richsantaclaus

What do I find hiding in my small collection of Ravenswood marbles?????

I'll PM you - thanks

The 1/8 volume crack will present a major hill to climb. BIG cracks like this occasionally cause the glass to shatter in the slow warming-up process. Then there is the problem at the pontils where the inside color glass comes to a point. The flame's heat might cause the interior glass to rise to the pontil surface and make the swirls change shape. Another consideration is the results of the big crack lines. These crack lines allow air into the interior of the marble and when you heat and begin the melting out of the lines, air trapps and makes bubbles and sometimes there is a discolorization(sp?) of the clear - like a dirty stain line. That's my opinion looking at the pictures. If this marble has emotional value to you, don't attempt any fix, just set it carefully on a display shelf and leave it alone for future family members to see. Clearly, polishing it wouldn't fix it I am afraid. If the marble doesn't have any emotional value and if it can't be repaired to bring back the original condition, sometimes I am given permission to "art it up" and totally change the swirls so it will be a totally different marble - just an art piece instead of a German Swirl but that's up to the owner to decide. Because I like to play in glass, and if it were mine, I'd try a fix and probably do the art thing on it.

Just reading your post Brian, warms my heart. As a 37 year on the job teacher, I love what kids do. To have their art work translated into a marble is wonderful. Thanks again Steph for the link and bringing out wonderful memories.

Hey Steph - I showed the marbles made after the kids drawings and my wife LOVED them - you made her totally happy - thanks!

What nice pictures. These airplanes remind me of the ones I used to build when I was a kid - balsa and stick, paper covered models. Great post Steph - thanks!

Thanks for the link - that is SO cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It kinda looks like a Vacor...lol

Thanks for the eye candy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4_Vesta I was asked to make a Vesta marble using an infra red image from NASA. What do you think? Rich

Thanks James. It sure was fun gathering the information from the vintage marble collectors and the mineral marble maker.

That is one VERY beautiful marble you have!

2 more just out of my kiln this morning The reddish one is 1" and the bluish one is 5/8"

Never tried the china marbles I have before but the little specks of dirt almost always come off with my machine. I just use cold water without any soaps or cleaners on my glass marbles that are dirty. Good luck!

Hi, more information about the marbles needed please. Thanks Ric

I am going to try and make some 5/8" in diameter - let's see what happens.

I tried something different for my style last night - just out of the kiln - like it or not?

At my show, I was surrounded by many vintage marble collectors with years of experience. So I had the coffin idea and turned my idea into an article!

To my readers – this brings us to the close of the twelve stories. There are many wonderful stories out there in the vintage marble collecting world and I hope you too have one story that is special to you. I hope you have enjoyed reading these stories and you too own a Marble 2 Die 4.

Windy Turpin My marble is named after my sister Gail. Gail was one special woman – always upbeat and positive – everyone loved her. As an adult, she was battling pancreatic cancer. One of my friends, Steve Sturtz, found a special marble for Gail from his collection and gave it to me to give to her. He called it her “Gail Marble.” Gail would take a few marbles to her chemo appointments and share them with the other people that were being treated there. I still can see the smile on my sister’s face when she saw how much her marbles meant to the other patients. Gail passed on July 22, 2009 but will never be forgotten for her unselfish and caring ways. This is marble deserves belongs in the Marbles 2 Die 4 coffin box.

Jay Vargas My marble is a white wire pull type marble. On a vacation in Rome I went to a flea market. It was a grand market place where there were many lovely things to look at and purchase. I loved the ambiance in Rome. The sights, buildings, the clothes they wear and the history. I chanced upon one vendor where I saw this marble sitting there in a little wooden cup. The vendor was an old man dressed in the old style Italian clothes that you see the older men wear in the movies. I had to posses this marble. It softens my heart to think that these two little marbles will always be together forever and ever. This marble needs to be in the coffin box Marbles 2 Die 4.

