1Alleynut

From what I understand, true 'Agates' (slanged as Aggies) were prized by players since they were more dense and not as fragile as glass. Higher density = better chance of knocking an opponents marble out of the ring. Plus they were prettier than most clays although labor intensive to make by hand.

Along came the industrial revolution and companies started to make marbles more efficiently out of glass, trying to simulate the look (of these prized Agate marbles) hence the names ___ Agate Co. etc.

I wasn't around back then so this is purely my opinion. Orange you glad you asked?

"2. A piece of a certain kind of rock, that's been carved/ground/polished into a sphere without fancy machinery."

"Handmade" (or "hand-ground" or "hand-faceted") agate would be close to that. Machinery was used but there was someone tending the marble on the grinder. Manually rotating it so that it would be ground all around.

Perhaps we could take this off of the color of the month post and start an (Agate) post I would gladely add some information and some photos of hand faceted as appose to the machine ground and or Mineral Spheres and perhaps some members could also add some pics of some of theres from old to new than can ba quite impressive and a wide array of colors depending on what part of the world the original stone was located, Also early on in the machine mades this is why they chose the titles of there companies as such trying to replicate the beauty and quality of the german hand faceted agates that were very previlant and popular at the turn of the century. I will continue this in the very near future, off for dinner. DB.

Agate

My thoughts Exactly, Pretty much the only place to get that color combo, DB.

At First glance the Red and whites would say American Agates, but then the Japanese Pinch pontil group would jump up and say wait a minute,---- Some look like MF while others say Cac, so who did make them?? one heck of a box set though, so where are the experts on these early glass jewels, DB.

Thank You Ann, the adventure is just beginning with the Agate Style marbles, Here's a couple Busy Alleys first showing the front side, then the back with the leaf/tree/flame spray. DB.

Thanks Cheese, I think I have the flames under control (Maybe) this is why I'm movin on to the Agates for awhile, DB.

It seems to happen alot with Alleys, a leaf or small tree pattern sometimes one on each side of the marble, and thank you for the comment on my clays, I still enjoy making them, mostly because I cant find any (Good Ones) just got back from getting some more clay, spring needs to get things warmed up so I can get back to the stonework, Meanwhile perhaps a few more marbles need to be made to pass the time. DB.

Yes Ann, Varyables to many to count and or imagine, I still believe that the glass tempeture plays a major roll in this mystery, since the tanks are not really Tempeture controlled and there is no way unless a high temp thermometer is installed to wacth closley, it will still be a random occurance, as an example I was at the Joker III run Feb 26th 2010 Great time! I was watching closely at one point about 5-6 hours in, all of a sudden one of the familys (color group) started coming out All Flames wow I said they are all flames And I grabed my camera which has video mode and started filming, I got about a 2 minute clip of this, everyone was pretty excited,any one taking notes of why perhaps this was occuring? No, Was it the heigth of the stream ? was it the temp of the glass? Guess what when the next family of colors were dropped they went back to swirls, no real flames to speak of what changed? same heigth of the stream no one touched anything, So ????? when this occures detailed notes need to be taken quickley about everything going on, but everyones so blown out by whats being produced, no one does a thing but watch all the beautiful flames roll down the tray. You had mentioned reading how the Peltiers produced marbles, where are the Peltier Flames ??? do you have one say a nice 6-10 point Peltier Flame? does anyone? I dont think so. the Veiligglas Flames can be quite extreme, so how come some are Spaghetti wirepulls yet others are tightline razor ribbon flames? (a few pics below) Then I added a few of mine, I have a fairly good grip on how they are produced by the machine, but I live nowhere near the current marble makers so input is not happening, and I bet they have tried just about every trick in the book to make it happen, but they cant seem to pull them off on a consistant basis, which really leads me to one thought the exact temp of the glass when they are coming out all flamey, I believe that is a key factor, DB.

Never seen a big one like what you've pictured.

