Glassblowersdirect.com - Affordable quality glass

All great advice, thank you SliM! I would have to agree that this is most likely just a 'small batch' issue, and isn't/shouldn't be a common thing. Especially looking at a picture like this,

you can tell that it should or can hold a lot more weight than the standard mouthpiece (which doesn't weigh much at all) (the mouthpiece that came with my GBD bubbler weighs 52.5 grams, or 1.85 ounces) Vs. the weight of the HT (much more )

Either way, I don't plan on leaving the mouthpiece in my replacement piece, when I receive it. I never have felt comfortable leaving accessories/attachments in my pieces, when not in use. Even if weight isn't an issue, the potential for damaging more than one piece, is greater when you have things attached, than when separated; If you tip over a piece, with a male/male adapter/glass nail/dome all attached, you'll probably lose a couple things...However, the piece, or parts of it, might survive if it were 'disassembled.'

Hopefully I am not being paranoid but I notice a "line" all the way around my mouthpeice joint. The line is in a similiar spot to the "break" that is shown in the two previous damaged bubblers.

I hope mine isn't on the way out and I just didn't notice the "line" when I received it. Does anyone else see what appears to be a crack forming in the joint on their bubbler?

Why don't you take a photo and post it so we can see?

Bet it isn't USPS. I have never seen such thorough packing in bubble-wrap and without a stem or anything at all in the joint for the stem during shipping, I can't see why/how there would be pressure at all, much less enough to crack it. And it wasn't cracked when you got it, if I understand right. And your problem is consistent with at least a couple other users. I can see how the stem could put some pressure on there, and I can see how the joint could give as it sort of sits on a corner (not the top or out the side). Jambanpham03 mentioned a potential misengineered joint, and that could be right. I hope not, for my sake and for Glassblowersdirect too. I want them to succeed because they did such a nice thing for FC users and did it so well and nicely. But I guess it will be what it will be, and it doesn't sound to me like a shipping issue but a structural thing.
I am glad I remove my stem as soon as I'm done, and leave the glass on the table when hitting it, both of which I would guess lessen the stress situations. The cost was so low I'd almost feel bad about making an issue out of it, but it is beween 125-150 and if I got an electronic vape for that and it essentially broke a couple weeks into use, I'd be on email or phone or something for sure. Just, I feel for these guys because they may get basically burned for trying to do really well for us, that just seems sort of not right either. Rock and a hard place. I don't look at them as some Corporation or deep pocket or whatever, just people trying to do well by us and pick up some holiday bux in the process and now it may be going to Hell in a cracked handbasket. Everyone loses, and that sucks. I would rather everyone win. But on the third hand, they are the experts at glass and joints etc and are in a better position than we are to decide placement methods and structural soundness. So it isn't an easy thing. Just unfortunate. But I don't believe it has a thing to do with some small hole in the bottom of a box given the wrap job.

I had stated that after only one other problem unit had emerged. Now I am almost certain it is a structural thing. Sam said he'd be sending a new one, I only hope that if it is structural that the issue has been addresses in my new piece. I see what your saying completely. And Sam has been great to deal with. But I still don't want to end up being out almost 200 bucks either. It is definitely a rock and a hard place situation, that hopefully wont turn into something big.

really bummed that these guys dont ship out of the country, especially since i just broke a down stem.

check out Mike at http://www.ioffer.com/selling/oregonglassblower for downstems and such. Ships internationally.

thanks for the heads up, i actually tried to buy a downstem from him before checking out GBD but he declined the sale, which i assumed was because he wouldnt ship internationally. but now i'm definitely seeing that he does, so maybe i'll drop him a message.

Update: Got an email from Sam yesterday that the new piece has shipped out! Should see it tomorrow or Friday

i sent him a message and realized that i was meant to include shipping in my offer, i obviously felt pretty stupid for missing that but we got everything worked out and it should be in the mail tomorrow.

i'm really happy gammy pointed out his international shipping and got me to go back and look because i couldnt find a downstem that fit my piece at any of the headshops around here, so thanks a lot gammy!

Wooo-hooo, just got my note from Sam as well.
Looking forward to comparing it to the UP and Lev's FC Bubbler.
Then perhaps a discussion about the best down stems to start trying. I'm still interested in that fritted stem someone posted a vid of.

And there it is at my door this morning.
You rock Sam, thank you.

Pics please.....I live vicariously through you folks until mine arrives.

Mine will be here tomorrow, I'll throw some pictures up in the evening!

Going to have to take pics tomorrow and get your opinions. I am not familiar with glass at all and only have a small bubbler. You all know my first piece arrived defective. Well this one I got today appears to have a line in the same place the other one did and I believe I see a small crack on the inside of the joint. I will try to take a clear enough picture of it so you guys can tell me what you think. On top of that my new piece is considerably smaller than the original. Which in all actuality I prefer. Thought the other was just a bit too big for my liking. But, this still struck me as strange. Anyway I'll take pics and post by tomorrow. I'm going to cross my fingers and try her out and just hope for the best. But, I have to say, this does have me concerned.

