glangley

Cindy, Happy Belated Birthday Dear! Hope it was full of laughs, hugs and happiness!! God Bless you!

Let me echo the best wishes for you on your birthday! Hope it is a great one!

I can decorate it with pretty much anything. Just let me know what kind of things you like and I can easily scribe it into the board as I do it by hand. I will get a firm price on these as soon as I pick up the rest of the things I need. I am open to suggestions on that. Maybe I could just do them for the price of the material's and leave any extra up to the buyer's, kind of like a donation? lol Whatcha think?

That's so awesome, glad everyone likes it. And just incase you don't know, cause you can't see it in the picture, the board is totally rotatable so you can spin it around as it sits with the installation of a few ball bearing rings and another small piece of wood for the base. Just so you can get a full scope of things while playing! Also if you wanted to fill it up with nice mibs and hang it on the wall, you could always spin it from time to time and see what kind of a day you were in for! haha I never thought about selling them but if the interest is there I am willing. God Bless all! P.S. Surgery went well, no idea whats up yet though. They took some biopcies? (not sure if I spelled that right? hunks of me they took out for testing anyway,lol) I hope to hear something back later this week, God willing all good news. Love ya's!

Cool stuff indeed! Great work! Keep it up!

I haven't tried a Chinese Checker board but im willing to give it a go! And I would love to make you one of these Darla, I should get some more material next week. Just need to know what kind of things you like so I can engrave them into the wood in the blank spaces. On this one I used two different leaf patterns and alternated them. So just tell me what kind of things or what style you would like and I'll get to work on it next week if everything goes well. Edna, if you have any good pics of a Chinese Checker board plz send them my way as I would love to try my hand at it. This is the first marble anything I have made and I was pleased with how it turned out. I think a Checker board would be fun also!! Much love to you two! God Bless!

I was bored the other day and thought I would make something to keep my mind busy. This is what I came up with and it turned out much better than I had thought it would. I don't have any big tools like table saw, band saw or such, they all burned up in my barn fire back in '07. Much of this was done old school which was fine because it took quite awhile to finish and thus it served it's initial purpose. Because it's marble related, I thought i'd show you all and see what you think. Next time I think I will try to use a template of some sort to get the mib holes perfect. Without a drill press, it was hard to keep the holes aligned using a hand drill. God Bless

I may have found a good deal on a Nortel major/minor combo that includes a marver and hoses. It's used but in good shape and they want just over 200 bones for it. Is that a good of a deal as I think it is? Thanks in advance! God Bless!

Those are very cool! I had no idea stuff like this was out there besides the shoe ad mibs that are in the Big Book of mibs by Grist. Very Very cool! If anyone has any others to post pics of, I would love to see them! God Bless!

Thanks Bob, I really appreciate the well wishes! Someday maybe I'll get back to my Marine Corps wieght! Only forty pounds to go! hehe if I keep going like this then it shouldn't take long at all. I think I may have gotten a good lead on a Nortel major/minor for just over 200 bones. It's got a marver on it and includes the hoses. I just hope it's still there in a few weeks when my taxes come back and I can pick it up. Along the lines of spending some money on my love of glass, and don't mean to jack the thread here, sorry. But when is the next big marble meet where I can finally meet some of you fine folks? God Bless and keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow that all goes well and nothing too serious is going on. Love you guys and gals!

I often wondered about how to make boxes like this, it's just georgeous! I wonder if one of these computer controlled craftsman would work to make box tops like this. Here's a link if anyone wants to check it out. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00921754000P It looks like you could really make some neat stuff with this piece of gear. Does anyone know, unless it's a trade secret, what method Joe Hogue used to make these beautiful boxes? I just love the look!

I hope to get down there this year and can't wait to see your setup. Can you pm me some pic's and the price your going to be selling these for? Not that I can afford one at this time, but maybe if I can get some saved up before the show in WV I could swing it. And for the record, nothing that I will polish or have polished will be sold. And if by chance I ever did sell one of them, I would never, ever, be decietful and hide the fact that it had been polished. As a matter of fact, I would be proud to tell them that I was the one who had done all the work on it and brought it back to a state of beauty! God Bless!

