Mikie_T Posted August 25, 2017 Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 I'm sure y'all know but I am confused. What is the difference between a slag and a swirl? Steph said slags are pre 1930 (right?) and (edit) swirls (edit) are post 1930..... SO, it this a manufacturing difference? Please help me understand the difference if you think you can.....LOL. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 25, 2017 Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 Swirls are post 1930, we meant to say. Here is a photo Dani posted once with slags in the column on the left and transparent swirls in the column on the right. Usually we can tell by the ribbon shape in the transparent swirl. Sometimes if the ribbon is acting funky, it's the glass texture which will give it away ... hopefully. Sometimes it's still not easy to tell. The transparent swirl will _usually_ have a distinct white ribbon. I'm reaching for the right word to describe the white in a slag ... not finding it ... but it just seems to be more thoroughly connected with the base glass in the slag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 25, 2017 Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 A LOT more examples would help this thread. Hint, hint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted August 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 Uhhhhhhh.... O...K.... Yes, maybe a few more examples...... (yep, hint - hint) And does the difference come from the cane used or the machine that made them? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted August 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 So Steph, are you saying that the ribbon in a swirl has a distinct "sharp" edge? And maybe that the ribbon in a slag has an edge that "fades" into the background glass? Just throwing things against the wall to see if anything sticks...... Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 25, 2017 Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 I'm having trouble finding the words. Greatly hoping someone else comes in with more pix or more words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnie Posted August 25, 2017 Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 hmmm,I don't know if I'm able to tell the difference between machiene made slags and swirls,well I'll try. The machiene made slags such as CAC (1 or 2 seams) Peltier (feathered) are easy to distinquish from the machiene made slags by Akro. Akro slags are difficult to distinquish from swirls. The white ribbon in a swirl can have sharp curves,like a V or L. A slag usually has more round streamlined ribbons. A slag has Always a colored or clear transparant base with a white ribbon. A swirl can have a little or much color running with the white,and the base is usually not as bright transparant as a slag.This is what I see when I look at my slags and swirls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budwas Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 Mike It's seems I remember reading that slags were for the most part single stream , meaning that the base color and white were melted in the same furnace. They didn't mix well due to the white having a heavier viscosity. Early slags were hand gathered. With swirls the white or other colors were injected into the stream of molten base glass. I'm at work and have no pictures but also hoping others will jump all over this. It could be a great thread! I hope to be corrected! Lol Bud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvrons Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 A lot or maybe most, maybe all of the transparent swirls were single stream and not injected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nantucketdink Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 Are there other types of machine made marbles beyond cats eys that are injected? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budwas Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 Is injected and variegated not the same when talking glass marbles? Freese was injecting different colors of glass into the main stream as early as 1922. Galen? Bud taps foot on the floor. GALEN??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 Need more comparison pictures! I can probably get some today -- finally finished the project for the 11-year-old -- but I know other folks' pictures will be better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nantucketdink Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 I suppose sparklers might have been injected Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 Maybe instead of injecting we're thinking of whether there are separate pots of color. Slags had the white and the color in the same container. Unfortunately, I _think_ many swirls also had the colors mixed in the same container, and that I've never understood. I _think_ some had different containers for the separate colors. Ooops, I still don't have pictures. I will not return without them! I hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budwas Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 Google this, a very good read about the topic. US 1529947 A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slagmarble Posted August 27, 2017 Report Share Posted August 27, 2017 Swirls look more sloppy and the white more often than not isn't as rich or opaque. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted August 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2017 Maybe I am having a hard time following the "wording" of everyone's description of a slag or a swirl. Maybe post a pic to support your explanation. I am sure I need to understand how each type was made. That might help. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I'llhavethat1 Posted August 27, 2017 Report Share Posted August 27, 2017 Yeah, I'll just stand this one out. Good question and I'm sure the members here can point the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 28, 2017 Report Share Posted August 28, 2017 Here are some miscellaneous slags. At least I have thought they were all slags. I stored them together. Now we've got me wondering though about a couple of them. Still trying to remember where I put my tin of miscellaneous swirls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted August 28, 2017 Report Share Posted August 28, 2017 Just because there is a patant on something, does not mean it was ever produced or used. I think the main (and only real difference between machine made slags and swirls is the glass. Very clear transparant base and a nice hard white glass for slags. Less clear and softer white for swirls. Thats about the best I can do. . It is something you find easier to see the more you look at in hand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted August 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2017 This is a bit scary if you have doubts Steph. The post above sounds like one of the best definitive explanations I am reading..... 10 hours ago, lstmmrbls said: Very clear transparant base and a nice hard white glass for slags. Less clear and softer white for swirls. One thing I see in the batch that you posted Steph is that all the white glass looks like a thin band of glass. Well..... on second look, I see a couple that have about as much white glass as they do colored base glass...... Mike I think this is one of mine that has been labeled a slag.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted August 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2017 No, after another read from start to finish through the thread, I am still confused. I need to see (videos......???) or better understand, some of these manufacturing methods so I can better understand "pots" and "injecting" of glass. I guess I don't feel so bad about not understanding the difference. It even sounds to me like the ones who know even have a hard time with identification sometimes. Like this marble of mine....... Swirl or slag? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 28, 2017 Report Share Posted August 28, 2017 Here's some of what I had in my miscellaneous swirl box Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 28, 2017 Report Share Posted August 28, 2017 1 hour ago, Mikie_T said: I guess I don't feel so bad about not understanding the difference. It even sounds to me like the ones who know even have a hard time with identification sometimes. ^^ that! What you're seeing is how hard it is for us to describe it. Just gotta encounter them many times ... and even then there will be some on the border where you can't swear whether they're from an early slag company or a later swirl company. The white in the slags will usually be a purer, solider white. And I'll say usually ... it can get wispy on slags, and it can be solid in swirls. One thing about slag glass versus swirl glass -- slag glass is (usually?) made from "batch" -- where they stirred up the glass with a special recipe. And West Virginia swirl glass is (usually? often?) made from cullet. Rejected glass from some other place. Maybe from a factory which made art glass. Maybe from cold cream jars. For example. Sooooo ... yes ... there are some which are slam dunks ... but there are some ... like your dark one ... which can be hard to tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 28, 2017 Report Share Posted August 28, 2017 2 hours ago, Mikie_T said: This is a bit scary if you have doubts Steph. The post above sounds like one of the best definitive explanations I am reading..... Quote Very clear transparant base and a nice hard white glass for slags. Less clear and softer white for swirls. Yes, Galen (lstmmrbls) is a slag guy who also has lots of swirls -- and knows how to get to the point. And yes, this other one of yours is a good example of a slag. The structure helps us in a big way though -- that's a Christensen Agate structure. And some other companies have very distinctive structures on most of their slags. One problem comes with Akro, which had a more randomly swirly slag before they switched over to corkscrews and patches in 1930. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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