Here's a link to how the modern Italian ones are made:

http://www.landofmarbles.com/laura-berretti.html

Boy Hansel now you've done it, got me all fired up on Agates, made this cane plus others yesterday wanted to get more complex,I know how the others are made and those are the ones I'm familiar with,thanks for adding Laura's work, So what about the big guy??

Curious since the month has changed how about the colors DB.

How they are made is a very good question, if the answer was easy Jabo, Vacor, and perhaps Marble King would pe pumping them out by the thosands in not millions,as well as Sammy's and now Dave's. and yes they do all look staked and or layered, Jabo about two years ago made some peewees that had some off the charts flames alot of them not just swirls in that run, many many 6-10 point flames, But did anyone moniter or was it possible to take the tank tempeture? No. anyone take notes on what was going on when they were rolling down the tray? doubtful. perhaps in the future these things will and might occure again and some one will get it figured out, at this point all that is known is they are really a random effect or a accurance, this is why some of the better Alley, Cac, and even some rare Jabo's command top dollar, as far as time per marble goes not seconds to stack a pattern about 2 marbles per second when the stream is flowing right.here's a busy Alley, front and backside. DB.

I was under the impression that the above marbles in the photo, were clear base clowns, Tequila Sunrise sounds good but no to clear base clowns?

those are really pretty!

Thank You! They take about 45-50 minutes each to make. DB.

Taking a step back to the Older ones any information on this one would be nice, 1 3/4 orginaly purchased from a antique dealer in the Netherlands not much for color, very heavy like solid China or stone, I'm familiar with some smaller examples made in Italy, some considered old and others still being made today, I can add more pics if needed. DB.

Some of the the clay is translucent other strands are solid colors, the lighter ones were fashioned after Real mexican crazy lace Agate, and they have action on every side, you should see the box set, Truely 1 of a kind DB

Yes The orange are a bit tougher to find even though they are just game marbles fairly difficult finding a set. hope you feel better soon Steph. DB.

Alley Agate Game marbles for Chinese Checkers, here's some Pumpkin Orange and maybe some of the Reds you are speaking of, DB.

HMMM

I've always enjoyed Agates, so much so I started doing some in clay last Dec, and really like the outcome, different colors of Polymer clay these 3 are at about 13/16ths, Those old ones are very difficult to locate and seldom seen, perhaps mine will be that way 50 years from now when Im 6 ft under and powderd toast, DB.

Hansel, none of the bags I own were produced by Peltier or for Peltier That I have been told, mostly Master Marble and a few others that are strange and cant be attributed to any specific company, there was a rumor put forth by Knomepunter that 2 were possibly Kokomo bags however after exstensive research and taking the bags to several Marble shows no one can ID them as being from Kokomo Not even the (Largest Peltheads) I've done several posts on them before on the (other) marble website full of photo's but you wouldnt want to go there strictly taboo for anyone with knowledge.Your Friends bag is of great interest. DB.

Very interesting Marble bag, one would think it belonged to the matching box set with the Indian Graphics, Rather a stumper there Hansel, I've collected the vintage Marble Bags for quite some time and focused on Indian graphics and to be honest have never seen that one ever, Not even referenced, The Stiching would look correct for some Vintage bags seen in Akro sets, HMM is it a suede/ leather type or cloth? no brass ends, Perhaps one of the Large Peltheads will have some info, I'd think if it were a reproduction you would see more surface. Very Interesting. DB.

Alley Yes, Not seeing the Lavender for the opal lady though.

It's OK Bill, let them in, they are just looking for an old marble collector to warm up with, Better keep a good watch on the Cat's Eyes though, they like to hoard them, DB.

I'm guessing you meant Scott?

Oh Crap!! Sorry Chad Yes I Meant Scott, Getting my shows Mixed up, P.S. if you haven't been to the KC show before it's a great time had by all and Highly recomended!! DB.

Chad you should adjust your room count as so people dont get confused, 120 Room nights= 30 rooms at 4 nights each. DB.