Clear Boro for Starting out
 

Hi, I am new to boro and getting ready to order some clear. I was going to get Simax both rod and tubing. What would you recommend as the most useful sizes of each. I wanted to start out making beads and pendants and maybe marbles. I already have a little bit of color but what colors would you order for basics? Thanks so much for helping me with this.
Grady

Here are the sizes I use most often:

Rod

3mm - for doing pinwheels and for doing inside out stuff
7mm - for punties, encasing beads, etc. I use more 7mm than all other sizes combined
12mm - smaller marbles
18mm - marbles
26mm - marbles

Tube:

10mm heavy wall - blowtubes
26mm heavy wall - imposion pendants, inside out beads, honeycombs, anything that will probably end up being pendant or bead sized
32mm heavy wall - marbles

Thanks Cosmo! That is exactly the info I needed. I just noticed I posted this in the Free Boro Tutorials room. OOPS! I'll go and try to figure out how to move it.
Grady

I would suggest you take a different approach. Start by deciding what you want to make and then figure out what sizes you need. The skills you gain by doing this will allow you to create without anyone else's input or by following a tutorial. This is just one part of learning to work with this material. Art is not made by painting within the lines.

I use the same but also keed 4mm,5mm,6mm,16mm and 20mm rod on hand

And for blow tube I use 12mmx2mm wall and 12.6mm

for tube I also keep some 44mmx4mm on hand but you need a good torch to play with the big stuff.

Thanks for your input Larry and Snoopdog. I am not sure what I want to start with but I was thinking some beads and pendants since that is I am accustomed to in soft glass. This is the first time that I have had a little bigger torch and enough oxy to really see if I can get color out of boro. I'll let you know how it goes. I really appreciate everyone's suggestions.
Grady