Bud Cloven This marble is a Double Ingot marble made from two peewee marbles. When a marble drops onto the rollers it occasionally touches another marble and they stick together making a single, bigger marble. As these marbles are joined together, they begin the process of rounding out. The problem is, the machines are adjusted to make peewee marbles and this marble is twice the size the machine is set for. As a result, there is a separation line that does not totally close up going around the circumference of the marble. These two marbles will be joined together in a forever lasting time and never will be separated – this is so romantic in the world of marbles. This marble deserves the right to be included into the Marbles 2 Die 4 coffin box.

Kirby Manon My marble is an Akro Corkscrew. This marble cost me $100 and was the most expensive marble I had ever bought at the time. ¾ of the marble fluoresces when a black light is shined on it. It was my pride and joy of all the marbles in my collection. I showed my son and because he loved this marble so much it got him interested in collecting marbles. His interest in marbles made me very happy. One day my son and his friend wanted to play marbles together. My son needed a special shooter so, without me knowing it, he went to where I kept my cherished marbles and got my special marble because he thought that marble would bring him magical powers over his friend and would allow him to beat him and win all his marbles. It seemed to work as my son won all the marble games he played. My son won all his friend’s marbles this day to add to his own little collection. My son felt that the Dad’s shooter marble had to be the reason he won because he never beat his friend before! It’s 10 years later. I was talking with another marble collector friend and something he said reminded me about my Akro Corkscrew marble. I went to my place where I kept my special marbles in my collection and looked for my $100 marble. Can you imagine my surprise when I saw it and I saw 2 different places that were damaged beyond repair? One side was 1/5 chipped off and the opposite side had a smaller chip! I can’t tell you how angry I was to see this $100 marble now worth $0 because of the damage. I had no inkling what happened to my precious marble. When my son got home later that day, I wanted to show him the marble he and I loved so much and to show him the damage. He saw how much I was upset, he lowered his chin, not looking at me, and owned up to what he did 10 years ago and why. How could I be upset with my own son because of the reason he wanted to use my magical marble? Anyway, what can a dad do ten years later to his adult son to punish him? I feel this marble belongs in the Marbles 2 Die 4 coffin box.

Bill O’Connor One Saturday morning in 1985, I had to go to the Amador County Dump to off load a truck full of trash. It had rained a lot the night before I made my journey to the dump so there was mud on the road leading to the place where one dumps trash there. Without paying too much attention, I stepped out of the truck and my foot mashed this marble way down into the mud. I reached down and carefully dug down trying not to get my hand too dirty and pulled up this marble. The marble is called a game marble and was most likely used in playing Chinese Checkers. I was so excited to find this marble, I started to search the mud for more of them but someone that worked there yelled, “Sir, you are not to take anything from the dump! You can’t scavenge here!” He didn’t know I had already pocked this yellow marble. That same Saturday in the afternoon I was at a yard sale looking at things they had for sale. What do I see but 6 glass jars full of marbles! Finding the yellow marble plus finding 6 jars of marbles on the same day was too much for me to ignore – it must have been some type of sign that I should start collecting marbles again so I did start collecting old marbles again. This is why it is a Marble 2 Die 4.

Bob Jackson As a young boy, I saw many movies that had action scenes in them where the hero shot arrows at the bad guys. Because of this, I took up the sport of archery. I practiced and practiced and practiced taking my trusty bow and arrows out almost every day to shoot at the bullseye target in the back yard. Each day I worked on steadying my breath, aiming at the bullseye target and making my arm stronger and stronger so I could shoot better. After 2 years, I still couldn’t hit that darn bullseye! I gave up on the sport but still wanted to hit the bullseye. As an adult, I started collecting Agate marbles called Bullseye. For years I looked for a perfect Bullseye mineral marble where the rings were concentric circles showing off the various colors in the marble. The marble I put into the coffin box is a Bullseye Marble 2 Die 4!