Thanks for the info snyd. People that are dishonest about the mibs they sell are obviously not in it for the love of collecting like many on this board including myself. Why lie about it? That is just silly in my book. I am going to try to get to some of the shows this year, God willing. Although a polishing machine is down the list of things to get until I can get my glass studio up and running with the equipment I need. Tomorrow I go for a small procedure at the hospital to find out what's going on in my gut. The good thing is that I have lost nearly thirty pounds in the last six weeks. I guess there is a silver lining on every dark cloud! God Bless!

Wow! Just beautiful!

Ah, gotcha Sue and thanks for that. Here's the deal... I want to work boro and make marbles. My wife is also thinking of trying her hand at this and she would be working primarily with soft glass making anything but marbles probably! lol Thanks for the info! Gary

Ventilation is definately on the list. Being that my new barn is 32ft X 36ft I have plenty of room. I thought of wall mounting a huge industrial fan and running sealed conduit from there to just behind and above the bench. A two, maybe three foot diameter fan should provide plenty of draw to suck out the nasty's. The floor is totally concrete slab which was the slab left over from my 40ft X 80ft barn after it burned to the ground just before my father passed away. I thought of maybe using some concrete paver's under the table and work area just for some added protection and what-not. I did have another, maybe silly, question to ask though. Since this is the time for a greener earth, and recycling is catching on. Is there a way to reuse glass to make marbles? Or would it only be suited for things like ash trays and decoration? Specifically, the bottles of wine that my wife enjoys comes in a beautiful deep blue bottle. I would love to use it somehow rather than to simply chuck it out with the trash, plus it would help keep costs down if there was a way to use it, and more importantly, it's pretty! lol Even if I had to add something to it to make it work, that would be ok too unless the cost would be higher than just buying the right stuff in the first place. If anyone knows, I would be very appreciative for information. Thank you again! and God Bless!

What is the process in which furnace marbles are created? Forgive my ignorance but I would really like to know. They sure are beautiful but I am not sure if I could tell them in hand or not. I have pictures of some redish oranges ones that resembles the color of flame but I had no idea that they made them in different colors. Could someone give me the scoop on furnace marbles?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU BOTH! I hope you have wonderful birthdays with lots of fun, smiles, laughter, and memories to last forever! God Bless you both!

Thanks Nathan and Sue! Nathan I'll give you a holler when taxes get back, hopefully sooner than later! hehe I got a eight foot stainless steel table from my sister that I have yet to go pick up. Is that ok by itself for a work space or should I put down something on top like brick or graphite pads or something else? Thanks!

Keeping doors open or anything like that would only be a bonus. The only reason I wrote this, "with sound reason", was to discourage the jokers out there from saying things like, "In the future mibs could be used for glass eyes of people that were born with very small eye sockets." And other such nonsence. I wanted sound knowledge, which is knowledge that the average person could reason and say, "Hey yeah, I can understand that may work." That's all. My thought at the time was just to include what mibs were used for in the past, what current uses they have, (even odd ones like mine) and to keep a full spectrum in the discussion to include what ideas mibs would be used for in the future. Past, Present and Future just kinda go together, ya know? hehe But if we can help any of the companies out there all the better. This was just something fun and informative I thought we could do together. I hope we have lots of posts.

I was up the other night and heading to my marble cabinet to fetch some Jabo's. One of my uses for marbles is for an almost spiritual, or meditation purpose that I use to help deal with my day to day crud. While we all know that marbles is a great game to play, there are some uses for marbles that some people out there may not know. I thought this could be a neat round robin where people can reply in this topic and add their uses for marbles, be they common or uncommon. Also for some out there to post some history or rarely know facts about how marbles have been used in the past. And finally for some to speculate, "with sound reason" how marbles might be used in the future? Maybe if we get enough information, maybe 2010 uses? maybe 2million uses?, we could put all the contributer's names on it and have it published somewhere in a book. Fully realizing I don't know the first part of the legality of such a thing, we would definately have to have "From the Marble Connection" referenced somewhere in there! Afterall this board rocks! So let's have fun and don't be afraid to post something that you think everyone knows already, it's all about the fun and learning aspect for those of us, (like me) who could always learn a bit more. And what better place to learn than from each other?! God Bless you all! Gary

I actually got more sleep than I had anticipated, although my prediction of wierd dreams did come true. I dreampt I was back in the service but this time I had to scoot along the ground with my hands while dragging my legs behind me. When I woke up both legs hurt like a bugger! lol But the marble helped me get to sleep. I know it's an odd use for something we all love and enjoy. I just thought I would share with all of you. I guess it's a part of who I am now. Maybe I could write a book and call it "101 uses for the Marble" lol that would be a hoot!! Maybe start another thread and have everyone here contribute with their idea's and uses?? Hey that sounds like fun! lol I am going to go start that thread now and see where it takes us. God bless you dakodiak, and God bless you all.

