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Open Source Glass Thread

John Lewus

Well-Known Member
I just saw this, apparently 3D printing with glass is now a possibility. I wonder how long it will take before it's adapted to bongs and becomes more widespread.

http://www.iflscience.com/3d-printed-glass-sculptures

There are tablets and phones coming out as well that can take 3d pictures like the new Intel Realsense technology. Soon you will be able to get a fairly high quality 3d model just by scanning the object with a phone/tablet and then importing into your favorite 3d modeling program. With just a few minutes of cleanup to remove any artifacts you will have something you can print out in glass! Imagine taking your favorite percs from your pieces and combining them in any order you want.

I can only speculate that in just a few years you can do all of this from a phone and there will be apps that make it as easy to make a "copy" of a piece as it is to make a copy of a DVD now.

EDIT: It would be even more awesome if 3d percs were shared on shapeways so people here could create and customize their own bongs.
 
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Delta3DStudios

Well-Known Member
Accessory Maker
There are tablets and phones coming out as well that can take 3d pictures like the new Intel Realsense technology. Soon you will be able to get a fairly high quality 3d model just by scanning the object with a phone/tablet and then importing into your favorite 3d modeling program.

Yeah, I wouldn't be so sure about that :lol: Optical scanning is a finicky bastard. Things like glossy surfaces and shadows really skew the results. And dimensions can be off by several millimeters.

Designing things like percs would be better suited to special CAD modeling software which can create a precise model with equally sized slits for diffusion.

Moreover, the 3D printed glass advancements mentioned uses FDM technology, this means objects are built layer by layer (90-degree overhangs and bridges would be very difficult with this setup). I'll probably be one of the first people to make a 3D printed glass bong, but I'm having a hard time coming up with cool designs which could be printed using an FDM printer. (For the most part, standard beaker or straight tube designs would be easiest - bent neck bubblers would be a challenge with this style printer

That said, I can't wait to see if someone can make some sort of DSLS device to work with a bed of powered glass - that would enable me to design some extremely exotic bubblers
 

redcon

Member
Hey all, I just came across this thread. I gather that the the FC-186, 187, 710 & UFO seem to have pretty positive reviews. Rather than read through the whole thread, could somebody just tell what other standouts, if any, there have been as a result of this project?
 

deltr0n

Big Daddy Oil
Hey all, I just came across this thread. I gather that the the FC-186, 187, 710 & UFO seem to have pretty positive reviews. Rather than read through the whole thread, could somebody just tell what other standouts, if any, there have been as a result of this project?

For oil/dabs? Or for vaping?
I can only speak to the dabbing, and for that, the FC710 is amazing. There are about to be some more options with the same perc as the 710, but it looks like the vendors are still working out the kinks
 

redcon

Member
For oil/dabs? Or for vaping?
I can only speak to the dabbing, and for that, the FC710 is amazing. There are about to be some more options with the same perc as the 710, but it looks like the vendors are still working out the kinks

Glad to hear because I already ordered the FC710 based on the other positive reviews I was reading :D

In terms of nails, I think I would like something domeless in quartz or titanium. Under $50, what are the best options for quartz and titanium domeless nails? I have seen the Highly Educated recommended for titanium and the domeless.com quartz nails recommended for quartz, but really haven't found a ton of information generally, and most of the info I do come across is geared towards designer high-dollar nails (bedause I'm going to put a $150 nail on a $35 piece of glass) :lol:
 

thisperson

Ruler of all things person
Glad to hear because I already ordered the FC710 based on the other positive reviews I was reading :D

In terms of nails, I think I would like something domeless in quartz or titanium. Under $50, what are the best options for quartz and titanium domeless nails? I have seen the Highly Educated recommended for titanium and the domeless.com quartz nails recommended for quartz, but really haven't found a ton of information generally, and most of the info I do come across is geared towards designer high-dollar nails (bedause I'm going to put a $150 nail on a $35 piece of glass) :lol:

Uh not sure on how you feel about the bucket design. But I got a solid one for 12.50 shipped.

http://www.dhgate.com/store/product/retail-4mm-thick-90-degree-quartz-banger/241016085.html

Have had it for at least 4 months now and it's been going well. I went with quartz over titanium/ceramic because it heats up faster and I can just tell it's ready (glow) more easily than titanium or ceramic.
 
thisperson,

redcon

Member
@thisperson I was actually planning on ordering those some bangers. From what I can tell, experienced peoples seem to have very positive things to say about them
 
redcon,

deltr0n

Big Daddy Oil
@thisperson I was actually planning on ordering those some bangers. From what I can tell, experienced peoples seem to have very positive things to say about them
Bangers from hymanquartz on dhgate are great, been using a 3mm thick 14mm female 90 for a while on my straight fab (with drop down)
 
deltr0n,

shark sandwich

"shit sandwich"
Accessory Maker
I've used dhgate bangers for a while, sometimes with a torch, usually with a 20 mm Coil.

There are a couple issues I've run into when using the bangers with a heater coil. The floor doesn't heat sufficiently when using low temperatures, and the heater coil can fall off the bottom of the nail.

