richsantaclaus

I have been known to TRY an "fix" marbles before. Details... well, usually I have one steadfast rule. You give me the marble then I try to repair it and if it works, I give it back. Usually in 9 out of 10 cases, the repair goes well but there is always that chance that in spite of my care, the glass does what IT wants to do!!! The person I deal with MUST realize that - there are NO guarantees with glass. Price - I have no set standard - I have traded marbles for repairs, been given money for the repairs and that averages between $10 to $20 and totally depends on the amount of gasses, time behind the torch and time it takes to get the scars, dents, chips and cracks to "heal." It took about 45 minutes to repair the sulfide I posted for you guys and about 1 hour 45 minutes to repair the swirl marble. So I feel my prices are fair. I must mention the 1 of the 10 marbles that gets away - there might be a sudden POP in my kiln as the old glass slowly warms up (about an hour or more) and that glass can't take the heat even before the repair. Then it might go "wonky" and not stay round because the glass has cooling issues. It might thermal shock in the cooling process - one never knows because I am not the original maker and I don't know the COE of the old glass. Taking all this into account, it's a personal choice the owner of the marble makes if he/she wants to make a try at fixing it. If the person has ANY emotional value to the marble, I discourage them from "fixing" it since I'd rather them buy a stand and put grandpa's best marble on display as it is. But if it doesn't carry emotions, then why not go for it? I also round the marble out as completely round as the glass will allow - of course I could put punty marks on it but I won't so as to protect a future buyer from being deceived. I am into restoring the marble back to it's best look as I can because I love working in the flame with the glass. I am not trying to make it my business! I worked as a physical science and math teacher for 37 years - my time of working is over! It's my time to play now. Ok, I have rambled enough...lol. If anyone wants more information, pictures of my repairs, just email me - thanks.

To "cook," as people sometimes call it, a marble to ATTEMPT to repair it, you need some basic equipment: You need to have a kiln, digital controller is best = $600 You need a torch, Minor is best = $250 You need special glasses = $200 You need glass mandrels, tweezers = $20 You need approximately a year of experience with torching before you can safely TRY to repair any marble. I don't want to throw a blanket on anyone's vigor, but this is fact - ask me, I am a marble repair person...lol I've been torching for almost 10 years now. The glass is going to do what IT wants to do no matter what experience one has. To see some of my repair work, check out the repair threads I posted.

Here's a repeat of what I posted at the link: ok - here goes..... You need to have a kiln, digital controller is best = $600 You need a torch, Minor is best = $250 You need special glasses = $200 You need glass mandrels, tweezers = $20 You need approximately a year of experience with torching before you can safely TRY to repair any marble. I don't want to throw a blanket on anyone's vigor, but this is fact - ask me, I am a marble repair person...lol

ok - here goes..... You need to have a kiln, digital controller is best = $600 You need a torch, Minor is best = $250 You need special glasses = $200 You need glass mandrels, tweezers = $20 You need approximately a year of experience with torching before you can safely TRY to repair any marble. I don't want to throw a blanket on anyone's vigor, but this is fact - ask me, I am a marble repair person...lol

Hi guys, it's Rich. Sami - of course it is possible and very easy to make a pontil mark. Also, if you put the UV light on the sulfide I "fixed" it glows yellow-green just as the original old glass did back when it was made. It still had the same surface feel after I reworked it as it did before the "fix." I choose NOT to try and re-invent the old marble back to it's original condition. I am not going to even go there because I was not the maker of the marble to begin with. Back then when the marble was first made, the technology wasn't what it is today and I certainly respect that. You just have to see that my love of glass and the vintage guys asking me IF it were possible to "fix" an old marble brought me into the fold here. For me, it's all about the glass and getting to a point where I can control it to do what I want it to do. You also have to realize, under intense heat, the glass will do what IT wants to do no matter what skills I try to bring to the torch! If you have time, check pout the "fix" on the swirl marble I did - it's the 6th one I have worked on too!

And to think I was there with you! Wonderful mibs Al!

here is this after the repair pix.... so, what do you think?

Here is another one I fixed - start with before pix.....

after pix - I spent an hour with this one!

ok, here are some before and after pictures of the swirl repairs I did. Remember, I won't touch any marble that has emotional value to the person because if it messes-up in the repair process, it is lost for good and I won't allow that to happen with me. I'll start with before pix.

