[Mr. Smiley]

I think the best way to get depth with rod is to make sure your maria is as big as possible. Not a lot of glass, just a wider base. I some times I enlarge my maria (of thin it out), by pressing down and then using my parallel mashers on the edges while it's still hot. Squish repeatedly and fast as you turn the maria around between the plates. It's the thickening of the glass after the dots are applied that gives depth. Dots applied to the surface will only sink in so far... and they tend to spread out as well. If done on a tube, the dots actually get smaller and deeper as you deflate the bubble... it would really depend on how much depth you're after whether or not you'd notice a difference. There are definite advantages to using tubing for this sort of thing... the depth tubing offers is well worth the learning curve.