Yes, Steven and CCG have one too. I think they look better than the one from SSS. They look to me,
dang really? I actually was thinking this piece would be perfect for oil since its pretty small, I was actually expecting it to be a bit larger. Turned out great because this piece has been amazing.. nice fat smooth rips in a small package. Really lovin this seller, also have the toro-style circ/shower, toro-style AC and mini pillar from them
someone plz make this happen <3Here is one by Glassartist, too bad it has a straight neck.I sorta wish it was just the gridded inline without the imperial, water seems to all get stuck up in the top imperial perc
My Visa got blocked. Before I take a second attempt, What is the smartest way to do business with them as far as transferring money? Best protection. Have gotten things from China thru Ebay. And had to communicate with the sellers when a situation arrives and it can be frustrating trying to intentionally word things in a manner they grok. Then to get them to quit stalling, if there is a dispute. When there is one small hiccup, There's almost always snags between.
Never dealt with DHgate, but did set up my account. They don't take Paypal.
O.K. But any In's and out's, do's and dont's?
stevenlmz79 has a FC-278 that I have my eye on. He seems to have sold a lot of pieces and several FCers have bought from him. Has anybody communicated with him?
@pigfoot, I wouldn't mind doing something to get his attention and get him to believe he has a following of some sort. If he is being reviewed, it might help with QC. I'd rather take a swing at that before buying blind and spend my energy with RMAing and subsequently have my money tied up and start all over. And that is if there is no snags in between.
If anybody wants to talk me into a better choice, that is similar to my FC-278 or a more reputable buyer in general, I'm open. But there is certain criteria I'm looking for.
The Perc is attached to the base. The main pathway is prefebly an 18mm tube female connection. A solid piece with a solid base. I really like the reinforced glasswork with two function output of the FC-278. BTW.
FC 710 is quite popular, but the smaller pieces are overlooked lately, in favor of the bigger, more complex ones. Small size and little diffusion are where it's at for flavor. I'm looking at this one:
Is that the appropriate water level? I have mine filled to where the imperial perc starts. And I just find it annoying that I have to tilt the thing around to get it to drain. Pretty sure that's not how it's really supposed to function. But maybe it is if that's how your piece is as well.
I'd be glad to help anyone with China glass concerns, since getting into the glass game I can honestly say that some of their stuff isn't really bad. However, some is.
My biggest concern is that some of them use led based glass. Glass that has led in it is much cheaper, it also is workable at much lower temps than boro. The only way I found out is when a customer sends me glass to scratch for them and it's from China I noticed that certain pieces wouldn't scratch. I thought it was my equipment but after talking to the blowers that I work with I've come to learn that they use the same glass that makes light-bulbs.
Led based...
But, please keep in mind that this isn't the case for all Chinese glass. There are a few that use better quality glass and I have been able to successfully work their stuff.
This is a pic of a Chinese egg. I actually loved the piece.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_glass#Safety
I assume you mean lead, not led
That was about all I was able to find on the subject, I would like to learn more. I was under the impression that glass was the same hardness, with quartz being harder. One might think that the addition of lead to make the glass easier to work at lower temps would result in less hardness, rather than more. Were any of our usual vendors using leaded glass?
Also to support what Mvapes is saying and further add on the topic that glass is all the same hardness: there are different kinds of glass and different kinds of quartz with different physical properties.Sorry for the mis - spelling. You are in fact correct. The Chinese do things a bit differently than us here. Their glassworkers are in a factory type environment with each blower labeled by numeric code. This is where the JJ, DS, DH, all came from - who even know's if there's a real Anne Meng? lol
There can be 20 distributor's selling the same product and not even know who touched or made (let alone what it's made of) the pieces in question.
In fact, I had worked two pieces sent to me by the same person. Both from the same vendor and both fab eggs. One was lead based and the other was fine. They both etched but the lead one would not let me dig any deeper than a half a millimeter. To give you a comparison, I like to go as deep as 3 mm at times. Hardness makes no difference as I can etch into quartz as well as other minerals. Lead based glass can only be etched using acids and creams which also means it's NOT boro. Boro can't be acid etched as it's lab grade glass. In order to be classified as lab grade it has to be able to stand up to solvents that could compromise the structural integrity if the glass.
I belong to a forum for glass blowers, sanders, and so on and so forth but as we all know I'm pretty new to the game as well. I might not know all the science yet but I can tell you guy's I've seen how their glass reacts to my abrasives. Another thing I would like to add that may offer some more insight for my FC brethren is that I flame polish my pieces after I scratch em. 3 separate times, with 3 different pieces, once I hit it with my torch I heard an immediate POP! Each one broke.
Hence Scratched Glasses new saying...
"don't flame polish the Chinese ones"
One more thing to add, in case anyone wants to know what I spray with I use 180 grit aluminum oxide.
A quick googling tells me that they started to add lead to glass to make it easier to cut the angles seen in crystal wear, by making the glass softer. That doesn't really jibe with your experience of not being able to blast it? Unless it's somehow so soft that it just mushes around instead of losing material? Any other possible explanations?Sorry for the mis - spelling. You are in fact correct. The Chinese do things a bit differently than us here. Their glassworkers are in a factory type environment with each blower labeled by numeric code. This is where the JJ, DS, DH, all came from - who even know's if there's a real Anne Meng? lol
There can be 20 distributor's selling the same product and not even know who touched or made (let alone what it's made of) the pieces in question.
In fact, I had worked two pieces sent to me by the same person. Both from the same vendor and both fab eggs. One was lead based and the other was fine. They both etched but the lead one would not let me dig any deeper than a half a millimeter. To give you a comparison, I like to go as deep as 3 mm at times. Hardness makes no difference as I can etch into quartz as well as other minerals. Lead based glass can only be etched using acids and creams which also means it's NOT boro. Boro can't be acid etched as it's lab grade glass. In order to be classified as lab grade it has to be able to stand up to solvents that could compromise the structural integrity if the glass.
I belong to a forum for glass blowers, sanders, and so on and so forth but as we all know I'm pretty new to the game as well. I might not know all the science yet but I can tell you guy's I've seen how their glass reacts to my abrasives. Another thing I would like to add that may offer some more insight for my FC brethren is that I flame polish my pieces after I scratch em. 3 separate times, with 3 different pieces, once I hit it with my torch I heard an immediate POP! Each one broke.
Hence Scratched Glasses new saying...
"don't flame polish the Chinese ones"
One more thing to add, in case anyone wants to know what I spray with I use 180 grit aluminum oxide.
Yeah it will drain a little bit but not more than a few drops really until I tilt it. I think it's just the perc holes aren't properly cut. I'll try to get a function video up soon.
