Open Source Glass Thread

[weenstoned]

I guess those build-a-bongs might be easier to clean, but I don't really see the appeal beyond that at least in a world of cheap Chinese glass. When I used to think bongs were expensive I could see the appeal of build-a-bongs as a reasonably priced way to switch up what you own, but when you can get a whole new bong for cheap why bother. Maybe if there was like 10+ buildable pieces available I could see jumping in so you could make some huge frankenbongs I would jump on, but I would be worried that I would buy an initial build-a-bong and no expansion pieces would be on dhgate.

 

[PoopMachine]

The only other thing I think it'd need (aside from the larger vortex chamber you mentioned), is a slight restriction at the bottom of the funnel/top of the return tube.

With double uptubes and a single return, youre going to need a bigger return or the can is going to empty and its going to go up the mouthpiece. Ive got a few Doughboy test pieces here that are like that. With double returns, you'd be okay tho.

 

[Frederick McGuire]

Sweet

I def don't want to do something that'll make it splash up into the mouthpiece.

I didn't think the number of uptakes would change the amount of water flow too much, I figured that would be mostly determined by draw strength.

If the next prototype doesn't vortex too well we could try the restriction then

 

[BoogerMan]

Sweet

I def don't want to do something that'll make it splash up into the mouthpiece.

I didn't think the number of uptakes would change the amount of water flow too much, I figured that would be mostly determined by draw strength.

If the next prototype doesn't vortex too well we could try the restriction then

Restriction doesn't necessarily cause a vortex.

My best vortexing pieces do not have that pinch restriction like it the pic you posted.

I am sure it helps but I have found vortex is more created by the size and shape of the funnel and the way the uptake tubes are connected to the funnel.

I mean don't get me wrong you definitely don't want a huge return tube because that will prevent a vortex, but a normal size return tube with no restriction and a good shaped and sized funnel and proper uptake tube connections can cause a wicked vortex

No restriction on my return tube on my doughboy double and I think it vortexes pretty decent

 

[rgrig]

Ah, I think two different terms are being discussed. I love me a great VORTEX, but i LOVE a great DRAIN.
Vape on brothers

 

[Monsoon]

I guess those build-a-bongs might be easier to clean, but I don't really see the appeal beyond that at least in a world of cheap Chinese glass. When I used to think bongs were expensive I could see the appeal of build-a-bongs as a reasonably priced way to switch up what you own, but when you can get a whole new bong for cheap why bother. Maybe if there was like 10+ buildable pieces available I could see jumping in so you could make some huge frankenbongs I would jump on, but I would be worried that I would buy an initial build-a-bong and no expansion pieces would be on dhgate.

I agree. I'd be worried too about buying different pieces and having them fit together snugly even if they were meant to work with each other.

-----

In relation to the upcoming pieces mentioned in the first post, can somebody describe the differences (if any) between the Torus and Klein in terms of function? The top part in each are about the same just the return either goes down into the perc in the Torus and in-n-out in the base in the Klein.

 

[Deadshort480]

I would really like to get some more knowledgeable people involved like @Deadshort480 and the king of glass @PhotoRider.

Thanks for thinking of me, but in good conscience I won't take part in any of these threads anymore.

Without mentioning names, I was speaking with a glass blower and invited him to join FC as I told him that the people here really love to have the artist's presence on the forum. He told me he'd check it out and when I recently asked if he was going to join his response was, "Why, so my designs can be copied in China and sold for a quarter of the cost? I don't think so." I felt like a complete douche and now I can't even recommend this community to other glass blowers without feeling foolish.

 

[Delta3DStudios]

Sucks he and you feel that way. But let's be real - no matter how good China makes these designs - they will NEVER equal what a real artist can do with quality glass.

That's like the artist too afraid to show off his painting for fear someone may take a picture of it.

When I purchase a bubbler from China, I know what I'm getting - I know the quality is going to be sub-par. In some respects I can bitch and they might address some issues - but it's still made in china, with Chinese knockoff Pyrex glass. The welds are imperfect, percs cut horribly and mounted crooked, and the glass has that nasty yellow tint to it.

China will always knockoff designs. People tell me all the time "Why don't patent that 3D printed accessory?!?" - because patents are expensive and time consuming. Moreover it's obvious the Chinese don't care about patents / trademarks. Rather than waste effort & money on preventing people from stealing my ideas, I'm going to work harder to invent new designs faster than they can copy my old designs! I don't shy away from any form of competition. I rise up and embrace it.

 

[tepictoton]

I completely agree with Ratchett on this one...

And one might actually look at it from another point of view...so these artists are saying themselves that anybody can copy their work if they want to? So the glassblowers themselves do not see the value they are adding with their skills? Or are they saying their skills are average? i for one would not worry about this. You want to buy Chinese knock-offs, be my guest. But if you want a quality product, made with Love, by a person you can actually have contact with, then come to us :-) Now that would be an attitude I could appreciate and support!