I like to use low temperatures, and don't want to have to worry about my coil falling on the table, so I ordered one of these:

http://dhgate.com/product/quartz-nails-for-enail-coil-domeless-quartz/251860411.htmln

I'll report back when I've had a chance to try it out.


Edit:

CCG will be releasing the three Can designs soon, and said they would like to produce more original designs from this forum.

I know Steven has been busy, and that means some designs had to be put on hold. There's finally another place to send those designs.
 
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shark sandwich,

virtualpurple

Well-Known Member
I would like someone to craft something combining a vapexhale style hydratube and a traditional bubbler (sorry I am not too familiar with the terminology). I am envisioning a tube with bottom access and with side or top access as well. I figure when the piece is intended to be used as a hydratube than the vape can connect to the bottom access source (18mm female) and the top/side access port (also 18mm female) can be plugged with a glass stopper. And when intended to be used as a bubbler (mostly I see myself inverting my portable vapes or log vape onto this port) then the bottom access area would be seated on top of a hydrafoot.

Does what I'm trying to discuss make sense to anyone? If so, does anyone know who I could contact to attempt something like this? I appologize if this sort of bubbler already exists or if someone has discussed the idea!
 

virtualpurple

Well-Known Member
Something like this?


:peace:

Wow, that was fast!

Yes I was thinking similar to that myself! Although ideally I'd like even the mouthpiece to be removable, and similar to the guy in that video I'd prefer to be able to see into the tube and watch the vapor accumulate. You were wicked quick with the response!
 
virtualpurple,
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Stu

Maconheiro
Staff member
Yes I was thinking similar to that myself! Although ideally I'd like even the mouthpiece to be removable, and similar to the guy in that video I'd prefer to be able to see into the tube and watch the vapor accumulate. You were wicked quick with the response!
The mouthpiece actually is removable in that piece. That handsome guy in the video actually gifted that piece to a buddy who is still using it daily. I didn't care for the high restriction of the frit, but my buddy says it doesn't bother him. It's certainly a unique design, but not that difficult for someone to replicate if they wanted to.
Wow, that was fast!
My wife says that all the time, too. :ugh:

:peace:
 
Has anyone contacted SSS to commission these pieces? I have been in contact with then concerning solo CONG's and they have been very receptive and open to tweaks and changes..
 

ClearBlueLou

unbearably light in the being....
TOOK A MINUTE to get caught up on this thread (+ related)!

Hi, y'all - you guys have hooked me w/ this stuff, and I waited to this point to dive in on the subject of open-sourcing tech.

First, I come from an engineer father (who made sure I was 'literate' in that world) and an artist mother (who would discuss her pieces and her process with me as she worked), and artists and craftsmen and artisans on both sides. I'm a 1st-gen second-waver who used to make water pipes out of old bottles and tubes for weed money back in the day.

I've spent my life watching things change, but a change I have missed has been Bong World and the whole glass menagerie from there: never had such a piece, remember seeing a piece which I now know is the FC-710's source piece, do NOT remember ever getting to hit one (which could be proof that I did, but...). Never been much of that down here in the Big Ugly, cheap-ass hand-pipes and badly-rolled joints have been the rule. So, with so little preface, here I am being dazzled by all these images of glass and dangles and chambers and drips, and the Rube-Goldberg-est contraptions I've ever seen barely hanging together, and hear the open-source cry, seeing and hearing vague descriptions of innovations that I don't understand, but I can easily tell that the current waterpipes of today are LIGHT YEARS beyond anything I ever imagined, even the least of which completely outclasses this poor thing i have here.

So here we are: art, glass, art glass, AND stoner equipment, AND technical/technological innovations in equal measure.

Art is inherently one-of-a-kind, even if the IMAGE of the art is everywhere (only ONE actual Mona Lisa, etc). Art has always REQUIRED patronage past a certain point, because the artist must survive to complete the work, and must gain enough from doing it that the quality of the vision and the work can both be maintained going forward. A genuine work of ORIGINAL art is always more significant than the most perfect copy of that work because of the source vision, which inspires a lot more than just a desire to cash in, and THAT IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH COUNTERFEITING. It robs the artist of their rightful earnings by CLAIMING to sell AN ORIGINAL, whereas an honest copy, however meticulous, has no more value than the price of the materials, the quality of the design, the earnings of the artisan who makes it - and it's worth to the ultimate purchaser/owner.

The copy of the work of art is NOT A work of art; and if it's cheap enough for everyone who wants one to acquire one, then it is A COMMODITY. "Just like a Mobius" is not at all the same as "no shit, a REAL Mobius": the first defrauds no-one, the claim that it's "just like" can be evaluated; the second robs both the artist of their fair wage, AND the purchaser of the ORIGINAL that they prize and can pay for. If you ClAIM IT as REAL, and you SELL IT AS IF it's real, then you are you defraud the buyer, and steal from the artist (and not just a missed sale).


