richsantaclaus

The seventh annual Orange County Marble Show in Southern California!!! Antique and Contemporary Art Glass Marbles March 16, 2013 At the Howard Johnson Hotel 222 W. Houston Ave. Fullerton, Ca. 92832 Open from 9:00 to 3:00 on Saturday, March 16, 2013 NO admission fee and parking is free too! For more information, contact Rich Shelby [email protected] 951 212 4435 The Center Ballroom will be the location of the 43 vendor tables on the bottom floor. I encourage you to contact your friends and ask them to stop at the show and check things out. If you help me spread the word about the marble show it would much be appreciated. Thank you!!! Rich

I think these sulphides look wonderful. Galen, I asked Corning when I was there, what chemicals they used to color their clear glass and they told me that was a good question but they couldn't tell me because it was a well kept secret. They did tell me that they indeed did use chemicals to color the clear glass because it was cheaper than buying glass that was already colored. They also said that they soaked the clear glass in chemicals for at least 5 days to get the desired colors they were looking for.

I know in the old days, they used chemicals to change the sulphide's exterior color. I've seen blue, purple, rose and yellow colored sulphides before that were only colored on the outside surface. My friend who polishes marbles has also uncovered the surface by polishing and the interior was simple clear glass after the initial polishing.

Leroy, you are out of marbles because you are SO great at reconditioning them!

I'd love to talk to someone about Clinton Israel. If anyone knows about him other than what the books say, please contact me - thanks! Rich

Check out my article on Oxblood. http://www.santasbling.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50:oxblood&catid=34:chemistry&Itemid=53 Rich

A chicken as I hatch...lol

Let's hope you find YOUR boxer soon!!!!!

Simply beautiful!

I agree Griff. At my show, I put the vendors that must leave early in the back so the foot traffic sees everyone at the entrance before they notice some empty tables. I also ask the nearby vendors to spread out to cover the empty space if possible.

Here is something I wrote on this topic.. http://www.santasbling.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104:-torching-verses-polishing-when-repairing-marbles&catid=35:stories&Itemid=53 I hope you like it! Rich

You have to take into consideration several things when repairing a sulphide marble. Are there cracks that go through the figurine? Are there several cracks in the marble? Does the figurine have a bubble of air around it or near part of it? Polishing (removing glass) won't repair these problems. Does the marble only have surface chips and dings? Here is where polishing might be the best way to repair it. If the chips are not too deep into the sphere, I recommend polishing to my customers and won't touch that type of repair. If the chip is one that is deep, polishing removes the glass from the sulphide and takes a considerable amount of good glass away. Torching allows the chipped area to be cleaned up by picking out the debris and then moving the good glass into the dent made where the clean-up was performed. This method does lose glass but certainly not as much as polishing. Personally, I find your post lacking taste and non educational to our group. I have turned down many sulphide repairs and suggested the person have the polishing method used to "fix" the sulphide because I felt polishing was a better method. I have repaired over 80 sulphide marbles by the torch method and probably suggested the polishing method 30 times. I usually recommend Leroy Johnson but your work is also to be commended. Please PM me your information and I surely will send you business when I can. You have to understand, I am one who cares about the marble and will not try to convince a person that torching repairs is always the best and I will not do a repair just for the money made. We all have to get along and do the best for the marble when considering a repair and do what is right. Before a torching repair can be made, the sulphide has to be heated to 970 F and held there for at least an hour so the internal temperature matches the external temperature. Here is a potential problem - some of the old glass can't take that warming process and explodes ruining the marble. This has happened 3 times to me before. I always tell the customer the risks and allow them the decision. Best to you and keep up the great work you are doing.

The sulphide sure lost a lot of glass in the repair but looks good.

Thanks Randy. Good suggestion about the vendors that need to leave before the show is over.

Recently a show I attended had only 6 vendors left at the end of the show which had an ending time that was 3pm. I was one of the six that stayed the entire time from 9am until 3pm. My last customer at the show told me how disappointed he was that there were not more tables to buy marbles from. We looked and saw so many empty tables as about 90% were packed-up and gone. The foot traffic was very low for some reason that I am not aware of but I suspect the show was not advertised much as it could have been. Hence, my question. Of course people have to catch flights and of course emergencies come up as life happens. But there SO many vendors that packed-up at this event that it made it look as if the show was less than expected for the public that came after 1pm. Another factor is that there were approximately 50 different families/individuals that attended the show all together the entire time so I can understand a vendor leaving early. Galen brings a good point for the vendors getting things they might want but for the general public, they have to depend on the vendors at the show and everyone can't be there at the beginning and depend on sellers being there all the way to the end of the show.

Thanks! Good point about the vendor.

When a vendor signs-up to sell at a marble show that starts, let's say, at 9am and goes until, let's say 3pm, is this vendor expected to stay until it is over at 3pm? My opinion is that YES, the vendor should stay until the end no matter what. If the foot traffic is slow to nonexistent, doesn't matter the vendor should not clean-up and leave the show. Let's say a working individual has to work until 2pm on Saturday at his job. This person has saved $1000 for the marble show all year and can't wait until 2pm arrives. Let's say this person has to drive 30 minutes to get to the show. He gets off work, drives safely (but very quickly) to the show, jumps out of his car and excitedly runs into the hotel just to find 6 out of the original 24 vendors are there! All the others are gone! How do you think this person feels? Do you think that the marble club that sponsored the show will be high on his list of favorites anymore? My thought is that it is VERY unprofessional for a vendor to pack-up and leave before the end of the show. To me it makes the sponsoring club look bad in the eyes of the public. Now I'd love to read your thoughts on this subject - thanks!

What Marlene said John!!!

Hang in there!!!!! You are on all of our minds so get well fast!!!

I can't wait to meet YOU!!!!!

I'll be bringing some of the Jabo Virgo marbles too!

Made my trip to Wally-World and got more bowls. I am separating them into most color first, then secondary color second. So, blue/orange is different than orange/blue. I count that as 2 categories of color. Then when the orange - blue is equal (like 50%/50% in color), that is a 3rd category. When I get done, I'll post all the color separation categories I end up with. Next will be the 3 different color separation categories, followed by 4 or more color categories - more work than I planned on having!!!!!

So far in my sorting, I have 37 different color combinations!

Oops, O hit too many wrong keys on the bowls...lol,lol,lol!!!!!

My plan is when one gets full, emptying it into a plastic bag and continue to fill until I get it all sorted out by colors.