Where to buy da tubing?

Moth · #1 2007-08-03, 8:15am

Ok, so I'm a boro noob.

I've been playing around a bit with a ziploc bag of shorts I received as an raogk. My bag is getting low. I also had 4 already blown points of I'd say about 15mm thin wall. That was the size of the bubble shaped tube in the middle of the point. (sorry I don't know the names for stuff yet)

These points were also a gift and were meant for blowing christmas ornaments but I used them for pendants. They are all gone and I want more tubing so I can pull some points of my own. Or at least try to.

Problem is, I've never actually purchased boro for myself, rod or tubing. I don't know where to buy or even WHAT to buy. The rod bit I can figure out...but if I mainly want to do tube implosions and other pendants out of tubing...what size and wall thickness do you recommend for a beginner?

I like to end up with pendants in the 25-30mm range. I don't do marbles yet. So...what should I buy and where should I get it?

thanks in advance.
~~Mary

Moth · #2 2007-08-03, 8:17am

OH, I should probably mention I'm on a minor with an oxycon. I don't have a fire breathing dragon in my studio so don't scare me. hehe.

Norskiglass · #3 2007-08-03, 9:06am

Depends on what you care to use.....pyrex is made by Corning which is owned by the DOW chemical corp. and is not that great if you asked me..... I use Schott Duran and its kinds spendy compared to others......check out ABR for some good prices on single tubes etc...

Norskiglass · #4 2007-08-03, 9:08am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moth

OH, I should probably mention I'm on a minor with an oxycon. I don't have a fire breathing dragon in my studio so don't scare me. hehe.

I will loan out one of mine......They have been know to capture a princess or two and I have found my dragons to be breathing fire in to the face of many "knights"

jana · #5 2007-08-03, 9:09am

Mary,

Auralens has a sample pack of a bunch of different sizes of tubing, so you can find what you like best....it's pretty cheap too.

Emily · #6 2007-08-03, 9:35am

A word from one tube noob to another -- "standard" tubing is actually quite thin, so don't get that.

You'll see tubing sold either in .mm or as "standard," "medium," or "heavy," wall. I haven't done pendants or tube implosions, so I can't suggest what you want.

If you only want a little bit to play with, look for someplace that has a sample pack in shorter lengths. It may be hard to find. Find out if there's anybody doing flamework in your area who might be willing to sell you some tubing. The shipping on full-length tubes and rods is a real bear.

Moth · #7 2007-08-03, 9:54am

This is one of those times when I'm very sorry I don't live near a supplier.

When I sit here wracking my brain for the closest place to find tubing...that would be Hilliards, PA...The Glassblowing Center where AGI is held. It's only an hour and a half drive from me.

I wonder if Tom stocks enough tubing to sell me some. I should call him up. I've been there before...it's a pretty drive.

Now my gears are turning.

~~Mary

Moth · #8 2007-08-03, 10:03am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norskiglass

Depends on what you care to use.....pyrex is made by Corning which is owned by the DOW chemical corp. and is not that great if you asked me..... I use Schott Duran and its kinds spendy compared to others......check out ABR for some good prices on single tubes etc...

And Simax? All the clear rod I have right now is Simax. I don't know what the tubes were.

I don't need to buy the best right now, I screw up a lot. I do want something dependable though. Even a blind squirrel gets a nut occasionally.

NLC Beads · #9 2007-08-03, 10:06am

Mary, I bought some of Brent's shorts

if you'd like some colored boro, also, I can send some your way to play with.

Nikki

Ro · #10 2007-08-03, 10:32am

be aware that if you get seedy and distorted tubes it will make it diff. to get your work straight and can be frustrating. yes you can get it to work, but extra effort when just starting is a pain. IMO schott is cleaner and more 'round' than pyrex, i was having trouble blowing out goblets and had some of my pyrex with me, someone looked at it as i had never thought too, and yes wall thickness was off a bit. not impossible to work by any means, but it certainly didnt help in the beginning. i get my tubing from tecnolux. tecnoboro dot com.
ro

Rose · #11 2007-08-03, 7:39pm

For a beginner with what you have torch wise I'd suggest 12-19mm med. wall tube. I'd also suggest you order a couple of DVD's that are really worth it for learning. Sue Fowlers on vessels and Doug R.'s for ornaments. Those 2 dvd's really taught me alot and I'm still practicing. Also order some 4 & 6 mm rod if you order the dvd's. You will learn how to pull points and so much more. I am just another beginner and this is what I found the most helpful. I got the dvd's from Smartflix. My opinion is cheap boro and seconds are great for learning. I get my glass from Glasscraft and I have been able to play with so many colors by buying seconds. I have no idea the brand of tubing and clear rod I have.

For pendants I can't remember exactly but I'm guessing about 20mm rod. The thing is, you are limited with your torch and oxycon so what the pro's use will be too much for you. I have a Betta and 2 oxycons. If you want to do boro you will need to get another oxycon soon. You'll figure it out

Rose

beachglass · #12 2007-08-04, 5:16pm

moth, simax is good quality glass. i would recommend somewhere around 20 mil, either medium or heavy wall. the thin stuff can be pretty tricky to work with.

i used to use 32 mil heavy wall on a minor and it worked pretty easily, so you could even go bigger if u wanted to

Moth · #13 2007-08-04, 8:43pm

Thanks Ro, that's a really good point. I was just trying to save some money, but in the long run...it wouldn't help me at all.

Nikki, you are such a sweetheart. I just ordered some colored rod seconds and I don't want to be greedy. Please show more of what you've been doing with it too.

Rose, if I had to guess all on my lonesome that is what I would have ordered. I shied away from heavy walled because of my torch, and shied away from thin because of my inexperience. That left me with medium...then for diameter I just figured I'd get one close to the finished size of the pendants I want to make. When I was looking at auralens at the short tube sample packs over half of it is sizes I'm not interested in. I was surprised, I must say, at the low price of boro tubing in general. I thought I was going to be in for much more cost. I'm thinking it is well worth the price but I'm imagining there is a lot of waste working with tubing and I'm not used to that. I'm kinda frugal. Anything I don't use myself I resell or make into frit. LOL

I worked my own minor on tanked oxygen at Tom's and it did boro just fine. I am not against getting an oxygen tank for my boro days at all. I've had my oxycon for 2 years and it wouldn't hurt me to have a back up system in place anyway. Besides...I was at the Glass Blowing Center for 2 days and that was all it took to get addicted to the way my torch ran on tanked oxy. Made my concentrator feel pretty darn wimpy let me tell ya. Works great and cheap for soft glass though.

I yearn ta burn. LOL

Thanks for ALL the help you guys. I really appreciate it very much.

~~Mary