furnaces?

[Berryb]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around "Furnaces". Are any of these furnaces?  I'm not as interested in yes or no as I am why? Thanks

Bruce

[Steph]

Pretty sure "no".

I don't have an articulate reason for why.   Maybe someone else can help.  Might be a "picture is worth a thousand words" situation.  

[Al Oregon]

Ron can probably explain all if he pops up.  I copied a few things over the years.  Here is a post by Ron back in 2002.

After Marvella's Marble Show, we received a phone call from a collector in Canada requesting more information about the Champion Furnace marbles. Because of his previous connection with the Champion Agate Co, I called Dave McCullough (JABO) and asked for any details he might have about these marbles and this is what he told me: In the mid 90's Roger Jones, a very knowledgeable glassworker at Champion, used glass from the Paul Wissmach Glass Co in Paden City, WV to wash out the tanks when changing runs. This was done a couple of time a month. The reason for the fractures is that the marble glass was not compatible with the glass from Wissmach (Wissmach makes plate and cathedral glass). Mr. Jones told Dave that the yellow glass from Wissmach worked best for his purposes and I suppose that is why yellow furnace marbles are the most common color. BTW, this practice would have stopped in 1996 or 1997 when Mr. Jones passed away.

----------------------------

I have not searched this Forum but there may be other information in the Forum.  As mentioned, the yellow is a common color.  Also, they are pretty transparent overall when you backlight them.  I think looking at examples is the best way to learn them.

 

Here is a picture of my furnace marbles from a few years past.  They can have fractures in them = pretty common.

 

[Berryb]

Thanks Al;  your post has more info in it than I've been able to find out in years. Now that I have a better idea what a furnace is and what to look for I realize I probably do not have any more. I have saved a copy of your photo in my folder for reference if that's ok. Thanks

Bruce

[Berryb]

After thinking about this all night (jeeze I gotta get a life) I have come up with some conclusions/questions: The busy pattern in most of these furnace marbles is a Champion characteristic not a Furnace characteristic. This molten Wissmach glass somehow bonded to the leftover glass in the tanks and valves and  pulled it along, and rather than dump it all, Champion made marbles out of it. When I think of molten glass I think of something the consistency of honey so yellow glass as a scrubbing agent is hard to visualize. Were Furnace marbles marketed separately, or mixed in with Champion's regular run marbles? This is pretty interesting stuff, Thanks again.

Bruce

[cheese]

My understanding is that they were only taken home by workers and such, not marketed to the public by Champion (because of all the fractures which equate to inferior marbles).

[Berryb]

So if Furnaces were only "lunch box" marbles I'm pretty lucky to have even one. Thanks

Bruce

[wvrons]

Champion had to build a new furnace is why the stopped the practice. It did not remove or wash out as much as they planned.  None of the furnance marbles were marketed by Champion. Most were discarded and they allowed the employees to take them home. One Champion employee brought 1 1/2 gallons to Sam Hogue and told him put these away. Someday they might be worth something. He was correct. A lot of that 1 1/2 gallon was sold by marblealan.

[Peltier Mibber]

12 hours ago, wvrons said:

Champion had to build a new furnace is why the stopped the practice. It did not remove or wash out as much as they planned.  None of the furnance marbles were marketed by Champion. Most were discarded and they allowed the employees to take them home. One Champion employee brought 1 1/2 gallons to Sam Hogue and told him put these away. Someday they might be worth something. He was correct. A lot of that 1 1/2 gallon was sold by marblealan.

Great info, priceless.