Damn... your case reminds me of my experience with Gogopipes, on a less disappointing level of course (re: got one broken bubbler, second one wasn't broken but just wasn't the same quality)

Sounds like we may be in the same boat. I have used the bubbler and it is firing nicely and it works. Unfortunately the quality isn't what the first one was. I have noticed bubbles in the joint where the mouthpiece attaches as well as where the bowl inserts. The showerhead is quite off center as well. If anything, as a customer who received a damaged product, I would have thought that more attention to detail would have been paid to this piece. However, I am not finding that to be the case. With Sam's great customer support I guess I got my hopes up. I will email him tomorrow with the pics I take as well as post them here. I feel like I am in a predicament here though. Sam did a very nice thing for the community here and he made the piece available at a discount to us. However, money is tight for a lot of people, myself included. And I just feel like I didn't get what I was paying for here. You have read my previous posts and I was as excited as anyone, and as forgiving as possible. I just feel like I was sent a product that wasn't nearly up to the quality that I was expecting. I will talk to Sam and fill you all in on what happens. I'm not trying to sound like a pain in the ass here. I just feel a little let down on this one.

hmmm, makes me nervous for my 2nd bub. My first one is holding up well so far. I have not heard anything from Sam in 2 weeks, and have not bothered him as I know he's been busy with everyone's orders. This is leaving me a bit uneasy though, I paid extra for a mod to the mouthpiece. I will hold further judgement for when I get my piece. I hope you are able to work it out VapeVoice. I would feel disappointed if I were in your spot too.

I'm like Stu, store mine upright in the downstem from Mike.

The line between the mouthpiece joint and the can... that is common. It doesn't necessarily mean its cracked or breaking. You will see that same line in almost any junction between chambers, etc. on most glass.

As for receiving a piece lacking, especially in regards to it being a replacement... I believe a customer has every right and are entitled to a bit more effort than that. Hopefully, its a correctable and rapid resolution.

Feeling for you Vapevoice. I'm new to glass as well and as I've stated earlier, it's fragile territory. Luckily there are a number of Glassperts on this forum to guide us through.
Mine also has a line like you're describing, here's a pic.

So far it's performing like a beast, I'm being gentile, but it seems sturdy and other than the line, this one has no other blemishes.
Hopefully Sam is the stand up type that will take care of us if/when we have issues and win our hearts, minds, and consumer loyalty!
Loving mine so far, hope your's is OK!

Damn VapeVoice, that really blows! I'll be bummed if my replacement piece isn't as nice of quality, or similar size as my original. Aside from the joint breaking, my original piece is beautiful; symmetrical, free of visual imperfections (for the most part...slits are angled, and spaced, with variation...) etc. I like the size of my piece, which seems to be on par with the measurements provided a couple times in this thread.

I requested a different mouthpiece/joint on the replacement piece, at additional cost...(vertical 18mm male joint instead of the standard 14mm female, so I can use the Cloud's hydratube natively, and with a female mouthpiece.) I really hope that this piece is worthy of being called a replacement/upgrade.

I'll second BDV in saying the line around a joint isn't definitively a sign or weakness, or an impending break...if your joint holds the weight of the mouthpiece, it's probably fine. Mine didn't hold the weight of the mouth piece for more than several minutes total.

Vapevoice, I really hope that you get things figured out with Sam. Regardless of the joint, it really seems odd that your piece is smaller and overall of less quality. I feel for you, as you had to have been even more excited the second time around! I know I am excited/anxious for mine! I told him not to rush it at all, so I really hope it comes out decent. I'm anxious to see pictures of your piece, and find out how you make out with Sam!

Its obvious Sam has more than himself blowing glass. In fact, he's referred to them with me, during conversation. I would say he might have a bad apple? Maybe that guy got a bad batch of glass. Stuff like that does happen. Though the sloppy part bothers me. My piece, is near flawless. The cuts on the showerheard are all uniform and the flame wash is absolutely beautiful on them. . The showerhead is ever so slightly off center, but not noticeable really, unless you're looking for it. It took me several days to really find them. There's also a very slight slope to the floor of the can, but again... unless you're looking...

These are things that I just automatically file under acceptable margin for error, as we're talking about hand-made glass. Imperfections are a fact.

But I think possibly this could be isolated to perhaps a particular blower. Hopefully, if that's the case, Sam has probably already caught it. Keeping my fingers crossed. I'll reach out to him, if you all don't see any resolvement and see if maybe numbers (people) might help your cause.

I tried putting the stem in the downstem and found my stem is much smaller diameter (14? Maybe smaller??) than the downstem so mine wouldn't fit like that anyway. But I still think the stem off the unit is better for avoiding breaks.
As for quality, mine appears absolutely flawless and perfect - no bubbles, no off-center anything, just all good. Now i'm just hoping the stem instert isn't a fatal design flaw...

I don't think its a design flaw. It basically the same thing HVY and now MiO do. Sam's is just a cleaner version of it. I'm betting this all traces back to 1 blower.