Schott Boro Artistic - If you hate it, please tell me why.

**The Lorax** · 07-09-2009, 06:10 PM

i've been doing honeycombs with simax recently... now i haven't done combs for a long long time so i figured that was my problem at first... but now i am convinced its the simax.

when i do combs w/ simax (44x3) my combs look flat, and 2-dish..... with little to no crystal growth... although with my schott BA (25x4) its like the combs always have a nice 3-d depth from the growth.... i'm gonna give the schott a try tomorrow for combs b/c i think i just found the answer to my honeycomb problem that was driving me crazy this week.

with that said, i prefer simax still for ISO fume work....

anyways.... sorry bout the shitty pics but its the best i can do. comb on the right(its a broken old comb) is SBA, left is simax... its pretty clear how cartoony and shitty the simax one looks, while the SBA one has much better depth. even with the thick walls, the simax one doesn't strike into the glass the way the SBA did...

**$$$$$$$** · 07-09-2009, 06:38 PM

throw those in the kiln for a week or two then snap some photos.. pure simax magic

**The Lorax** · 07-09-2009, 07:09 PM

i've never had any luck with kiln striking... but haven't tried much either... hoping to work on techs like that at AGI this year

**nodice** · 07-09-2009, 07:28 PM

Isn't that pic voorhese posted ratti with some kinda silver color in it(like amber purple)? Doesn't look like a honeycomb to me.....

**Dom** · 07-10-2009, 01:42 AM

Nah its a comb, and there is another comb marble on that same piece that has rad colors too.

And lorax, Adam meant just to throw it in there while you are working, just at the normal 1050. It strikes as the cycles warm up and down.

**MUPH** · 07-10-2009, 04:22 AM

Thanks for the pics, I was looking for a comparrison

**jr23** · 07-10-2009, 05:02 AM

yep lorax. Same thing as a flame strike its not the high temp its the journey there and back where the magic happens.

The left one will look better after kiln cycles and the one on the right will just get more and more white and cloudy.

depth or no depth I like the one on the left and as it strikes it will grow more.

**fumalicious** · 07-10-2009, 04:03 PM

VOORHEES is absolutely right, imo. Sick work man!

I don't mean ANY offense to anyone above, I guess my taste in fume is mad different. But when I get fume like what was posted above I'm really disappointed (obviously aside from VOORHEES colors). I HATE HATE HATE the fume that comes out of BA... it's cloudy, hard to control, and for me personally I just don't like the range of colors you get that actually do come out. The hue itself on any color is just fuzzy and bland... it doesn't POP like it's supposed to.... and I actually have a pretty good handle on how to fume with different glass i.e. duran or simax or pyrex...

You guys say "purple"... look at the top reversal on this bub I made- are you saying that kind of purple with that color of green mixed in? Let alone all the CRISP blues in the canes/ attachments??

http://www.glasspipes.org/Img145936_...ler.6.8.07.asp

If someone can replicate those colors with BA I'd be VERY impressed- I sure as hell can't do it no matter what I try. If I made that bub out of BA it would be yucky white/ gold. Like VOORHEES said, you get white right and left... and it's not a good shiny sharp white, it's a dull soft blah white. I find it's near impossible to control the fume once applied too- it clouds out HARD no matter what you do, how fast you work, etc.

Other issue for me is rods all the way down to like 8mm pop off pieces in the flame like it's chinex... that sucks. Simax rarely pops at much bigger size rods let alone the small ones. Oh and I have to agree with whoever mentioned small rods breaking a lot... 4mm is like 2mm (as was said).

I do want to say though, Adam is the man and is awesome to deal with- always been stoked. I just wish I liked your glass more Adam!!!

**The Lorax** · 07-10-2009, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by dBDom

And lorax, Adam meant just to throw it in there while you are working, just at the normal 1050. It strikes as the cycles warm up and down.

yea i've done this a few times and noticed no difference... i might not use my kiln as much as you guys tho since i try to use it as little as possible?... like since i do 98% fume work i let most of it bench cool, assemble later and then anneal.. but i've had 1 comb in there for 3 cycles now (it def has some fume, but right now looks 100% clear) maybe i'll toss a slide in there and keep track of it over the week.

i would feel guilty about robbing electricity from my parents if i used my kiln more than i do now also, which is why i like to use it as little as possible..... heh.

and fumealicious, those colors are some serious inspiration and a fine example of what fumework can be. i wish i could fume as consistent as you do, its still somewhat luck for me when i get some amazing colors out of the fume... although i've learned a few tricks along the journey.

