"Pyrex"

[IntrovertGlass]

Hey guys, I am a glass artist out of Pennsylvania specializing in very intricate glass pendants and marbles. Since I've seen this word "Pyrex" tossed around so much in the ecig community, I would like to inform people what it really means. The term "Pyrex" has become a term for any type of Borosilicate glass and it seems to be used very loosely in this community. Now I'm sure everyone has heard of the company Pyrex.. well if you go to their site you will see that the word "Pyrex" has a copyright type symbol next to it.. I notice that none of the websites I have gone to that sell glass tanks include that emblem (yet they ALL say Pyrex glass) . This leads me to believe that their Borosilicate is not actually made by the company "Pyrex" but is just being considered "Pyrex glass". This can be extremely misleading to the untrained eye. Borosilicate glass can either come from China or elsewhere (USA, Czech Republic ext.) and the difference is quite significant. The companies that make clear borosilicate are Schott, Simax, Pyrex, and glass from china is just referred to as "China glass". The companies you see selling colored glass tanks (amber, violet, cobalt ext.) are at the very least using china glass for their colored tanks. I am not here to point fingers, just to inform the community what they're purchasing because the retailers are not doing too well of a job of doing so.
P.S. PLEASE do not buy any tanks that don't say they have been annealed IF THEY HAVE BEEN WORKED IN A FLAME, they are literally time bombs just waiting to break at any moment and could break for no reason just sitting on your desk dormant because they still have stress in them from being flame polished.. I am working on releasing my own Boro carto tank using Simax tubing at Vapefest this year if all goes well, it will be my first time attending a vape show! . Ive attached a few images of my recent work. I hope some of this was informative!!

Edit: I shouldn't say don't purchase tanks that haven't been annealed but please purchase them at your own risk.. I feel it fairly essential to anneal any piece of glass.

 

[kottonmouth401]

Thanks for the info (and the new worry that my glass tanks could shatter at any moment lol). Great pics Those are some really cool glass pieces.

 

[yaypudding]

learn something new everyday, and very nice glass work.

 

[IntrovertGlass]

Thanks for the info (and the new worry that my glass tanks could shatter at any moment lol). Great pics Those are some really cool glass pieces.

My pleasure man, a lot of companies aren't annealing because they started out in the ecig business and tried to move into glass without knowing they need a kiln. Thanks man, I really appreciate it!

 

[the_vape_nerd]

im not sure that this community is all that worried about breakage as a concern

most people who want glass tanks are wanting them in order to be able to vape certain flavors that melt plastic tanks

are you saying that these will just randomly shatter on their own? without being dropped? like just sitting on a counter? or are you only meaning when dropped or hit?

i kind of have the opinion that if something can melt plastic, it's probably not a good idea to inhale it but i do think you should clarify this, i mean an unbreakable tank would surely find a market but will this "china glass" break without any stress on it?

 

[IntrovertGlass]

Edit: sorry for double post, forgot to quote and can't delete this one..

 

[IntrovertGlass]

im not sure that this community is all that worried about breakage as a concern

most people who want glass tanks are wanting them in order to be able to vape certain flavors that melt plastic tanks

are you saying that these will just randomly shatter on their own? without being dropped? like just sitting on a counter? or are you only meaning when dropped or hit?

i kind of have the opinion that if something can melt plastic, it's probably not a good idea to inhale it but i do think you should clarify this, i mean an unbreakable tank would surely find a market but will this "china glass" break without any stress on it?

Any glass that still has stress in it that has not been annealed can shatter just sitting on the counter. You don't have to drop a stressed piece of glass for it to break. Lets say I make a marble and don't stick it in the kiln to anneal + cool down, the chances of it surviving as it cools are slim compared to sticking it in the kiln and knowing it will survive. If the marble did survive the cool down it would still have all of the invisible stress from not being annealed. This means change in pressure, temperature, anything at all could cause that stress to give way. It could sit dormant for 6+ months and then randomly shatter for what seems to be no reason what so ever. So yes, they can break for no reason just sitting on your desk. The difference between china glass and other companies is the consistency/roundness of the glass, which in turn will cause stress. In some china glass you will find small COPYRIGHTDMCA from the hot glass being dragged across the floor as it was pulled. EDIT, FOUND OUT THAT COLD WORKING DOES NOT CAUSE STRESS, only heat can cause stress. Cold working can only cause imperfections. Sorry about that, I found this very interesting.

 

[BlueMoods]

Thanks for the heads up and a good point though if colored means at least the colored part is china glass, then, doesn't that mean Pyrex uses some too in their blue baking dishes?

 

[glasseye]

Thanks for the heads up and a good point though if colored means at least the colored part is china glass, then, doesn't that mean Pyrex uses some too in their blue baking dishes?

Pyrex tm glassware available in the US hasn't been made from borosilicate for years and years. It's made from tempered soda lime glass.

Question for IntrovertGlass- have you checked under a polariscope the stress of cut and polished tubing? I've seen unannealed glass under one but never thought to check a coldworked piece. Just curious...coldworking after annealing is pretty common in kiln forming.
And I do agree with you. "Pyrex" being thrown around kinda makes me twitch.

