So it seems we have a choice.........limited choice over here or more choice from the states but heart stoppingly huge shipping costs. Where do you get yours?
I got a fab GA set of about 4" of all the colours from Q came with working notes too and meant i could try lots of colours ... it was a while ago though !!
Other than that I have had a little of the TAG from Off mandrel and some GA from plowdens and I have braved getting odd bits from the states
The best choice seems to be the states but the shipping is as much as the glass itself making it improbably pricey. Q doesn't seem to be around much anymore and I love Off Mandrel but am feeling more adventurous.
I'm afraid most of mine comes from ABR or Frantz in the US, I just swallow hard and try not to look at the shipping :o
I almost always buy NS odds, boxes of shorts or wait for a sale (like the 40% off Momka that they have at the moment) which offsets the cost a bit. The sales are usually shown on the LE sale rack. I buy GA in February, when they have a big sale - but they usually have a selection of "occasional quality" glass available and I've never had a problem with that either. The only problem is needing to buy 1lb at a go with the odds and OCQ glass... that's a lot of boro colour.
If you include shipping and customs, the TAG from Off-mandrel is a good deal and often works out cheaper. Creative Glass do a small range of Northstar if you want to try a rod, and Fritenglas also has a good selection of rods, with rather less heart-stopping shipping costs!
If you don't mind waiting for 4-6 weeks and ask nicely, some of the US companies will send it the cheaper route.
I have created wishful thinking baskets in a few of the us sites and none of them offer the cheaper but longer delivery option anymore and I was wondering if that was because they were having a lot of lost and damaged parcels issues.
Quote from: Tan on November 24, 2010, 06:31:57 PM
I have created wishful thinking baskets in a few of the us sites and none of them offer the cheaper but longer delivery option anymore and I was wondering if that was because they were having a lot of lost and damaged parcels issues.
Why don't you email and ask, they are often very helpful and flexible. You may be able to buy bigger quantities and split with others in the UK too, and that might get you a discount. ;)
I'd let Martin know you are getting into boro, Tan. Might lead to something ;)
ABR do a "cheapest shipping" option. They will weigh your parcel once picked and then charge you the cheapest rate.
I thought about the buying and splitting thing Sam but I don't think it will work out much cheaper and I can't be arsed to sort and post all that glass. Shirley.....I wish :D
Stacy, I didn't know ABR did that, that is really good to know
Martin has a little bit of boro, Tan, but not a lot! Christina of Frit n Glas also does quite a range. The shipping might be a bit, but at least there is no customs charge! :)
When starting out the sampler packs are a really good option, it's almost as if you get too much choice though! Makes a nice pallete so you've got lots of colours to try out, Martin usually has the Northstar pack and Sean does a TAG sampler as well. I hear there are sometimes there are shorts on sale on ebay (very occasionally) but the problem there is you really don't know what you've got, which makes it really hard to figure out how to use them.
Glenn, I have been looking at the sampler packs, they seem like a really good way to go, all the rods labelled so I know where I am starting from and a nice choice to play with, no Northstar packs on Martins site at the mo :( I did originally think shorts were the way to go financially but couldn't face the headache of working out what they were!!
June, thankyou, I did get my clear from Martin but the colours were so limited, along with my knowledge that I didn't dare venture into colour rods :D
Sean has some boro frit, too, Tan, which may be worth a play with some clear (you being the frit Queen and all that ;) ) ? :)
Shorts aren't as much of a headache as you might think because most boro only works in a few different ways... but I do agree that there is something nice about starting with labelled rods and knowing what you are playing with.
ABR do tend to overestimate shipping on the basket and then work it out properly afterwards.
The downside with the sampler packs is that they include some colours you will never, or very rarely, use. But then probably over time you do end up having a go at most of them..
I think the frit woman on Etsy sounds like a good deal, and eplanetglass has nice Momka frit.
