Seconds - economical or trouble?

[DreamMuse]

Boro is so expensive! Just getting 1/4 lb of all the colors I want to try would the bank! LOL

Boro "seconds" are obviously a lot cheaper, but I don't want to end up with a lot of bad glass. So what's the deal with them? Are "firsts" worth the extra money?

Thanks!!
Disa

[lluviabrito]

It really seems to depend, I have gotten a couple of seconds batches that just aren't something I want to make beads out of, and I've also gotten plenty that hardly seem different from first quality.

The worst was a seconds lot of amazon night, the rod isn't solid in color, it is striped blue, green, and grey. This batch doesn't look anything like amazon night when applied onto a bead. I have yet to figure out how to use it and get something pretty! :sad:

[Karen Hardy]

Hi Disa,
I buy a lot of seconds (heck, I live down the road from winship, and they have a sale table - which I always go and poke through!). I really haven't gotten any "bad" boro. Even the weirdest colors are good for something - either as a background color, or (if I really have a lot of something I don't like) I can use it as a "base bead" and apply my better liked colors on top of that in a thinner layer. I bought a bunch of chinese boro that didn't thrill me at first, but then I started using it as a background for my frit mixes and that worked out just peachy!

I would just caution you against going hog wild and buying several pounds of boro seconds. I'm still working my way through the two pounds of ODD weird peach I bought a year ago <g> .

PM me your addy - I'll send you some sample packs of my boro blends to play with.

[jana]

Where do you find "seconds"?

Oh, and you will love, love, love Karen's frits!

[Karen Hardy]

Like I said - winship has a whole bunch of seconds. Also - I think that glasscraft had a whole bunch in their last newsletter: here's the cut-and-pasted info from the newsletter:

Selected Glass Alchemy Occasionals (not seconds but freaking cheap!)

Just $17 / Pound, While Supplies Last

OC-204 Orange Crayon
OC-4646 Paris Green 6
OC-556 Atlantis Sparkle
OC-558 Teal Sparkle
OC-993 Black Blue

Selected Northstar Seconds

Just $12 / Pound, While Supplies Last

NS-28S Blue Exotic Seconds
NS-52S Teal Seconds
NS-53S Forest Green
NS-65S Cherry Seconds

news@glasscraftinc.com - 888-272-3830 or 303-278-4670 - http://www.glasscraftinc.com

[Karen Hardy]

You're just sweet as pie, girlfriend!:waving:
Didja try out the Blue Mojo?

Where do you find "seconds"?

Oh, and you will love, love, love Karen's frits!

[Over the Moon]

For what it's worth - I sometimes buy "odds" from Glasscraft...they're priced between seconds and firsts, but the colours are the same as firsts (so there's no real surprises, and I don't wind up getting stuck with any weird glass), just sometimes the rods are odd-shaped...a wee bit thicker/thinner than regular, but that doesn't change a thing!

[jana]

Not yet, just the Vampire's Kiss....I plan on playing with more boro this weekend...have a bunch of soft glass orders to get done for this week.

You're just sweet as pie, girlfriend!:waving:
Didja try out the Blue Mojo?

[Cosmo]

Seconds are just that. Seconds. You don't know what you are getting. Sometimes it's okay, sometimes it's junk. And, occasionally you'll get a color out of an odd that you can't reproduce.

Odds are a completely different story. Odds are the same formulation as regular color, just in odd shapes (bent rods, not completely round, etc). And odds are usually pretty cheap as well.

[glassdog]

My experiance has been about 80/20. 80% bad and 20% good. I wont be buying any more seconds.
Thanks
Mike

[jana]

I tried the Blue Mojo yesterday, and it is lovely! I will post a pic as soon as my batteries charge!

You're just sweet as pie, girlfriend!:waving:
Didja try out the Blue Mojo?

[Mr. Smiley]

I won't buy seconds unless I can put my eyeballs and fingers on them. They are OK in some colors, but worthless in others. Odds are pretty much OK. I am spoiled, I can hand pick it all. I go through thousands of pounds to get my choice picks. Neener neener neener. :lol:

[chayes]

I think seconds are pretty sweet. You can get shades of colors that are not the usual. odds sometimes come in very nasty looking rods but very workable. An example of a second i got was the new sno white the rods came all weird looking with clear spots running down the rod. I remixed it and it worked smooth as butter. I found that the glassalchemy seconds are much better than the ns. Also if your working on a new tech that may involve wasting, or ruining color, seconds and odds help aleviate some of worry of money when it comes to learning.
I've also bought firsts at a place around here and i could swear their either seconds or odds. just the nicer ones at the firsts' price which is a bummer if peoople aren't expecting super taxed seconds.

[DreamMuse]

Thanks for weighing in, everyone *smiles* I appreciate the advice.

and thanks for the offer of some of your blends, Karen! I'll def be taking you up on that! *Grins*