I have repaired about 7 of those types of marbles. There are some things to consider: 1) if the marble had any emotional value to the person, like a marble great, great granddad had the marble and now you own it, I'd not touch it but suggest instead to get a little stand and just display it where other family members could see it. The reason is because there are NO guarantees with the old glass. I don't know the COE, it might split into 100's of shards in the warming-up process, and a bunch of other reasons of what could go wrong. 2) if the only reason is just to make a damaged marble better looking for yourself, let's play! Some things to consider are how close to the outside surface is the color design inside. If the design is close to the outer skin, well, I won't touch it because I might have to "dig" with my tools too deeply and there goes the swirl pattern! If there is enough room to work out the chips, dents and other dings, I can surely do ok with it. I have a iron clad rule - IF you give me your marble to attempt a repair, I own the marble - no questions asked. That way, if something goes wrong, you won't be mad at me! Of course I'll send the pieces back to you if you want them. Note: out of all the marbles I have attempted to make better looking, only 3 of the 50 or so have taken a left turn and nothing I tried worked. I will repeat this - the glass will do what IT wants to do!!!!! If the repair works, I give the marble back to you and you own it again and all is well.

I kinda agree - cooking isn't the way one does glass work. Taking the solid looking, very viscous, hard glass and adding high heat does deserve a better word like melt or remelt. Also, we marble makers that use a torch (oxygen and propane mix) use words like gather of glass, maria of glass, football shaped glass, glob of glass, blob of glass, make a maria, make a disk, implode the disk, etc. all depending on what type of result we are looking for to get out of the rods. I just loved looking at the video on YouTube that someone sent me that shows how the Jabo machine made marbles are made - sometimes I wish i could be right there to see it in person - wow, now THAT would be a real thrill for me!

"I've heard people asking, and kept waiting with great interest for an answer." I am no expert but I'll always give giving an answer my best try for you guys. I relish with playing with glass both new and old - it's ALL good! I stayed up until 2am this morning out in my garage torching making marbles!

Ok everyone. I have been torching (lampwork NOT glass blowing) for about 9 1/2 years now with emphasis on marbles for the last 3 1/2 years. I ran the 4th annual Orange County Marble Show on March 20th and the show seemed to be a great success for m,any of the 43 vendors that sold their goodies there. I plan on running the 2011 show and I'll let you guys know more later. I have just received 40 pounds of Fenton glass (as seem with the show, Dirtiest Jobs where the Jabo people took waste glass and made machine marbles from the glass). Today, I made 2 handmade marbles (the second one is in my kiln as I type...lol). I am enjoying the blend of vintage and contemporary marbles at the show and I was taught SO much by the collectors there. I am looking forward to a long and happy relationship here with you guys and I plan on sharing the art here with you guys too. Everyone MUST keep an open mind and allow the creative process to evolve in all areas of glass. The people that make marbles today certainly can't reinvent the wheel but we sure can show different ways how to use it! Basically on this sulfide, I warmed it up at 1 degree F per minute until my kiln reached 970 degrees. I let it soak at that temperature for 2 hours hoping it wouldn't explode as the cracks and chips were really deep and it seemed that it wouldn't stand the heat, but it did. After 45 minutes at the torch at 1450 degrees F, I finally moved the little figuring off to one side while I cleaned-up the other side, moved it back using my glass techniques I learned over the 3 1/2 years, then cleaned-up the other side. Several punties during the process insured roundness. If I wanted, i could have perfectly centered the figurine but at my show, I saw all sulfides were a bit off center so I concluded this one should be a bit off too. It certainly was fun and it's my first sulfide ever thanks to Windy as she gave it to me to start with telling me, "See what you can do with this." Marble on everybody!!!!! (That's a quote from my best friend Mike Close) Hey, just a thought - want to see me make a soft glass marble - I am on YouTube - I'll put the link for part 1 of the 3 parts - all done in one take too!

After about an hour in the heat of my torch, here is the result. I want to know if you like it - thanks Rich

Hello everyone - being new here, I hope I am in the correct section for this topic. I was given a very damaged sulfide marble at my show recently and was asked to see if I could "fix" it. Here are 4 before pictures - notice, one can't even tell what the little figure is inside the marble!

Hi everyone, it's Rich - I hope I see many of you at my show - 40 tables od sellers - wow! Make sure you make a point of meeting me at the show if you will - thanks! I'll be the Santa Claus looking guy...lol!!!!!