I've only just placed an order with Franz at the beginning of the week :( If I put another in any time soon, I'll pm you hun. It is working out a fair bit cheaper. I placed an order with a Canadian company http://www.morettiglasscanada.com/ and after a couple of emails they were happy to send my parcel out cheapest option, which halved the postage. Don't know if they do any boro tho - however they do have pineapple sparkle in stock ;D
ETA They do stock boro sometimes, they have clear, but it's always worth emailing Priscille for a chat about what they can and can't get. They have been very accommodating so far.
Hi
I got some boro from Plowden and Thompson.
They have coloured rods and plenty of clear rods and tube in many sizes. If you can call in they are really helpful if not here is the contact details.
PLOWDEN AND THOMPSON LTD
GLASS MANUFACTURERS
DIAL GLASSWORKS
STEWKINS
STOURBRIDGE
WEST MIDLANDS
DY8 4YN
TEL 01384 393398
FAX 01384 376638
Hope this helps
Thankyou Nick, I gave them a call and they promised to email me a price list of boro colours, I will post it here so we all have an idea of prices.
...remembering that the prices P&T charge are for half-rods.... otherwise, they look fabulously cheap! :D
Aaaaa never let that one slip on the phone :D
I don't know anything about the prices, but there's a German company which sells momka and other boro glass as well - might worth a look: http://g-v-b.de/index_en.htm
Good find Julie but I'm a little wary not being able to use paypal with a company I don't know :-[
Great link though, they have flat clear boro which I've read about but not seen any suppliers for. Sadly, I think it would cost a fortune to get a few panes as they talk about shipping by the pallet!
ooops, sorry about that - just looked at the glass they supplied :-[ :D
They do coloured rods too, prices look really reasonable too! ;D
I couldn't work the prices out! ::) As far as I could see some rods were 0.13 Euros per 1,000gms and I just know that isn't right! I'm guessing it is 0.13 but per gram which would make a lot more sense and works out at 13 Euros per 100g if I've done my sums right. That is reasonable, but you need to add German VAT which I think is 20%, and then shipping.
I am really interested in all that coloured tubing though :)
The site confused me, when I clicked on the shop it went back to German and I could only get pdfs and no online shop?
Sue, I'm so sorry, I missed your post. It's Frantz' site that is tempting me with shorts but the shipping is scaring the pants off me
Tan, ABR have shorts too (it is hot in the US :D ) and trevsglass do Momka shorts. I believe Trev's grandma is really helpful :)
Quote from: garishglobes on November 25, 2010, 02:22:26 PM
...remembering that the prices P&T charge are for half-rods.... otherwise, they look fabulously cheap! :D
Yes... they only have half rods. I have bought from Christina at Frit n Glas and had brilliant service, great prices and she has a really good selection - and no customs charges :) :) :)
Quote from: garishglobes on November 25, 2010, 08:23:17 PM
Tan, ABR have shorts too (it is hot in the US :D ) and trevsglass do Momka shorts. I believe Trev's grandma is really helpful :)
Trevs Grandma is just lovely... I can't speak highly enough of that lady :)
QuoteI couldn't work the prices out!
The more I looked the more confused I got too! :-[ I found one of the pdf with prices for dichroic printed with pattens and designs, and they looked quite reasonable, but the rod prices did seem a bit of a strange way of listing them. I'm guessing it should be 0.13 euros per gram? ??? so if a coloured rod averages about 31g that would make it about 4euros? Maybe???? ??? ??? ??? It was the flat boro I fancied playing with (The Milton Townsend book shows him making wings with flat sheets of pyrex) but I don't fancy trying to order one huge 2x4ft sheet of boro for me to turn it into a melted mess!
I wonder if there is a european boro supplier out there? Can you imagine the surprise they would have when we found out about them and there was this sudden rash of english orders!!
Simax is European... but I dont know of any coloured boro producers in Europe - only China or the USA
It's such a shame really. The suppliers we do have are limited because its such a small community and because we are such a small community we don't have enough buying power, it's going round in circles at its finest :D
Off - mandrel now stocks Momka as well as other boro stuff. Yay!