Shorts

[LaurieBSmith]

I have six years' worth of short glass ends . . . what the holy heck do I do with it?

I'm convinced I'm not going to use it. I've had it at the ready forever. I can reach if I want to, but I don't. I often use up a full piece of glass if it's under 8 inches, but the shorter pieces just stay there.

Most of it is under 6 inches. Anyone have an idea? I can't bring myself to throw it away. That's just wrong. Someone could use it, I'm sure.

Ideas? Requests?

Edited to add: I'm probably not going to do the efficient things with them. I don't enjoy working with fused rods and I have stringer out the wazoo. Someone want them?

[Megan]

Send them to me.. LOL

You could pull stringer from them.. Attach them to other rods..

[coyotesfamily]

oh yes, post in the garage, someone will be more than happy to take them off your hands! I love shorts!!! :D 8-[

[LaurieBSmith]

Send them to me.. LOL

You could pull stringer from them.. Attach them to other rods..

Do you really want them? Seriously?

I've tried the stringer and rod thing, but there's so much of it, and it's just not going to happen. I know myself . . . I'm not efficient that way.

Want them?

[Rebekah]

Fuse those bad boys together and make new rods! That's what I do anyway.

Bek

[sassy]

Sure post them in garage sale. I buy shorts and use them for pulling stringer and such. I will buy them if you pm me a price.

[Phoenix]

I like shorts for playing with new colors I may not have bought- they are good for a treasure hunt and stringers when they aren't your own- post in the garage sale! Amber just sold hers as well on ebay i believe.

[LaurieBSmith]

Sell them? but for how much?

[msjjjj]

Arrow Springs has a great tool - Uncle Al Rob Grabber - that allows you to use them down to the last half inch or so. The best 30.00 I have invested in a long time.......
Marjorie

[Flamechick]

You could do a mini pot melt like the tute shown in the fusing thread:

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11761

[LaurieBSmith]

Arrow Springs has a great tool - Uncle Al Rob Grabber - that allows you to use them down to the last half inch or so. The best 30.00 I have invested in a long time.......
Marjorie

Yeah, I've got it. Nice tool, but I'm just not efficient enough to use it.

[LaurieBSmith]

You could do a mini pot melt like the tute shown in the fusing thread:

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11761

Oh wow...thanks!

This is the next thing I'll try......if it doesn't work, I'll probably post them in the garage!

This looks like fun!

[Flamechick]

Let us know how it goes....I've been wanting to do this, but I have not yet found some unglazed tiles to cut and make into a bridge.

[meitali]

i'd love to have more shorts too, i use them! i either make stringers- allways fun thing to do, use them as bases for focals so the whole short goes on the bead (for focals, as it is harder to measure the amount of glas...), and my newest- using the shorts as the beginnings of marbles! each time i get a short and i put it aside i already start to plan the marble i will make with it... :-)

as for fusing them- you can fuse them and then batch anneal the rods you get, you shouldn't have problems at the connections.

[Cosmo]

Fuse those bad boys together and make new rods! That's what I do anyway.

Bek

Yep. That's what I do. Take a couple shorts of the same color, heat the ends, melt them together, and you have yourself a full sized rod. I've never had a problem with them breaking without annealing them. I just set them down and let them cool on their own.

[Juliac]

Sort the colors and make frit! Put o few colors together that you like, heat them up in your kiln in a pyrex bowl, dump them while hot in a pan of water, dry and put them in a double zip lock baggie and whack them with a hammer and then sift. Easier to do than write all this!!!

[lunamoonshadow]

Post them in bundles in the "Pay it forward" thread in the game room...newbies LOVE shorts!! (heck, I love shorts!!...oh, wait, I'm still a newbie...and I love shorts!!)

Check the RAOGK thread, send handfulls to the people there who posted that they love shorts...

[sassy]

You can also use the very, very small pieces to make frit.

[meitali]

ooh, and also what jess said! i didn't buy glass on the net so far, so i only get to choose from what our 1 supplier brings to israel... sometimes there is a big variety to chose from, sometimes there isn't. so shorts are a great way to try some new colors.

[lunamoonshadow]

Oh...and Bullseye sells a "Rod-Pod" (haven't tried it, don't have a kiln yet) that you can put rod pieces into & re-fuse them together in the kiln for longer rods to use...(it intrigues me...I keep thinking you could make cool "marble-colored" rods in it...I want one ;))

[IF-Designs]

get a coffee grinder and make FRIT FRIT FRIT ;) or you could sell them in the garage sale :)

[torchie]

I have just started fusing mine back together to make a new rods. I was to busy to do this before but money is tight because I am trying to upgrade my torch. Not much money left over for new glass these days.

I also am using the little ones fused to the end of clear rods to do color mixing.
So far I got a five rods of crud and two really cool colors.\\:D/

Ruth

[Deepwood Art]

I'm not efficient with shorts, either, but sometimes I make myself use them up, especially if I'm running low on a certain color. I use murrini hemostats to grab them and use them down to the nub. I'm always so proud of myself when I do this. :biggrin:

If the melting pot thing doesn't work out, and you're willing to actually give them away otherwise, put them on eBay and start the auction at a really low price (enough to make up for the listing fees). That way if they sell for really low you're not out any major amount, and if they go high then you've made a little money on perfectly good glass. :)

Fran

[LaurieBSmith]

I'm not efficient with shorts, either, but sometimes I make myself use them up, especially if I'm running low on a certain color. I use murrini hemostats to grab them and use them down to the nub. I'm always so proud of myself when I do this. :biggrin:

If the melting pot thing doesn't work out, and you're willing to actually give them away otherwise, put them on eBay and start the auction at a really low price (enough to make up for the listing fees). That way if they sell for really low you're not out any major amount, and if they go high then you've made a little money on perfectly good glass. :)

Fran

I expect that they will end up on eBay. I've had a lot of requests for them, via PM's and that just put me on pins and needles that I will do the wrong thing and PO someone.

And....I am usually quite proud of myself when I use up a short piece too. I use my pliers or rod grabber and feel very smug that there is one less piece of glass going to waste!