**Kevin Bumble** · 07-11-2009, 03:25 AM

just got back to this and i havent read it all yet, has ant one mentioned cords? I belive the best way to exsplain my complaint is just this. there seems to be a viscosity break down in the tube formation which causes it to gather weird or show lines when blown thin. my undersanding of this is when the glass is in the crucible it wares down the silica in the walls of the pot the exterere glass content absorbs this and creates the vicosity diference we notice ( ie fume lies) the cord lines bother me more when working with clear thin. That said i'll pay more for better glass (when i need it) my shop encludunig me runs thru this stuff like its water. we love it to use thick, just not cup or goblet work.

**broken glass** · 07-12-2009, 10:13 AM

I guess that fuming is the problem, but I don't fume much, and I like the honeycombs that I get from using striking colors heavily encased with Schott BA.......
I am actually going to take my camera today and get some pics, to show that you can do nice combs with it. I get many compliments on them. But it is not a fume comb, so I guess it does not prove anything to those who chose do fume combs, or just want their fume to look top notch in any application while using schott Ba.

Props to Adam though, for having a thread like this to get feedback and relay that to Schott. A great representative for glassblowers. UST allways supporting the scene and evolving with it.

**jr23** · 07-13-2009, 06:10 PM

Pics sucked to much light. Had to pull it

but I will make one more out of the tube section I have sleeved then do a side by side with a section of ap sleeved with some other type.

cause it looks like what some like others don't

so pics are a must in this thread.

**$$$$$$$** · 07-13-2009, 11:41 PM

Here are a few I have made with Simax, just silver fume, flame struck one time, occasionally 2.

I have one that I made with SBA up at the shop, I'll try to snap a photo of it.

**chayes** · 07-14-2009, 12:00 AM

nice.

**mer** · 07-14-2009, 12:31 AM

struck once/twice? i'm kinda blown away. you're a madman.

**$$$$$$$** · 07-14-2009, 01:02 AM

the last 4 or so I made have only taken one flame strike and they have turned out some of the best colors I have achieved.. The last pic of the faceted one is a one strike.. Some of the others posted are 3-4 years old so I can't quite remember, but the best one's come with one strike..

**jr23** · 07-14-2009, 05:22 AM

I have always thought your fume combs where tits. I have seen some with sba with the same type depth and such but every one no matter how nice is really cloudy white.

Oh well to each there own.

Like was said before if they change the formula some will not like it.

what a rock in a hard place he should put up a poll to see how many really like the sba at its current state.

**medicatedMELTDOWN** · 07-16-2009, 06:27 PM

I've been wanting to try Schott boro artistic for a long time, but I had a lot of old clear stock to use up first. Now I am at the point where I really need to order at least 7 cases of clear and probably more like 10+ cases. I am trying to decide what brand to go with. I talked to Doug (greymatter glass) over 4 months ago about ordering some cases of schott.(because I thought I could save on shipping since he is closer to me. Now I learned that isn't true since it would have shipped from cali anway...) Anyway Doug offered to send me a sample pack of Schott so I could test it before I ordered cases and I gave him my address and offered to pay for the samples/shipping. I've sent a few more PMs and still haven't heard from him..... Doug?

So I still want to get a decent sample of Schott BA before I place my order. Anyone able to help me out? I would pay for the sample and the shipping, but I got the impression it was common for free samples of schott to be offered by distributors?

**KT-Old School Glass** · 07-17-2009, 05:07 AM

Originally Posted by medicatedMELTDOWN

I've been wanting to try Schott boro artistic for a long time, but I had a lot of old clear stock to use up first. Now I am at the point where I really need to order at least 7 cases of clear and probably more like 10+ cases. I am trying to decide what brand to go with. I talked to Doug (greymatter glass) over 4 months ago about ordering some cases of schott.(because I thought I could save on shipping since he is closer to me. Now I learned that isn't true since it would have shipped from cali anway...) Anyway Doug offered to send me a sample pack of Schott so I could test it before I ordered cases and I gave him my address and offered to pay for the samples/shipping. I've sent a few more PMs and still haven't heard from him..... Doug?

So I still want to get a decent sample of Schott BA before I place my order. Anyone able to help me out? I would pay for the sample and the shipping, but I got the impression it was common for free samples of schott to be offered by distributors?

Email me your address and all and I will get some samples out to you.

**KT-Old School Glass** · 07-17-2009, 05:19 AM

I have stayed off of this thread because I am a distributor of the SBA.

I would like to give my opinion as an artist that works with the SBA though.

I love the working characteristics...a little stiffer with a little longer working time. As far as fuming, it was just a matter of tweaking the way I fume.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't get much of a chance at the torch any more but when I do I use the SBA.