odds only "odd" in shape?

[Rhymnoceros]

Sooooooooo i guess ive been working with glass long enough that i should really know the answer to this question....

lets just say that HYPOTHETICALLY i have a friend that wants to know if buying NS and GA odd lots means that he'll have the same color quality but just with oddly shapped cane...?

According to glasscraft -- odds are odd shaped and do not fit the company's expectations of first quality cane... so does that mean that because they are oddly shaped that disqualifies them from first quality or it's because they're oddly shaped AND something else is wrong with the color?


Feel like a total idiot for not knowing this....

Be gentle!

[Paul Ewing]

I have always been told that odds were just odd shapes. I have gotten pieces 15mm to 20mm and as small as 3mm with NS odds. Some are oval and some are even snakey, but they melt on just fine.

Seconds are the ones with possible problems with color and compatibility problems.

GA went and created a new name called Occasional Quality Glass, but I can't find anywhere on their site or marketing if these are odds or seconds so I haven't bought any from them. It seems like they are trying to play a marketing trick and passing off seconds without saying so.

[Bunyip]

I saw it on their website but I can't find it right now - Occasional quality glass is definitely seconds. They mention seeds and bubbles.

[Karen Hardy]

Odd's (at least specifically in the soft glass arena) also mean an "odd batch"
such as a color that came out a tad different than what it was supposed to be.
People have made a killing in the 104 realm over Odd lots of Coral. There's about
a bazillion of them.

That's why I wish the boro companies would just spell it out.
"Odd Shaped" lots
"Not Quite The Right Color" lots
"We really screwed up this batch, and it's not compatible with any other glass" lots

and so on....

[Karen Hardy]

Originally Posted by Bunyip

I saw it on their website but I can't find it right now - Occasional quality glass is definitely seconds. They mention seeds and bubbles.

I'm not speaking for all glass companies, but I've bought many pounds of
"seconds" and I think some of them should be renamed to "glass that's
full of rocks and other shit".

[Karen Hardy]

Originally Posted by Rhymnoceros

Feel like a total idiot for not knowing this....

Be gentle!

And don't feel like a total idiot.
I've been buying glass for many years, and I'm STILL not sure
what boro glass sellers mean by Odd or Seconds. It varies
by maker.

[Bunyip]

From their website: http://glassalchemy.com/cart/index.p...ral-blush.html

"One Pound of Coral Blush, 1382 - Glass Alchemy Occasional Quality Glass. This glass does not meet the Glass Alchemy first quality standards and may consist of rods varying in length and diameter. The glass may have slight imperfections such as deviations in color, stones and/or air. This glass was made with love and care at Glass Alchemy, but it did not make the cut and is now looking for a good home. All sales are final on Occasional Quality Glass."

Perhaps some colors don't have this in the description?

[Paul Ewing]

Karen, I actually like the boro way of doing it. You can buy odds which aren't as pretty, but will give you the color that they are advertized as. Since they are not nice straight even diameter, you get a discount, sometimes a fairly good one. You can also take a gamble with really cheap seconds that may not act like the color that it is supposed to be.

In soft glass it seems that if the manufacturer messes up, instead of discounting the glass, they expect people pay extra for their color mistakes.

[Hels]

GA used to break their odds into 'odds' and 'seconds' too... but now it's all OCD, and it definitely includes both.

My understanding is that ODD means ONLY differences in size and shape, possibly slight color differences, but the same glass. Second means defective, coe problem, color or ingredient failure, huge bubbling problems, ie., problems with the glass itself, NOT just an off size. It can be minor or major and it's the luck of the draw how bad.

[hagstromartglass]

it is supposed to mean first quality glass..but ODD canes/rod...I use lots of odds..but when in doubt use firsts.....There are certain colors I will not buy odds of just to be on the safe side...like forest green for example....DIDNT I TEACH YOU ANYTHING...my N

[hagstromartglass]

yeah I guess that is just for NS...the GA occasionals more than occasionaly suck! too much air in them...at least the batches I have gotten. But I would never knowingly buy seconds either...so that explains it..shit

[ruca]

this is a quote about northstars odds & seconds from the mountain art glass (i hope they do not mind me quoting them as i long as i mention that they are awesome)

NORTHSTAR ODDS & SECONDS

Odds are first quality color rods that are out of round, thinner or thicker than usual, or perhaps the color is a little off. Seconds are second quality glass and have the properties of an Odd but also may have small stones or air bubbles, the color may vary more or the shape will be very out of round. In general both options provide a great value.

so it looks like odds can have color that are a bit off, atleast for northstar, but the *quality* is still good.

[ShepherdCreations]

Originally Posted by Karen Hardy

I'm not speaking for all glass companies, but I've bought many pounds of
"seconds" and I think some of them should be renamed to "glass that's
full of rocks and other shit".

Go tell it on the mountain! Yeah we've bought odds from Northstar and been happy with the discount as long as we pull the fat rods down and the wonky ones into stringers or do sculptural where the diameter doesn't matter as much. I THOUGHT GA didn't used to lump them, aha! I was wondering the same thing about their OOT, and will not buy possible 2nds if I can help it. Cheers!

[bclogan]

Originally Posted by ShepherdCreations

I THOUGHT GA didn't used to lump them, aha! I was wondering the same thing about their OOT, and will not buy possible 2nds if I can help it.