I mean a real artist does not even think about these things...he just loves doing what he does and if he keeps on evolving then the Chinees will always be one step behind...only remedy I see here is keep on innovating or miss the boat...

 

[PoopMachine]

Ive said it before and Ill say it again.. if artists priced their pieces at a reasonable rate, the whole Chinese infrastructure wouldnt be anywhere near as big as it is. A clear piece youve got $10.00 in material in shouldnt cost $700 when you built it in 3 hours but again, I cant say its the blowers as much as it is the middle man markup. If a blower said "Fuck this, Im going direct" and put his stuff online, didnt sell it at any shops and priced it reasonably like we did with Doughboy stuff, they'd be busy enough to make a living and probably get huge. It just takes a while and someone willing to work at marketing the stuff.

When Trey was hustling, he was knocking down about $1500 a week. For a single man shop, thats pretty damn good I think. He isnt doing near that now since going back to wholesale.

Head shops suck anyway. At least the ones around here. 99% of the time they either dont have what Im looking for or have never even heard of it.

 

[Cannabis Connoisseur]

Ive said it before and Ill say it again.. if artists priced their pieces at a reasonable rate, the whole Chinese infrastructure wouldnt be anywhere near as big as it is. A clear piece youve got $10.00 in material in shouldnt cost $700 when you built it in 3 hours but again, I cant say its the blowers as much as it is the middle man markup. If a blower said "Fuck this, Im going direct" and put his stuff online, didnt sell it at any shops and priced it reasonably like we did with Doughboy stuff, they'd be busy enough to make a living and probably get huge. It just takes a while and someone willing to work at marketing the stuff.

Head shops suck anyway. At least the ones around here. 99% of the time they either dont have what Im looking for or have never even heard of it.

I agree completely some pieces are just ridiculously priced. And head shops around here are outdated and over priced. If it's considered to be that far into the art realm start making one off pieces.

 

[Deadshort480]

It is what it is. I absolutely see where he's coming from and I should have thought about that before telling him to join here.

 

[PoopMachine]

It is what it is. I absolutely see where he's coming from and I should have thought about that before telling him to join here.

I see where youre coming from but you arent going to stop the copies so no reason to be a prima donna about it. Im involved in another hobby that felt the Chinese squeeze YEARS ago and slowly but surely the initial rush of excitement with the Chinese stuff died down. It was just like this glass. Decent, made okay, not without imperfections and then some of it was absolute crap. Over time, most people came back to US sold (Im not going to say US made) products anyway but there is still a small following for the Chinese junk (And I use that word loosely for my other hobby).

Blowing glass is an art form, I get it. But if you've ever watched the whole process from a solid piece of glass to a finished product, you'd realize for most pieces, theyre just vastly overpriced. Whether thats the artists fault or the shop's fault (Probably the shop but still....), the Chinese are just capitalizing on it. Ive also yet to see a piece from China that was NEAR as nice as the original.

Think of how sad we'd be if Kraft stopped making Kraft Dinner because Kroger came out with a generic, cheaper version. It didnt taste as good but it looked similar and was cheaper.

 

[Deadshort480]

He's not being a Prima Donna. He just completed a design that took him quite awhile to get down pat as far as function goes and he doesn't want to showcase it somewhere that is directly responsible for the creation of knock offs, especially if they aren't up to snuff.

 

[SSVUN~YAH]

If he is too good for our community, I say good riddance. We have plenty of wonderful glass blowers who aren't paranoid and aren't trying to take extra money from selling hot sand.

 

[Tweak]

I agree completely some pieces are just ridiculously priced.

+1000. I'm still trying to wrap my head around why a real diffusion pump costs $400-750. They are small and don't look half as complicated as some other work.

But I don't blow glass, so I may be just ignorant,

take extra money from selling hot sand.

And on the other hand, I still can't understand how China can sell such wonderful pieces of glass for so cheap.

In some cases, it would cost me more to order a bucket of sand.

The landscape sure is changing though. The glass industry is relatively new, so maybe that is why they get away with the insane markup?

 

[flotntoke]

What I don't get about the blower who is choosing not to participate on FC is why he doesn't think his pieces will be copied by China whether he is here or not. He'll obviously be producing and selling them Even if he chooses not to post pics anywhere electronically (doubtful), as soon as someone buys one and posts a pic it will be out there. If his design is popular and desired, it probably won't be long before it shows up in this thread (or other similar ones) and copies are being requested/designed. Even if not, it still has a very good chance of being seen and copied by a Chinese shop. There are a hell of a lot more pieces on DHGate and other such sites that had no FC input than the few that have. This has been going on for much longer than even the Cheap high quality bubbler?? thread.

