helpoverthere
Member
The different size of the dish surfaces and the different heat mass make a difference for sure.
All these prices for SiC, ruby and sapphire inserts and pearls are going crazy. I refuse to pay those crazy prices. I'm still hoping @710Coils Shane will offer them himself in the nearer future for a much fairer and reasonable price. I asked a SWISS (!) producer for making ruby inserts some times ago and his guess was around €100-150 per insert for one fitting a 25 mm banger (no mass order!) so it seems possible to offer a high quality Chinese one with a good margin of profit for much less than $200.
And if not ruby or sapphire I hope Shane will offer pearls and inserts out of SiC at least
just curious...what would you pay for a synthetic ruby grown in here in the USA and machined in house? Q.C. photos of each gemstone from seed to insert. Would you pay more for material analysis?
Ultimately, I don't trust China to perform a process that potentially involves lead oxide that eventually is going to be heated past oven temperatures and inhaled. As far as I am concerned, Russia isn't a beacon of responsibility and safety and not "thailand" either.
Not one of these companies is vertically integrated...nor publishes any post production analysis... no one is being transparent and until someone tells me otherwise I am willing to bet there's lead in some of these inserts. I am using the document:
Separating Natural and Synthetic Rubies on the Basis of Trace-Element Chemistry by S. Muhlmeister
paraphrasing: If the flux method is used; then the type of flux material can be seen in the synthetic ruby in trace amounts, one of which is lead!
With no transparency or until I hear otherwise I am concerned. OSHA doesn't dab so we are all just using our best intuition here. Any true medical patients I would recommend use Ti or Quartz until you know more.
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