This is where I think the open-source concept gains foothold. IF we recognize the value of the original work of the artists, we can consider the technical aspects separately. Their value is entirely practical, they not only ARE being copied in great numbers, but copying, improving on, combining technical and technological improvements and advances has been going on for as long as us monkeys have been making things, and apparently that can't be regulated or legislated out of us. I'll point briefly to the complicating structural factors imposed by a world economy based on the notional 'principle' of I-stole-it-fair-and-square-so-you-have-to-help-me-keep-it before moving on....

What i saw initially in the movement here was an effort to take the whole 'knock-off' notion out of the hands of the copycats and counterfeiters & get involved in the technical evolution of the glassworks themselves. This is a conceptual step toward replicator technology, on-demand customization of complex designs, and I still think that the synergy of improvements brought to the various 'original' FC pieces and the price-points attached are a real landmark in making these high-end technologies available to a broader base of the cannibizing population.

As I sit here w/ my 20-dollar, unable to get both a decent bubble AND keep the water out of my mouth, this all seems Promethean: I really do need to switch away from the combustion path, and I need to be equipped for it; there simply IS NO WAY to get even the simplest oil tools in this major metro area, and I'm sure the growing ranks of medical users have extra difficulty affording the art on top of the medicine. As legislation movements grow around the country, I'm sure the UNTAPPED market for both art and functional commodity glass is almost unlimited, so I fully support learning from adopting and adapting REAL technological innovation in cannibizing, to the benefit of everyone, but it should be clearly commodity glass, not aping the art but developing the functionality in tandem with the artists, not attempting to pressure foreign artisans to duplicate works of art that can be used to steal from the unwary.

Wow. Okay. All that said, *I* would really like to see "the FC brand" focus on perfecting the bubbling and recycling technologies, improving and foolproofing and simplifying the whole hot-surface thing, helping to improve quality out of China (increasing markets by increasing satisfaction) and continuing to refine and improve those designs over time - crafting simple, durable, fully-functional glass pieces with clear use-paths for herb, dab, and vape - that are available for the cost of a quarter or less.

All of this is clearly putting pressure on the Chinese glass houses to improve capacity and skill level, that means more expense for them, and it really is foolish to call their attention to these threads, and then announce willingness to pay much more than they're currently asking for pieces they're practically already making. If prices haven't spiked at least once since all this started, I'm amazed, but economic pressure here in the "yoU,SAh" may have squeezed them out of it. It seems like the cats are all over the shop floor now: everybody's messaging someone in China about this piece or that piece or a discount or a new-old-some-idea, and it seems like the entire idea has completely broken down.

I'd like to see that notion resurrected - or adopted, if I made all that up, just as I'd like to see our home-grown glass artists and artisans get full worth from their work, however they define that.

An amazing set of conversations - what a ride! Much appreciation to blankrider, Steven, and so many others (whose names are too new for me to recall ATM) who have made all this (and related!) so worthwhile, and who keep making the world go 'round in such interesting ways.... Looking forward to being here.
 
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wildything

Well-Known Member
I would like someone to craft something combining a vapexhale style hydratube and a traditional bubbler (sorry I am not too familiar with the terminology). I am envisioning a tube with bottom access and with side or top access as well. I figure when the piece is intended to be used as a hydratube than the vape can connect to the bottom access source (18mm female) and the top/side access port (also 18mm female) can be plugged with a glass stopper. And when intended to be used as a bubbler (mostly I see myself inverting my portable vapes or log vape onto this port) then the bottom access area would be seated on top of a hydrafoot.

Does what I'm trying to discuss make sense to anyone? If so, does anyone know who I could contact to attempt something like this? I appologize if this sort of bubbler already exists or if someone has discussed the idea!
Wow! I had the same Idea about a month ago while envisioning the fc-187 as a hydratube hybrid bubbler.
 
wildything,

Bongologist

JoJo Woodworks
Accessory Maker
How could the side or top access the same water chamber? If you can draw it, even rough, we can collectively work on it. I'm having a hard time envisioning how it would work, though I understand what you are trying to do. Interesting!
 

YungLeaner

Well-Known Member
I could be wrong, but I think the Hydratube with 2 joints shouldn't be too difficult to design. With a plug on the top it could be used as a hydratube. For a plug on the bottom, perhaps a filled-in Hydrafoot? Like a Hydrafoot plug.

The percolator design is where things get confusing with different intake points etc. Now my head's spinning. I guess it's pretty complicated.

The frit disc may have been the choice for that style of hydaratube because it's not a perc that "Draws" in water and then spits it out as much as a percolating surface that just needs to sit above the water. Perhaps we are limited to frits and honeycombs and turbines for that design? interesting idea
 

shark sandwich

"shit sandwich"
Accessory Maker
It wouldn't be difficult to construct a piece similar to the one @Stu posted, using a matrix perc like the fc-187.

The "up" tube could be located inside the down tube, and exit through the bottom of the perc, like is done with incyclers. Only instead of terminating at the bottom of the perc, the tube would continue through to the base joint.

Would it make sense to have a hollow base with the second joint, but no perc? It could act both as a stand when using in the "tube" mode, and as a base when using in the "bubbler" mode. It would also get the second joint off the tube, for a simpler design.

Edit: I drew up a quick sketch, since it's hard to explain this stuff well with only words.

XyQOOHB.jpg
 
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