Problems with tubes, and best place to buy tubes.

[FungiJB]

I bought a whole setup from a nice gentlemen on craiglist. Been melting glass for almost a month now, so I am a complete newby. The guy that I bought my redmax, jen ken, hoses, regulatores, tanks, and tools from threw in some tubes and a box full of color rods. And my god these tubes SUCK. I thought It was just me, and being a newb, and thats why EVERY thing was cracking. I took a steam roller I made, (all clear) kilned it, let it sit out for a cupple hours, then washed it out with water. Right after I finished washing it out, of course, it cracked. The tubes are really old. I dont know if that has any affect, but I really cant make anything with them cracking at one point or another. So I was wondering, What Is a good place to purchase really high quality tubes? Or what brand is really good? I dont know much of anything about glass and,I know this sounds like a such a noob question, but I really do need some help. Thank you so much.

[istandalone24/7]

i have the same issue with Kimbal. a whole case of that crap i have. no matter what i do, cracks appear.
i've never cracked a marble or bead (well maybe a bead) so i know it's not me. and i've made pipes out of GA hand pulled tube that came out nice and thick with no cracks.

no matter what i do with kimbal it cracks.

[patienthand]

are you sure its boro? are you using color? if so is it cracking along the color lines? Could be compatability...

[istandalone24/7]

for me (not sure about the OP) it's no matter if i add color or not. my kiln is across the house from my torch (not ideal) so i might be shocking them, but i xfer them in a fiber blanket that's been heated. i know it's not compatible issues.

and op, you said you were rinsing your pipes out with water after a couple hours. are they cold to the touch when you do this? even if it's slightly warm, don't.

[FungiJB]

I thought it was the color, but I tried to make a cupple clear jars, and sure enough they cracked. And yes, they were all completely cold, they had been sitting out for atleast a cupple house before I rinsed them. Just so frustrating. Wasting my oxygen. Just gunna make some marble and pendents till I get a new case of tubes. Still not to sure on where to buy them. Have you guys ever bought tubes from sun dance glass?

[LarryC]

I would suggest simax tubing. I have not had this issue with kimble but the quality and consistency of their products overall was poor. I am not suggesting that the brand of tubing is to blame for this though. I would suggest you try again and box the piece when it is hotter and the overall heat base is as even as you can achieve. Then if that doesnt work next place to look is in your annealing schedule. There are a lot of folks i know who use kimble tubing without any problems. I buy most of my boro from ABR.

[istandalone24/7]

i got my Kimble from ABR too.

i'd be willing to bet it's all me and my tech....my marbles don't break (1.5ish) even when fiber blanket cooled and batched annealed. very few beads break.

i'll try today and do what larryc said, keep a more even heat base....i''m pretty sure now that it's from working too long on the bowl while the neck/stem cool too much.

[demcc2]

I agree with what Larry said. Kimble's consistency can be up and down and sometimes even within the same batches. I SWEAR by Simax!! All my clear and the little tubing i have is all simax.

Duane

[FungiJB]

Thank you guys so much. This might kindof be a dumb question, but on glass craft, the simax tubing im looking for is 38mm heavy wall, and it goes, from 38mm medium wall, Witch is labeled " 38x2x1500mm Simax Medium Wall Tubing" to "38.1x2.4x1500mm Simax Heavy Wall Tubing" Notice how there is a dot after the 38. Witch is confusing the crap out of me. Does the 2nd one REALLY mean 38x1.2 4x1500mm? is that what Im looking for, or are they just major trolls?