richsantaclaus

I see at least a dozen that want to move to the left coast Mike!!!!!

Looks as if there was plenty of goodies to choose from!!!!! Thanks for the pictures!

... will the collectors that did go to Canton show us the marbles that are now part of your collection please? Thanks Rich

Those are beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've talked to 5 of my marble collecting friends and we decided if we start a club to start out with bringing our "show-off" marbles to show and tell. Then take a closer look at a few of the old machine marble making companies and try to find some interesting things about them. No dues and maybe meet at different restaurants near each others homes. Rich

I wish the pix would really show the colors better in this little one.

If that picture of the polar bear sulphide has been worked on - I pity the one who did the work as they sure need more practice...lol

I'd advise not to touch it Greatmacscott and leave it alone. Collectors send me damaged marbles all the time. One like the pictured one is one I'd advise to be left as is. The nearest colored Sulphide I have torched was a lot darker brown than this one. Just because of the neat color, I say let it be. Rich

Thank you for your help! Nice things to think about too!

Good point Al. What I would like is a list of things that a club might be interested in doing - not just a show and tell session each meeting. What may interest me might not interest others so I am trying to compile a laundry list of activities. Any suggestions? Ric

Does anyone know of a vintage marble collector that lives in the San Diego area, or near the city of Ramona, California? I got a phone call from a new collector that wants to meet-up and have someone look at her marbles. If you know of anyone that can help her, please PM me. Thanks Rich

Never heard of it Bob. My marble show is in Orange County and Joan had sold at the show before (VERY nice person too!!!). I am located in Riverside County with the other 5 people so I'd hope to get a club going around here instead of an hour drive if possible. Thanks Winnie - how fun!!!!! I do have about 10 different solitaire marble games that I have made we could play too!

Out here in Southern California we don't have a marble club. I have a base core of 5 friends that collect vintage and contemporary marbles. e are discussing starting a marble club and a few questions have been brought up. I hope you who belong and participate in a marble club can help us with telling about your experiences, 1. Club dues - Do you pay monthly, yearly, pay only when you attend a meeting or no dues at all? 2. Newsletter - How frequently is a newsletter sent out to the members? 3. At the meeting - We thought at first, we'd each bring "show-off" marbles and do a show and tell. At the next meeting, we'd have a discussion about the old marble making companies history and bring examples to share of marbles made by them. Maybe net, do a demonstration of making a contemporary marble. After that, what could we do - like maybe bringing in a guest speaker (but that might now work as no funds to pay them and no one lives close enough). What other things could we do other than repeating what we have done again that wouldn't cost? Thanks for your help. Rich

Heating in a kiln is a must of course. The temperature in a kiln is set at 978ºF an the torch is 1450ºF - 3000ºF. The lower temperature has no color affect on the glass as it sits in the kiln. That is why the kiln doesn't affect the colored sulphide marbles. Galen - never received several hundred sulphides.... that made me laugh! Thanks! Stacy - those minerals used in jewelry usually are metal based where the glass used in the sulphides is silicate based so that is the difference.

Wrong assumptions Galen - I got the colored sulphides from different individuals as I said regardless of the odds, astronomical or not. I go to my mailbox and get what I get and try my best to do the repair as best as I can. There are no guaranties in working glass. I've always said, the glass will do what IT wants to do! If you worked in glass you'd understand rather than just collecting glass. When I get marbles to repair, I will not attempt any job unless the owner knows what might happen to the marble and the risks involved. These colored sulphides are what they are and so far I can't tell if the original glass was colored glass or clear glass chemically altered. You can bet I will spectroscope the next one very carefully as my curiosity is peeked after this thread has started am I am eager to learn more about this subject. I trust the history of the glass people at Corning Galen even if you feel they don't know anything about glass and I believe what they told me when I was there. Rich

lol Galen - I have over 85 customers! Not all of the sulphides were "found" by me. 8 of the 10 were from different people. I hope this clarifies thnigs for you. Craig - very funny! Yes I'llhavethat1 - it is a colored covering on the sulphide.

No problem Sousa as I enjoy learning and sharing ideas. (Thanks JVV - good point!!!!) 1. I didn't take the time to look at the chipped parts because at that time, all I wanted to do is repair a colored sulphide and didn't have a reason to look closely. You bet if I ever get another one I will pay close attention to small details. I'll get out my spectroscope and check things out before any restoration. 2. Those were blue, light purple, dark brown and green. The light purple was the quickest to lose it's color when the flame hit it's surface. My guess was it wasn't sun colored purple. I have my mother's sugar jar that was clear and now is light purple and even dark purple is some places. There is a small chip near the rim where the lid goes and it's light purple to my eye. Thanks for the sun dyed link - interesting! I remember working on the marble on eBay but it was in the past so I don't remember the specific before look. Because this is my hobby and a business, I don't keep copious notes on each and every repair but maybe I should start...lol!

The ones I remember were light purple, blue, dark brown and light green. I didn't take out my spectroscope to look at them, but I did put them into the dishwasher to clean them as best as I could. Then off to the workshop they went for repairing. IF another one comes my way, I'll look closer before repairing it and take pix for you all.

hdesousa - Fire polished means that the marble was reentered back into the flame to allow the heat to make the exterior surface area look as if were polished by a polishing wheel. Polishing a marble this way in no way removes ANY of the glass whatsoever. Glass, when heated back to a molten state, naturally wants to "go round." I also keep the punty turning to allow even glass flow during the fire polishing process - that wya the entire surface gets rounded as best as gravity will allow. Rich

Well Mark, I can only speak to the 10 or so that were colored and abused that i repaired. All of the 10 immediately went to clear glass as soon as the flame hit the outer surface. My best guess is that 150 years ago, someone did use colored glass to make sulphide marbles but going on looks alone, today, one can't tell (Maybe Galen can from his vast experience with colored glass sulphides verses outer chemical colored sulphides). I believe my 21 years experience with torching various types of glass and working research with glass chemistry might not matter to some people with what I say about these type of marbles. Of course I am always trying to learn more. I wish I could answer your question about the population of true colored sulphide numbers of marbles but, alas, I can't. I know of no other way to test if it a real colored glass sulphide besides hitting it with a torch flame (after proper pre-work - don't do it by yourself please or it might explode!). If the color stays, it is real colored glass - if not, it was chemically treated. Personally, I wouldn't touch one if it didn't need repairing. Keep it as is and let the mystery continue! Because today, we don't know what glass was used 150 years ago to make the sulphide under inspection, it is too risky to attempt to add more glass because of incompatible glass issues (COE = coefficient of expansion). So adding colored glass is not a method I would attempt. That said, IF I did know the glass WAS compatible, it can easily be added to the sulphide. I wonder if a marble polisher might step in and add to the discussion. Have they ever attempted to repair a colored sulphide - and what happened? How far into the surface did they go? Far enough to remove the stained color part or was is still colored glass? Questions, questions, questions! Rich

As you saw with the link Galen, actually it is quite easy - just mix and dip! That is something that any glass maker could do at any time period. The colored sulphides that my customers wanted repaired ALL had color on the surface. As soon as the torch flame hit the surface, the color brured off and clear glass revealed itself.

I have repaired - 87. I always ask the owner to state that I have worked on the marble if ever they try to sell it. So far, each customer has honored my request.

But it was the clear glass dipped into the chemicals Galen - that's what they said and I believe Corning knows a heck of a lot about glass!!!!! Also, check out this link... http://mydesignfolder.com/design-blog/d-i-y-stained-bottles/

Thanks!!! Room trading is March 13, 14 and 15

It is March 16 NOT March 13 - I goofed in the title and can't change it - sorry folks...lol