birdfancier Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 My father has some antique German marbles that he would like remelted. A man who did some marbles for him previously has passed away so he is looking for someone else who does this. I found a man named Rich Shelby who does it (or used to) and contacted him via email, but the email bounced and said it was an invalid address. I assume that if his contact info is invalid, that he no longer does this kind of repair. Other than that, I have not found anyone else. Does anyone here know of anyone who does this? I would appreciate your help or suggestions. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Hi there. Rich should be around before long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdfancier Posted October 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Hi there. Rich should be around before long. So, he does indeed still do this? Hopefully he will contact me. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdfancier Posted October 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Steph, can you help me with my profile info? I don't want my full name displayed, but I see no way to change it. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsantaclaus Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Hi birdfancier. I have done several swirl repairs in the past but because of the last 9 repairs I attempted, 7 of them went bad. I alerted the owner before the attempt the risks that are involved with reworking 150 year old glass but they asked me to try it anyway. Exploding glass during the slow warming up process, cracking glass and cracking that split into 4 or 5 individual pieces, glass that survived the warming up but cracked when entered into the flame of my torch.... so on and so on. Because I treat the marble as if were my own, the sheer bad happenings of these 7 out of 9 I have stopped repairing swirls. Prior to these 9, I had a very good success rate out of the 125 or more with only losing 7 due to old glass problems. It hurts me and I can only speculate how the owner feels when I have to contact them (with pictures of course) of what went wrong. This is why I have chosen to stop repairing swirls. My best warning is that, "The old glass will do what IT wants to do." This said, I feel bad when it goes bad for both the owner and the glass. An example of the craftsmanship and a piece of glass history goes bad and I couldn't help it makes me feel bad enough to cease trying to repair the marble. It isn't about the money I get for the repair, it's the bad feelings I get when one goes bad. Anyway, that is why I have stopped repairing swirls. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdfancier Posted October 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Hi birdfancier. I have done several swirl repairs in the past but because of the last 9 repairs I attempted, 7 of them went bad. I alerted the owner before the attempt the risks that are involved with reworking 150 year old glass but they asked me to try it anyway. Exploding glass during the slow warming up process, cracking glass and cracking that split into 4 or 5 individual pieces, glass that survived the warming up but cracked when entered into the flame of my torch.... so on and so on. Because I treat the marble as if were my own, the sheer bad happenings of these 7 out of 9 I have stopped repairing swirls. Prior to these 9, I had a very good success rate out of the 125 or more with only losing 7 due to old glass problems. It hurts me and I can only speculate how the owner feels when I have to contact them (with pictures of course) of what went wrong. This is why I have chosen to stop repairing swirls. My best warning is that, "The old glass will do what IT wants to do." This said, I feel bad when it goes bad for both the owner and the glass. An example of the craftsmanship and a piece of glass history goes bad and I couldn't help it makes me feel bad enough to cease trying to repair the marble. It isn't about the money I get for the repair, it's the bad feelings I get when one goes bad. Anyway, that is why I have stopped repairing swirls. Rich Thank you for your reply Rich. I'm sorry to learn you no longer do this, but I guess I can't blame you. Do you happen to know of anyone else who does this? My Dad is well aware of the risks involved with this type of work. He has had numerous marbles remelted in the past and there have been some that have literally disintegrated. However, most of his marbles turned out just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Steph, can you help me with my profile info? I don't want my full name displayed, but I see no way to change it. Thanks! I just checked your profile with a test account. Moderators are able to see your name but I don't think other forum members can. I wasn't able to on the test account. Hope that reassures you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsantaclaus Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 I still do repair sulphides though. Out of the 175 I have repaired, only 3 have caused problems with the old glass. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdfancier Posted October 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2014 I still do repair sulphides though. Out of the 175 I have repaired, only 3 have caused problems with the old glass. Rich My Dad does have some sulphides that he might want you to do. If he decides to have you do them, what address should he send them to? What other information would you need from him? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdfancier Posted October 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 I just checked your profile with a test account. Moderators are able to see your name but I don't think other forum members can. I wasn't able to on the test account. Hope that reassures you! Thanks for your help Steph! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsantaclaus Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 I'll PM you my address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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