Are glass nails a waste of time?

[jl420]

I just bought a small (5 inch in height) oil/wax glass rig. I comes with the glass dome and glass nail but I heard glass nails don't really last. I will probably be the only one to use it and just on the weekends so I was wondering what my chances are the glass nail will last a little while? I was also not sure what type of nail I should be looking for (quartz/titan) and being that the rig is small does anyone have recommendations of what/where I should look for. Thanx for the help...

 

[Mr. Gweilo 420]

I have a lot of glass nails from China pieces. They do work but not so well and not for long. They deteriorate very fast and don't clean up well from my experience.

 

[Puffers]

All mine have had very small "cups " basically had shallow indentations (limits dab size) and even a couple inch drop onto a hard wood table has killed a couple....

So yeah they work but not well and usually not for long unless you are SUPER careful.

 

[jl420]

Being it's such a small rig can you guys direct me as to what I should get for a nail?

 

[weenstoned]

I would get a cheap chinese ceramic nail or a chinese quartz banger.

 

[beeswax]

I also find the Chinese glass nails have way too small of a cup. The ones I have require such tiny dabs I don't bother.

For a rig that size I'd probably go with a quartz banger.

 

[jl420]

I found a seller on eBay (out of NM) who makes 14mm glass nails. I contacted him and explained what I was working with and he gave me the low down on measurements and what type I would need. He also stated that the cups on his nails were bigger than the China glass. He had 100% positive reviews on his products (14mm/18mm glass nails) so I decided to order 10 of them for $20 bucks. So with the one that comes with my rig, that's 11 nails which I hope will last the rest of the year.(I am going to try like hell to be super careful...) Since I'm a noob to dab/oil rigs I figuered it's a good way to get started then maybe move up to a better rig in time.

 

[mrgohamilton]

from my experience , also when i first started dabbing, i had maybe 2 glass nails before I couldn't handle it anymore and decided to go with titanium and then to quartz.

The two glass nails I had each cracked at the head upon heating after maybe 2 or 3 days of use (it was the glass nails with the little divet for a cup). When they cracked, you could hear the "ding" sound as the head of the glass nail went flying off the rig and on to the floor. Let me remind you this glass is still hot so you'll have to find something to pick it up with, unless your carpet has already absorbed all the heat and burnt a hole in it .

Glass nails hit nicely but they don't have the durability for most dabbers. once you go through those ten nails I'd recommend something else, like quartz, ceramic or titanium

anyone had experience with the glass bucket swings from china?? im waiting for mine to crack (only used it maybe 4 times)

 

[jl420]

Update: Of the 11 glass 14mm nails I purchased over a month ago, I'm still using the first one and it's going strong. I dab daily & often and no issues yet except a broken dome (rolled off the table). I've been using a Newport Skull Torch with my rigs and I couldn't be happier. I do see everyone's point about the glass smaller cup size (quartz/titan nails are bigger) but a lil' Dab does the trick everytime.

 

[Frederick McGuire]

I also like the piece of mind of Ti/Quartz.

I have literally had a glass nail explode in front of me.

A tiny hot shard of glass blew off the glass nail, landed on a cushion and left a lil burn mark.

A glass nail will definitely work, and can be fine if you fab irregularly, but IMO you should look into getting a cheap Quartz banger from DHGate or something...

Glad to hear they're holding up for you though

 

[jl420]

Thanx Frederick, I just ordered 2-14 mm quartz nails and am looking into getting a banger of some type. Sorry about the couch, the Mrs. has me in the basement doin' my Dabs. Less things to break and let's face it me with a torch belong in the cellar.

 

[Frederick McGuire]

I didn't like that cushion anyway

 

[stephen_glass]

From my experience all my glass stuff has broken. I'm sure its the way I heat it up and cool it down over and over again, but glass just cannot take the stress.

However none of my china quartz or my helen honey hole quartz domeless-nails have broken and they are easy to clean and provide the best flavor. I've literately heated them up 100s and 100s of times.

 

[BeardedCrow]

Long ago, I had a glass nail explode and shattered into a few pieces and melted into my carpet.
Ever since that I did titanium nails, until recently where I found some quartz nails.
I've been under a rock apparently.

 

[RenDabs]

Hyman quartz on DHGate makes good quartz nails for cheap. The 4mm thick ones are kind of overkill unless you regularly take giant dabs, 3mm works just fine.

 

[noeljdm]

Might sound weird but as far as taste, I always go with glass. About a year ago I bought 100 glass nails for about $150. They break every 4-5 days and I just swap them. I use a Quartz Boro banger when I don't want to use a dome.