Which boro manufacturer is best?

TortoiseAvenger · #1 2012-12-04, 10:27pm

Any opinions? Are there some whose colors are best for certain applications? (I'm making beads) Are some brands notably cheaper/more expensive than others?

I live near a glass store that sells northstar by the rod. I'm just starting out, so this is attractive to me, but I want to make sure I explore my options.

Thanks!

GlassAlias · #2 2012-12-04, 11:52pm

Northstar, Glass Alchemy, and TrautmanArtGlass are all very good. I would say that if they dont have a huge markup on the rods to go ahead and buy it locally if you can.

Dasi · #3 2012-12-05, 5:19am

I like Momka too!!!

Bunyip · #4 2012-12-05, 5:39am

I would suggest that all of the major manufacturers provide quality glass for most applications. Pricing is fairly evenly matched across the board. If you're looking for low pricing, go with the sales, or buy odds (first quality glass rods that are out of shape/size tolerance) rather than seconds (which typically has technical issues with the glass itself, such as color issues, can contain stones or bubbles, be off COE or have other problems.

People have had mixed results with Asian/Chinese color, as well as the borosilicate from India (Devardi?), so your mileage may vary there, but the prices are cheap. With the Asian colors, most of the transparents seem to be well behaved, I like the Asian dark blue transparent rod, for example. The Asian black and the white on the other hand, get VERY mixed reviews. Some love them some say they do nothing but crack.

Given that you've said Northstar is available at your local glass store, check out this topic where I posted a list of (mostly) Northstar colors that are pretty good to start out with. They're my recommendations anyway.

Have fun.

TortoiseAvenger · #5 2012-12-05, 10:12am

Thanks everyone for the help!

Bunyip: I checked out your list... very helpful!

I believe my local store (Delphi Glass) sells the Northstar rods at around $5/rod, depending on color. Is this a fair price?

Also, when I looked at this tutorial: http://autochthonous-evolved.com/tut...%20Recipes.pdf, I saw that she rolled many of her beads in GA's Amazon Bronze. I love the look of this! Is there a NS alternative?

Bunyip--I notice that on your list you don't say much about rolling in frit, other than clear. Is there a good source for NS background/frit combinations?

Thanks Again!

istandalone24/7 · #6 2012-12-05, 10:14am

Northstar is my current favorite.

silverlilly1 · #7 2012-12-05, 10:28am

Just a note, as far as soft glass and Delphi goes - they upcharge for single rods of soft glass - it's cheaper to go by the quarter pound. For hard glass, not sure of their policies.

untamedrose · #8 2012-12-05, 10:33am

o0 no 5 for a rod doesnt sound right at all. But it really would depend upon how long that rod was, or how much it weighted. If that one rod was a 1/4 pound that be a good deal.

menty666 · #9 2012-12-05, 11:18am

5 a rod is high, but not horrid if you factor in they're running a retail store, had to pay for shipping, breaking it down, etc.

If you're starting, it's ok to buy one or two. But you'll do better buying a sample pack from one of the other vendors like Mountain Glass Arts. Delphi tends to run a little high for a LOT of stuff.

consider a bag of shorts too if you want to dabble.

greymatter glass · #10 2012-12-05, 12:13pm

Man I should totally come to LE more ...

I sell boro color at retail every day...

$5/rod is not actually a bad deal usually, especially if you're allowed to pick the rod you want, single rods, no minimums, and get the service that comes with small local retail.

At $60/lb avg. ($3.75/oz) for boro color (excepting cobalt, most boro lists at $55-70 a pound) and an avg rod weights around 1.5 oz that comes to about $5.63 a rod.

That said, boro color (and most raw glass materials) is sold by the manufacturers by weight, not volume or dimension, so if a retailer decides to change the quantity metric from weight to piece they could be setting themselves up for problems. To the buyer it means they're not paying a consistent price for a material. One day you might get a 2oz fat rod of one color for $5 then the next day get literally half the glass for the same price. Caveat Emptor.

I sell mix-and-match GA and NS color for $3.75 an ounce, $55/lb, and do all kinds of seemingly (but not actually) arbitrary discounts...

So yeah, $5/rod may or may not actually work out better in your favor, but over the long run it should tun up pretty close to a normal price.

Also, the only thing I would compare to Amazon Bronze in the Northstar pallet would be Red Exotic. Maybe Aurora, but generally speaking the GA Amazon colors are similar to the NS Exotics.

Inkfingers · #11 2012-12-05, 12:27pm

I found this post because I'm looking for companies that provide great quality boro (thanks for all the tips) but I like to practice with cheap stuff if I'm experimenting. Devardi is really cheap and the customer service is great-- that said, it bubbles really easy so I have to be careful, their colors are limited (boro), and the colors aren't as vivid as I've seen. But like I said, super cheap if you want to experiment and don't want to waste nice glass.

Bunyip · #12 2012-12-05, 12:45pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by TortoiseAvenger

I notice that on your list you don't say much about rolling in frit, other than clear. Is there a good source for NS background/frit combinations?

Yeah, I was focusing on beginners, and you can get a surprisingly wide range of effects with just clear frit or dots over reactive colors, and playing with the atmosphere before or after adding frit. There have been many color combinations posted here, particularly in one thread which I share below...

Among the many threads which should be listed in a sticky (but aren't because the boro room mod was driven off by an evil witch or something and resigned):

Boro Color Combinations/Recipes

Boro Tutorials for Boro Newbies!

Enjoy!

TortoiseAvenger · #13 2012-12-05, 12:57pm

I saw those, but was sad there weren't more pictures. (I understand that this would be a lot of work for whomever took it on!) I really liked the pdf I posed above (http://autochthonous-evolved.com/tut...%20Recipes.pdf) because of the pictures. Is there another source out there somewhere?

torchgirl · #14 2012-12-05, 6:41pm

There are some of boro bead recipe tutorials that are for sale on etsy. They are worth the money because they have lots of pictures and techniques.

caliglassguy · #15 2012-12-05, 10:29pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by TortoiseAvenger

I saw those, but was sad there weren't more pictures. (I understand that this would be a lot of work for whomever took it on!) I really liked the pdf I posed above (http://autochthonous-evolved.com/tut...%20Recipes.pdf) because of the pictures. Is there another source out there somewhere?

Heres some links in the forum to different bead/ frit combos ....the frits are sold by a couple people on the forum. http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=229062

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...hot+flash+frit

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...hot+flash+frit

hope these are what you're looking for

Bunyip · #16 2012-12-06, 2:08pm

It's fun to play with colors, that's for sure. I love butterscotch/caramel/silverstrike 3 or 5 over NS onyx. Sorry no pics

TortoiseAvenger · #17 2012-12-06, 7:40pm

Thanks caliglassguy! And thanks to everyone else... Very helpful

FosterFire · #18 2012-12-06, 8:28pm

I am a dedicated fan of Glass Alchemy.