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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips

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  #1  
Old 2015-01-19, 5:33pm
oldienoobie oldienoobie is offline
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Default I'm looking to purchase...scrap?

Hi folks...thanks for reading my post. I'm a small business owner - not a big company - mostly just me.
On and off for several years, I've been looking on the Far East websites, but haven't found what I'm looking for, but the light recently dawned on me that maybe I should be looking closer to home!
So getting to the point - I sell kaleidoscope making supplies. As you can imagine, there aren't a lot of sellers or buyers in this niche area (which is why I also have a full time, 'real' job!). The one item I've never been able to find though are the glass pieces that go into the end of the kaleidoscopes. And I should say that I'm talking about gallery quality kaleidoscopes here - its easy enough to find plastic bits or glass beads for kids or people who aren't trying to make a living selling their work.
For good quality scopes artists usually make their own simple (?) lampwork pieces. They are generally translucent pieces, in almost any color, and smallish - maybe a couple millimeters up to perhaps an inch. "Twisties" (I don't know the real name), squiggles, long and thin, shapes etc are all good. Why not use easy to get glass beads, or broken stained glass? Well the purists out there generally don't use any beads with holes because it screams out that the pieces were bought or found, and the holes can be distracting when magnified. Some stained glass is ok, but the rough edges also make for sharp, angular images - fine in some cases, but not always.

Anyway to summarize, I'm looking to see if I can find nicely colored scrap pieces, smallish with all or mostly all smooth edges, translucent glass etc? Or if anyone has any ideas about where I might find something like this please let me know. Thanks if you're still reading!! Feel free to contact me at lrubin28@gmail.com. Thanks!
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  #2  
Old 2015-01-19, 11:02pm
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one hot beader one hot beader is offline
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Have you thought about getting yourself a small kiln and melting commercially available murrini pieces into mini cabachons?

That would be the easiest way to ensure you have a steady supply of nice colourful pieces
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Old 2015-01-19, 11:03pm
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You could even snip plain transparent rods and slump them.
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Old 2015-01-20, 6:14am
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You also might want to check out Murano Millifiore. I suspect they have what you are seeking: http://www.muranomillefiori.com/

Alli
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Old 2015-01-20, 7:59am
losthelm losthelm is offline
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You can also try stained glass shops/studios/suppliers
Edges can be polished off in the kiln or if your ok with the opaque frosted look a tumbler.
delphiglass.com
bead suppliers that sell volume may have shards, shorts, extra coarse frit, and such.
The coarse frit usually is .2-.5" sizes.
arrowsprings.com has some that may work.
There are a ton of other suppliers, arrowsprings and Delphi are just two that come to mind.
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Old 2015-01-20, 11:14am
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speedingpullet speedingpullet is offline
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You could also try some commercially made glass Confetti.

Here's a selection from COE90.com
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Old 2015-01-22, 7:01am
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I'm a HUGE kaleidoscope fan; I reached out via PM and and going to slump some sample bits for oldienoobie today. I'd love to be part of this - I've always wanted to make kaleidoscopes!
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Old 2015-01-24, 11:30am
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When I did stained glass kaleidoscopes I used the millefiori from Murano. It was very colorful.
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Old 2015-01-24, 8:04pm
28676bhe 28676bhe is offline
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You need bits of fired dichroic!
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