soft glass is for girls and boro is for boys
I know many people work with both but it also seems there are quite a few that work exclusively with one or another. Anyone want to tell which they prefer and why?
soft glass is for girls and boro is for boys
oooh, thems fightin' words
In my opinion it really just depends on what you want to make since both have their strong points for certain applications. Unless you have a furnace setup, boro's pretty much the go to glass for blown work. It's possible to do sculpture with it, but again there's a whole subset of pros and cons there.
Soft is generally preferred for beads and sculpture partly for cost and partly for it's increased working time. By and large soft glass is cheaper than boro, but there are some exceptions (R4, Double Helix come to mind).
In my shop I have moretti, boro, and Bullseye and Uroboros glass, all of which get used at different times depending on what I want to work on.
My advice? Find one you like and get some quality time with it, but when you need to do something different, switch to the other type for a day just to get some practice in.
Just remember, advice is free and you get what you pay for
Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around, and desert you.
I use Boro for sculptures and soft for bracelets etc...
You are full of it because you can't melt soft glass!
It is beyond your experience I feel.
Drop by my house and try any time.
For me, I am on a learning curve with Boro as I have torched marbles only about 20 times now. Soft soda-lime glass is very difficult because you have to learn it's qualities and not just, "Turn up the oxy" as most Boro artists profess.
I have respect and a liking for BOTH types of glass and certainly will not try to make others that prefer one type or another to feel bad.
i can melt soft glass,i bought a brand new pirahnna a few years back just for soft glass(after a couple classes on sculpture with marc vandenberg)because as we all know a cc is not going to work well for soft glass.but now i stick to boro and leave the soft glass to the bead ladies and the italians.
For me, the colors in soft glass just aren't appealing. I don't really care for the bright colors of soft glass. These days they are making a lot of soft glass colors that are supposed to "look like borosilicate", but they are pretty expensive and the results aren't consistent.
I also like the way borosilicate works in the flame. I like the way the clear flows quicker than color. That suits my working style. In soft glass, the opaque colors flow before the transparents.
Borosilicate is also more forgiving, which is a big plus for me.
One last thing.... maybe it's just the kid in me, but I like the big flame you use with borosilicate....
For me it is all about color palate. I do sculpture in both boro and soft. I do beads and pendants in both. It just depends on what color I want.
I never tried sculpture with soft, I think I want to... I like the color
range of soft and I'm wondering how it will work and feel in the fire...
One of the appealing things about soft glass is using a smaller torch and being able to melt without O2 tanks. (concentrators instead). Many soft glass beadmakers start off on a hothead torch for $35. Pretty cheap way to decide if glass is for you. It is cheaper glass by the pound for the most part and what is pushed in most beginner classes offered to the masses.
Interesting comment on the colors Cosmo. I like soft and dreamy and many of my beads happen to be just that. All in soft glass, go figure? But I do agree the silver colors aren't easy like Boro. I suspect they will get there. Wasn't it only two years ago I was seeing the first one's appear for soft glass workers?
I like both. I can see reasons to use both in my bead work. They work differently and one can use what they prefer for specific purposes.
I don't believe one is better than the other. I find having options is what matters most to me.
One of the benefits of flameworking with softglass is the ability to incorporate it with hot glass. These two techniques used in conjunction can create some beautiful pieces.
i hate soft glass.. i started in a hot shop... i will never touch the stuff again unless i am in a hotshop and someone hands me a blow pipe or something... but boro is just ideal for me.
I highly recomend being versed in both. Being able to hollow form with soft tubing is an unbelievable advantage for boro workers. You learn so much so quickly once you get the hang of it.
I would say that every boro worker interested in montage work should at least take one class from Andre Gutgesel or Carl Ittig if possible. I know most people poo-poo the soda lime tubing, but once you get started it will be addictive and I assure you that you will come away with a whole new pallete of glass you will be able to work with.
In my opinion, soft glass has boro beat by a mile. I work more boro, because I really can't sculpt or have interest in it. My next body of work will be almost exclusively soft glass as soon as I get a blower for my herbie, a Thurengian burner and a few cases of Lauscha tubing and two years to just work the shit out of it.
If anyone wants to buy some coe 90 Schott, I've got 30 ml tubing that's compatable with bullseye. lol
I primarily work boro, but I will venture into soft glass every once in a while... I prefer the work that can be done in boro, but when you look at Lucio Bubacco's work it's amazing and all done in soft glasss (moretti)... So it make's you question, which medium should I choose???
Just remember the choice isn't permanent so you can always change your mind and try something else...
Aloha!
Ben Burton Glass
http://www.benburtonglass.com
www.glassartists.org/benburton
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I'm with Mentysixes - got effetri, urobos & other system 96, bullseye & kugler, and of course, boro. Get 'em mixed up and you get some wonderfully checked cane, etc.
Howdy Ben - it's a different animal but learning to work the soda lime can be rewarding. It's all good for something.
http://www.spiderglassblowing.com "May you live all the days of your life!" Jonathan Swift
Last edited by richsantaclaus; 10-30-2007 at 04:51 PM.
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