I do get that most people equate that with 'glass', so from a retailer point of view it makes sense.

Fantastic work!

 

[IntrovertGlass]

Thanks for the heads up and a good point though if colored means at least the colored part is china glass, then, doesn't that mean Pyrex uses some too in their blue baking dishes?

Pyrex cookware is no longer made from Borosilicate . Very good question though! American glass companies and artists hand/lathe pull colored tubing when need be.. Cobalt tubing is really in the past for American artists so there's not much of a reason to have an American company produce cobalt tubing. Artists use China glass also, it's not like its not compatible with other borosilicate, in the right hands it can be fantastic, it's just not as consistent in the form of raw tubing.

 

[IntrovertGlass]

Pyrex tm glassware available in the US hasn't been made from borosilicate for years and years. It's made from tempered soda lime glass.

Question for IntrovertGlass- have you checked under a polariscope the stress of cut and polished tubing? I've seen unannealed glass under one but never thought to check a coldworked piece. Just curious...coldworking after annealing is pretty common in kiln forming.
And I do agree with you. "Pyrex" being thrown around kinda makes me twitch.

I do get that most people equate that with 'glass', so from a retailer point of view it makes sense.

Fantastic work!

Thanks for clearing that up amigo, I have yet to take a look at cold worked glass under a polariscope but I would be very interested in doing so! I do know that you can cause stress on glass post working it in the flame but have yet to physically see the stress. I will do some drop tests once I have some tubing cut! Ill probably be flame polishing my ends because I have no other way of doing it at the moment.
Thanks a lot man!

 

[jfountain2]

The place I buy colored 'pyrex' tanks from uses only USA sourced material and properly anneals every tank..... I've dropped mine on a wood floor and a stone tile floor and it didn't break so, I'll just stick with them. Thanks for the info though.

You can check out the tanks I use here.... Spectrum Tanks - Home




P.S. Cobalt glass is the most beautiful glass ever made (I collect it so my opinion may be somewhat biased)

 

[IntrovertGlass]

The place I buy colored 'pyrex' tanks from uses only USA sourced material and properly anneals every tank..... I've dropped mine on a wood floor and a stone tile floor and it didn't break so, I'll just stick with them. Thanks for the info though.

You can check out the tanks I use here.... Spectrum Tanks - Home

P.S. Cobalt glass is the most beautiful glass ever made (I collect it so my opinion may be somewhat biased)

It looks like it says their colors are fused onto their glass, not exactly sure how that is done, but the tubing I'm talking about is solid colored glass.. They may do everything in house, looks like a decent company.

Edit: it does say their tubing is "sourced" though. From where idk.



Glasseye, here is a thread about cold work stress!
http://www.talkglass.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-31101.html
Apparently annealing after cold working is NOT needed! As long as it had been annealed before hand obviously. Very interesting!

 

[glasseye]

Awesome IG! Can't wait to see your tanks!

 

[Kdizzle]

That's interesting thanks for the heads up. This will probably go out the window if i see a pyrex tank that looks too cool to pass up though.

 

[zoiDman]

...

P.S. PLEASE do not buy any tanks that don't say they have been annealed, they are literally time bombs just waiting to break at any moment and could break for no reason just sitting on your desk dormant because they still have stress in them from being cut..

...

I was under the Impression that "Pyrex" wasn't so much the Make Up of the Glass itself, but the Process of Annealing Glass Twice.

But I could be Wrong.

 

[IntrovertGlass]

Awesome IG! Can't wait to see your tanks!

That's interesting thanks for the heads up. This will probably go out the window if i see a pyrex tank that looks too cool to pass up though.

Thanks very much, Glasseye!

Kdizzle, can't hold that one against you, I'd do the same .

Here are a couple pics from a few minutes ago on my daily Pyrex grind

 

[rogergendron1]

I can absoloutly tell you thet the glass breaking on its own thing is true !!!!! My agi was just sitting there on the table and when I got home from work I had found a chunk of glass that cracked and snapped off the bottom of the tank ! Its a small xhunk from the bottom where it was cut . It does not leak of affect the juice but u can see the little xhunk missing if u look.
The tank was not over tight and it had no signs of stress from before . It just snpped off on its own as I was at work

 

[fourtytwo]

Glass under stress is a very interesting thing.
Check out this video on Prince Rupert's Drop.
Mystery of Prince Rupert's Drop at 130,000 fps - Smarter Every Day 86 - YouTube

 

[IntrovertGlass]

I was under the Impression that "Pyrex" wasn't so much the Make Up of the Glass itself, but the Process of Annealing Glass Twice.

But I could be Wrong.

There is no need to anneal glass twice over.. Once it's annealed it's annealed. Annealing a second time will do nothing, If you want to add to something though youd have to re heat it to work it and then re-anneal it (I have work in and out of the kiln constantly). Boro can be annealed an infinite amount of times. Pyrex has become the generic term for borosilicate glass even though Pyrex cookware is no longer made from borosilicate.. The whole thing is pretty misleading.