Well, I still haven't been able to get my water flowing yet. I think my well pump maybe shot or their is something wrong with the power coming in to the box out there. I will have to try to work on it more tomorrow. It's just so darn hard, frustrating and painful to get out there and try to do. Just from the little I did in the last two days helping my wife is got my pain level through the roof. So much so that medication does nothing to keep it at bay. I am confident that the dreams I have tonight will be some doosie's. Usually when it gets this bad, if I get any sleep at all the pain will find it's way into my sleep as well. Just to name a few, I have had dreams of being crushed underneath cars, having surgery while awake and unable to speak to tell them to stop because I could feel it all, and even dreampt of being eaten alive by hungry lions, each time I wake up and find that the part of my body in the dream is throbbing like crazy. It is hard to sleep when it gets this bad, but I wanted to share something with you all that helps take my mind off of it, even if only briefly, whcih allows me to get to sleep. I probably have a few hundred marbles in my meager collection. I'll go grab a box of my favorite marbles, Jabo's of course , and set it beside my bed on my dresser. After marveling at them again and again, I will pick one to hold, and I rub it with my thumb and forefinger. It's something about the smooth glass, the texture and knowing the beauty I have in my hand. I let my mind imagine all the people that helped make it, that maybe held it before me and what they thought of it's wonder. I think of future marbles that have yet to be created but are waiting in cullet, and in the imagination of those like Dave M, and all those wonderful people out there who take part in the creating. The many artist's out there creating them one by one, with sweat, fire and love of glass wonders. All the time rubbing the marble with my thumb and forefinger. Maybe it's an obsessive compulsive disorder, but it helps me take my mind elsewhere. Since im still up after midnight and the pain level is intense, I was heading over to my little marble curio cabinet to snag a box before retreating to bed. I thought i'd pop in here just to say hi and tell you all how wonderful it is to know you here. I hope you all have a very blessed day tomorrow and God honors and keeps you all the days of your lives. Your friend in Michigan,

I thought about just doing something, which comes from my hours of boredom sitting at home wishing my pain would subside. To focus and anything else besides my physical depravity helps me tremendously. What about an auction on something like this? But then I think, who would come? Probably only us marble lovers and not the general public. Maybe I am just being selfish and trying to get involved, lol I hope you all know that each and every one of you are wonderful people and blessings from God to me. I know I can come up with some hair brained idea's, but that's just me. I have always been a dreamer, maybe it's because im a capricorn? lol But every good deed was dreampt up before it came into fruition, right? I hope you are all doing spectacular and keeping warm in this crazy winter weather! God Bless!

Yeah, this was just one of my non-sleep night idea's. Maybe a way to get the marble community involved in helping others while showing others the beauty of what we love so dearly. Not every idea I have is a good one, hehe! And don't forget that I am heavily medicated most times. lol I am down in the thumb and spent the morning with my wife trying to unthaw our pipes, err I was out in the cold watching her try while I gave my utmost moral support. Still no water yet. It seems the lid blew off my well head because one of my children, which no one knows who or when, seemed it necessary to remove the cinder block off the lid. We were able to get a small portable heater down in the hole near the pipes. I just hope it's not frozen further up the line, any prayers are welcome! lol Boy, just when it seems nothing else can go wrong, Murphy steps in and proves you wrong again. I worked up in Traverse City for awhile at WGTU/WGTQ. The Cherry festival and parade was always neat. And I have never seen clearer water and pretty blue like Torch Lake. I left there and went to our sister station in Marquette and took over the Chief Engineer position there until I reinjured my back and couldn't walk anymore. Now thanks to the good doc in Green Bay, I can walk with a cane but my health continues to deteriorate. So many things I used to take for granted are now impossible, but life goes on. I guess I am just down about it today because the pipes are frozen and when I was a younger man I could crawl under the house, or hop down in the well house, spend all day out in the cold and it wouldn't even phase me. Now just to be out there in the cold makes life a living hell. Try to stay warm up there bud! God bless!