Sounds like a grumpy monkey who may be a great artist and blower, but doesn't have too firm of a grip on business in the real world. Emotional responses and reactions are seldom worthwhile in capitalism (unless we're talking reality TV). Glass isn't the only thing that gets copied, and China isn't the only one doing the copying. Just look at autos sold in the US for a fine example. Most look pretty much the same from make to make, and have been getting more the same looking for the past 50+ years. This isn't because there aren't ideas for different looks. Most successful producers of anything make adjustments to compete with what is popular or what they think people want. And while there is some "art" in most glass pieces, I don't buy that "artist" argument for most glass. Design innovations? Yes, definitely. But until you start getting into heady pieces or glasswork that is strictly for form with little (if any) function, it all seems very prima-donna to me.

Think also worth noting - especially in this fine thread - most blowers don't want any input at all from consumers. IME, even with custom made pieces there is seldom much input taken kindly on function. Chinese glass may not be as durable, perfect or have the same QC as US and German glass, but thanks to @blankrider and others hard work we're able to get what is collectively desired and do it at a very reasonable price. When was the last time Mobius, Sovereignty, Hitman, etc, took advice or suggestions from end users who weren't already personal friends or fellow blowers?

 

[LiLRUBYDOLL]

All those prototypes are awesome, what a cool position to have. Guess you don't work a day in your life, cuz I'm guessing you love those things LOLOL.

 

[weenstoned]

Sounds like a grumpy monkey who may be a great artist and blower, but doesn't have too firm of a grip on business in the real world.

Couldn't agree more, glassblowers threatened by Chinese piracy kind of strike me like the music business when downloading music first came about. Every pirated download was not a lost sale, as most people pirated stuff they would never buy if that were the only option. Few people buying Chinese glass copies would be shelling out $300+ for the originals if that were the only option. The diffusion pump is neat, but it definitely isn't $300 neat to me. The amount of lost sales is probably even lower since people shelling out that much are exactly the ones who buy into all that artist talk. The distilled glass and doughboy threads here lead me to believe that pricing reasonably can lead to success for artists, but I can't blame a lot of them for not doing it when people are willing to way overpay at shops/on instagram.

 

[LiLRUBYDOLL]

First of all Chinese glass isn't always cheap, a lot of times it is sold as the real thing. For example I know a smoke shop that I can get American made glass pieces that the owner hits against the wall to show strength... literally, for better prices then local smoke shops sell these thin Chinese glass pieces. Sure if you don't got money and find a good deal on Chinese then it can do the job. But the quality is usually not near the same.

 

[cybrguy]

Couldn't agree more, glassblowers threatened by Chinese piracy kind of strike me like the music business when downloading music first came about. Every pirated download was not a lost sale, as most people pirated stuff they would never buy if that were the only option. Few people buying Chinese glass copies would be shelling out $300+ for the originals if that were the only option. The diffusion pump is neat, but it definitely isn't $300 neat to me. The amount of lost sales is probably even lower since people shelling out that much are exactly the ones who buy into all that artist talk. The distilled glass and doughboy threads here lead me to believe that pricing reasonably can lead to success for artists, but I can't blame a lot of them for not doing it when people are willing to way overpay at shops/on instagram.

Good post and good analogy with the music industry and copying. I can certainly understand that some artists wouldn't want to "encourage" copying by participating in this forum (if that is what it does), but not participating won't "discourage" it in any way either. I am not a customer of $1000 pieces, but I AM a customer of $50 pieces and if I couldn't get a decent recycler or bubbler at a "reasonable" price I would just be satisfied with a $25 ash catcher and a j-hook.

 

[tepictoton]

And just as with the music industry...one might discover something one really likes and as a consequence decide to save up and get the real thing...

 

[BoogerMan]

Found the Dragon Tank Hookah from a different seller for only $60.

http://www.dhgate.com/product/whole...ition/193964108.html#cart_saveforlater-4-null

As soon as I get paid in 2 weeks I'm possibly going to buy it. Need to pay off my new e-nails at the moment lol

 

[tennstrong]

Found the Dragon Tank Hookah from a different seller for only $60.

http://www.dhgate.com/product/whole...ition/193964108.html#cart_saveforlater-4-null

As soon as I get paid in 2 weeks I'm possibly going to buy it. Need to pay off my new e-nails at the moment lol

Speaking of, I'm enjoying my banger style enails just too much haha- damn just too good for crumble compared to my regular, and I got an extra one for free and a carb cap that perfectly seals and can kinda work as a dabber haha, homie BP hooked it up. As soon as I can get my hands on my fc710 there will definitely be some videos otw haha.

 

[turdhole]

Speaking of, I'm enjoying my banger style enails just too much haha- damn just too good for crumble compared to my regular, and I got an extra one for free and a carb cap that perfectly seals and can kinda work as a dabber haha, homie BP hooked it up. As soon as I can get my hands on my fc710 there will definitely be some videos otw haha.

i'm confused, what's going on here? what is that extra piece off the bottom of the nail?