Yeah, this is the first year that GA mixed their Odds and Seconds and called them OCQ. I had bought odds last year at their Love Our Customers sale and was quite happy with them. I'm not quite as excited about the OCQ stuff I got this year, although I haven't had time to do much playing with them yet.

[evolvingBeau]

I second the description that Jes posted...that's how it's always been until the OCG thing was thrown in the mix..It's just confusing.. I personally prefer that the GA odds and seconds were separate and designated as such, even if I pay a little more. It's not cheap if you have to throw some away.
They say that the OCG may have stones or excessive air (bubbles)..as far as I'm concerned those are seconds. When I first saw that term I spent an hour trying to figure out what the heck they were talking about.

I "occasionally" buy odds but don't really mess with seconds. Odds are always useable. Sometimes you end up with some unusual (but desireable) color variations, but no rocks or fizz bombs. Sometimes it can go either way with the variation in color/sparkle saturation. Some odds may appear more watered down or super saturated. Still all good and often handy to have for a certain app. But if you need consistency and want to be able to repeat a design or specific effect then firsts are where it's at.
...and that's glass color the way I see it....

[Hels]

I got one lb of ocd from GA that was unusable... a whole lb. Geez. Rest was ok for the most part.

[Karen Hardy]

I'm just bothered that it changes from Mfg to Mfg.
What's ODD at one company is SECONDS at another.

[fyrsmith]

Yes, I wish that they hadn't lumped it all together. I recently got some "OCD" glass from GA. Some of it was odd and some of it was definitely poor 2nds with stones. I don't mind remixing and pulling the glass out to the size I want, I do it all the time with first quality glass. What I really don't like is trying to work around stones. That sucks!

-Don-

[bclogan]

So... hope you don't mind the derail... but what IS a stone?

[fyrsmith]

A "stone" is a little piece of the melting crucible or the outlet channel that has broken off and been incorporated in the glass. It's usually firebrick, hence "stone". Causes cracks etc due to COE incompatibility, not to mention that it makes an ugly lump.

-Don-

[bclogan]

Originally Posted by fyrsmith

A "stone" is a little piece of the melting crucible or the outlet channel that has broken off and been incorporated in the glass. It's usually firebrick, hence "stone". Causes cracks etc due to COE incompatibility, not to mention that it makes an ugly lump.

Ahhhh. So it's best to pick them out and not use them then, hey!

[Firebrand Beads]

FWIW, at TAG we sell odd RODS which are 1st quality glass, but curved, tapered or off color. Occasionally we sell ODD LOTS which are entire batches that came out a little light, or was an experiment, or has some sort of problem. But we seldom sell seconds because we don't want our name associated with crappy glass. Even if it's cheap!

On our shelf right now is a batch of Wisteria that was made while we were in the process of smoothing out the blizzard texture of the original Wisteria Blizzard. It is the same color as the rest of our Wisteria, but it has some random Blizzard bits, and occasional stones. So we make that CLEAR to our customers, and explain that these are the reasons it's discounted 25% from the price of the regular Wisteria.

I also have a box of what WE call (in house) "slight seconds", a streaky batch of Blue Sphagnum. The color didn't disperse properly in the batch, but it isn't horrible, it's not stoney or boily, and Paul said "get it the hell out of here. $20/lb retail!!" and I have been holding him to it, lol!

HOWEVER! There were some really weird experimental batches (and some incredible ones too) that were shipped off to Winship/Glasscraft earlier this year in a bulk purchase. I don't think any of these were seconds, but some of them were more weird than 'odd'. ;-D You can tell these from our regular line, they are super cheap. But I hear some of the pinks are interesting? And there was some of the new Heavy Leprechaun that was only odd because of the color.

So like I said, for what it's worth... that's how we do it at TAG. ~Jenny

[ruca]

Originally Posted by Firebrand Beads

FWIW, at TAG we sell odd RODS which are 1st quality glass, but curved, tapered or off color. Occasionally we sell ODD LOTS which are entire batches that came out a little light, or was an experiment, or has some sort of problem. But we seldom sell seconds because we don't want our name associated with crappy glass. Even if it's cheap!

On our shelf right now is a batch of Wisteria that was made while we were in the process of smoothing out the blizzard texture of the original Wisteria Blizzard. It is the same color as the rest of our Wisteria, but it has some random Blizzard bits, and occasional stones. So we make that CLEAR to our customers, and explain that these are the reasons it's discounted 25% from the price of the regular Wisteria.

I also have a box of what WE call (in house) "slight seconds", a streaky batch of Blue Sphagnum. The color didn't disperse properly in the batch, but it isn't horrible, it's not stoney or boily, and Paul said "get it the hell out of here. $20/lb retail!!" and I have been holding him to it, lol!

HOWEVER! There were some really weird experimental batches (and some incredible ones too) that were shipped off to Winship/Glasscraft earlier this year in a bulk purchase. I don't think any of these were seconds, but some of them were more weird than 'odd'. ;-D You can tell these from our regular line, they are super cheap. But I hear some of the pinks are interesting? And there was some of the new Heavy Leprechaun that was only odd because of the color.

So like I said, for what it's worth... that's how we do it at TAG. ~Jenny

where do i find a link to buy odds on the tag website? i'm kinda out of it right now & don't see it..

[Jamn!]

I guess its odd as in odd looking, odd shaped or other oddity..... <<<Snicker>>>>

I love odd lots but then I love odd things.