Lutz/aventurine Part Ii

[richsantaclaus]

Nancy - can you shoot more pictures of that cool marble - I can't really tell what I am looking at - thanks.

I only have seen gold, green, blue and purple aventurine that comes in chunks lately. I bought some of all 4 colors in Quartzite, Az and I was told by the owner of the rock shop that they came from a local collage where they teach glass blowing and it was the cullet left over.

It seems that this cullet has 4 distinct categories of results from my experience of contemporary marble making and including it into my marbles by applying the aventurine to the exterior surface:

1) it "spreads" out and makes little dots in the marble's pattern (it bubbles under the heat).

2) it stays evenly spread in the stringer pattern I laid out on the surface of the marble (like the spiral of a corkscrew).

3) it "glumps up" and makes a thick spot and kind of settles into one spot and sinks into the interior.

4) it "pops" and thermal shocks and is very difficult to work into the marble's design.

My experience at the torch might resemble the problems that were presented to the machine made marbles of old. Since they wanted to do mass production, I can only guess that the current problems I am having with the aventurine is consistent with the problems they were faced with back then. I further guess that this is the reason they didn't use aventurine in mass producing marbles for 2 reasons: one is cost and the other is usage/application was difficult.

I wonder what your thoughts are on this matter of not seeing vintage marbles with aventurine inside them or in their designs. I also ask you to stay on topic and join me in the adventure of brainstorming and learning - thanks!

Rich

[lstmmrbls]

Rich, It is believed by most in the collecting community that aventurine was not used on purpose in machine made marbles. Besides no need it is also too expensive and they used their own glass in making their marbles. They would not have taken the time or trouble to make aventurine glass to make marbles purposefully sparkly IMO Modern collectors think they are neat so assume it was done on purpose. This just was not the case, Even Oxblood turned out to be too troublesome and expensive to bother using. Handmades are a different story. There were many sparkly glasses used

[JVVmarbles]

Here's a video of the best antique lutz marble I've ever seen! A huge 2-1/8" green based mist Lutz. I've never seen an antique marble that had so much Lutz!

[lstmmrbls]

That is a beauty!

[Steph]

OMG, yes. That is gorgeous.

I think Mike made a point worth underscoring in the other thread:

I doubt that the marble sorters/graders in the dark old Peltier factory would have even noticed the aventurine, and if so, would likely have discarded such marbles due to the "specks", or something.

That made me think of how we sometimes ask newbies to go outside to check to see if their marbles sparkle. Workers were sorting marbles and boxing them up and maybe never seeing them in the sunlight. I wonder if there were some people in the factories who never realized that their marbles had aventurine in them at all.

[richsantaclaus]

JVV - beauty doesn't begin to tell how cool that mib is!!!!!!!!

Thanks Galen.

I still would like to see pix of the few that did get made by the machines back then. Jabo, today's marble making machine company, sure has done a fine job of including aventurine in their marbles.

[catfish]

But thats purposely added and cullet is used at Jabo. I agree that aventurine was pretty much accidental "back in the day" when batch made glass was used. Peltier sure did nail it though, and (to me anyways) finding out that they repeatedly used the same formula to get the "sparkle" would be the least surprising new piece of evidence to surface if it were to.

JVV, that is out of this world!

[lstmmrbls]

Here is some beautiful accidental aventurine.

[I'llhavethat1]

"...didn't use aventurine in mass producing marbles for 2 reasons: one is cost and the other is usage/application was difficult"

"...believed by most in the collecting community that aventurine was not used on purpose in machine made marbles"

That sounds about right.

Cool handmade! Big for that type

[I'llhavethat1]

Rich, I'd also think that torch made marbles vs. marbles made from furnace might change the way the sparkles get spread out. I like the sounds of a purple aventurine though!

[richsantaclaus]

The purple aventurine costs me the most @ $12 a pound!

I've been SO busy with the Santa season and getting customer orders completed that I've not taken time to play with the purple stuff yet but after the Holidays - look out...lol!!!

Galen - THAT is a killer mib!!!!!

Rich

[wvrons]

[wvrons]

There were several,several,thousands of this type Alley. All very much identical,colors,except for size or pattern. It had to be the same recipe over and over. AV accidental or not,i have no proof either way??????????? There are also similar Alleys except they are two colors of av. One is the Alley with a blue av swirl beside one with silver av. The other is a blue av swirl bedside a green av swirl. ?????????????

[mibcapper]

close to black-gray in the alley also ... bill

[richsantaclaus]

Thousands?????

I don't have one! (hint, hint!!!!))

lol

Rich

[Steph]

This patent filed in 1947 is interesting in different ways. It's about the creation of aventurine in batch glass. The patent itself is about stopping the aventurine from crystallizing. However, it also points out that some people would try to achieve the crystallization on purpose in their batches, for art glass.

Green-Colored Opal Glass

[richsantaclaus]

I've heard the process of crystallization is called checking - have you heard that too Steph?

[lstmmrbls]

I have heard the term checking but it was for a crackling like texture that forms in a type of pattern

[Steph]

The times I remember the word "checking" with glass, it was said by contemporary marble makers describing some sort of cracks in the marbles.

[Alan]

I've heard the process of crystallization is called checking - have you heard that too Steph?

A "check" in glass terms is a fracture.

[sissydear]

Alan is correct!