getting "odds" rather than seconds.

[GlassConnoisseur]

If you do go with import tube, cut it down to footlong lengths or whatever you can fit into your kiln and pre anneal it. I'd go with kimble though if i were you, and depending on what torch you have it'll work bigger than 5mm, it'll just take a little longer. I worked up to 25mm heavy wall on a natty 3a with a oxy3 tip for my first few months, and now that i have a lynx i work up to 38mm heavy wall but i have to push her. Hit up some china color for sure though, the dark blue, amber, and green seem to be pretty decent. Also try to find the closest supplier to you, shipping isn't cheap.

[Matt P]

Also try to find the closest supplier to you, shipping isn't cheap.

wise words. Main reason I got with glasscraft over the others is that I live right between BOTH their locations. So shipping is usually cheapest a lot from them. Its amazing how fast the shipping adds up.

Put your shopping list all together, then sleep on it, then go through it again. Especially with your first order, if you're anything like me, you'll forget a few things the first time through :chilling: haha

[RedToroBoro]

To get good color shorts, try trevsglass.com they have Momka shorts and Northstar shorts. Great customer service, like Mountain Glass. At Mountain you might want to start here...

http://www.mountainglass.com/Products/BOROSILICATE-CLEAR-TUBING-AND-ROD-STARTER-KITS/

[rvp117]

Ty for all the help, I would not be this informed without you guys. About the puntys, I hear there's hot & cold puntys, are they metal or glass? I also haven't seen any offering silver to fume with?

[Icarus]

^^^^

You need to get yourself a copy of "Contemporary Lampworking 1 & 2" by Bandhu Scott Dunham... and a proper grasp of how to use the search engine.

[rvp117]

I will do some more searching, I've been kind of time-constrained last week of school and all. Yea, I also need to pick up the lampworking guide.

[MUPH]

I will do some more searching, I've been kind of time-constrained last week of school and all. Yea, I also need to pick up the lampworking guide.


You seriously need to do some research on your own. Every question I've seen from you so far could have been answered on your own in the search. The forum shouldn't have to suffer because you can't budget your time

[STROKER]

^^^ what ben said.

your laziness does not constitue a problem on our end.