Borosilicate Glass Strength

[Delgato]

 

The brand of boro will have nothing to do with how well a bong will smoke or how long it will last. It won't tell you which bong you like the most nor can we. Buy whichever one YOU like.

[Caribou]

 

It's funny you should say that Delgato, because a few years ago I bought a hybrid bike. I didn't know much about bikes at the time. This bike had wide straight handlebars and a top tube that was about an inch and a half higher than the top tube on a road bike (which would have dropbars instead), and at least 3 inches higher than the top tube of a mountain bike. One day I lost my balance doing a u turn and the front wheel rotated too far bringing me to a stop, and I would have fallen over, but my weight distributed in such a way that I remained balanced on my right foot, unfortunately the pedal was under my right foot which means I could not bring it down to steady myself, normally I would just move my foot, but the weight had also distributed unto the front wheel, which had spun enough that the handlebar pinned my knee against the top tube. On a mountain bike this would not have happened because the top tube would be at least three inches lower and the handlebars may not have been so unnecessarily wide for my build and a roadbike has dropbars so it would not happen on a roadbike, either. I could not fall over and all of my weight went into my knee which wanted to bend to the right, and knees don't do that. It was very painful and it felt like my knee would break. I eventually regained enough balance that I was able to unpin my knee and then after a few minutes I was able to walk to a nearby chair and rest for a while. Luckily I wasn't seriously injured but I certainly could have been that day. Needless to say, I do not like that bike very much anymore because it's geometry is dangerous, not to mention fucking uncomfortable to ride, but I didn't know that at the time when I bought it. If I had known more about frame geometry and the dangers involves in a bogus design like that, I wouldn't have bought it.

Now, about your statement on the brand of borosilicate having nothing to do with how well a bong will smoke or how long it lasts, are you saying this because borosilicate glass types are exclusive to brands? Otherwise, I imagine the brand would have absolutely nothing to do with these things, and would have to agree with you. However, the type of borosilicate glass may have something to do with those things. I don't know, but if you do, please tell me what you know.

[slingtron 3030]

 

Jason Lee was trying to explain it, i will take it further.

If you bought a raw piece of boro glass tubing, it would be relatively very strong.

Once human beings start manipulating that glass, heating it, shaping it, adding parts with seals or working it whatsoever, the quality and "strength" of the piece is going to be dependent on the level of craftsmanship employed, not on the boro tubing itself. This would also include properly "annealing" the piece once it is finished.

[hashoildabs]

 

Originally Posted by slingtron 3030

Jason Lee was trying to explain it, i will take it further.

If you bought a raw piece of boro glass tubing, it would be relatively very strong.

Once human beings start manipulating that glass, heating it, shaping it, adding parts with seals or working it whatsoever, the quality and "strength" of the piece is going to be dependent on the level of craftsmanship employed, not on the boro tubing itself. This would also include properly "annealing" the piece once it is finished.

is the residual heat from hot titanium nails enough to compromise the strength of glass.

my toro dome got a crack 1 day after getting a ti nail. but noone else seems to have problems with ti nails fucking up joints or domes.

[Josh]

 

HBG and HVY look to be made by the same company and ive heard so much bad shit about HBG, i took my HVY and put it in a box because the foot snapped in half. the tube itself is 5mm but it "feels" different than my Puck gridded circ glass quality wise.

like delgato said by what YOU like not what some one "says" you will like.

[gOrDoN]

 

Stress is only created when heat is applied to glass. The glass molecules that are heated, become active. They basically try to seperate themselves from each other and pull apart. After we work on a piece in a flame we anneal the stressed glass in a kiln. This allows the whole piece to soak at the annealing temp then cool slowly. This removes all stress. When glass is heated the glass expands and as the glass cools it shrinks. This is called the coe...soft glass is normally above 90, boroslicate is around 33, and quartz is real low. All the glass we use in this industry is borosilcate....Toro, zob, root, etc...all use borosilcate. Another rumor I heard is more welds causes stress, this is opposite. The more braces and welds the stronger the piece. I brace the he'll out of our tubes...solid. The other thing is 90 welds are always the weakest. It is way better to have and arc. Bridge design are built this way because they take way more weight then a 90 bend. Same with glass...a radius bend will be stonger then a 90 degree splice.

[VertigoGlass]

 

Originally Posted by Caribou

Pretty sure he was saying I was overthinking.

Umm because you are? And since you didn't get it the first time I will lay it out again. Borosilicate glass is a type of glass with a specific thermal expansion rate of aprox. 33. American made boro is 33 german made boro is 33 indian made boro is 33 and so on... Annealing and the mannor in which the piece was designed and put togehter will out weigh where the raw materials came from. Most artist choose german tubing over chinese because of the quality in production methods they use IE more consistant straight in tollerance tubing. Trying to get all philosophical and form a hypothesis on a subject that is nothing more than a constant variable is like chasing your own tail. Glass is a living creature and there really is no constant in it other than human error either on the manufacture side or end user side. If you are rough on glass and If 130 dollars is your limit then get the used roor. If you plan on doing stupid shit like stacking 6 ash catchers on it well then that is your human error not the glass. You get what you pay for. Also like you are, do your research not every head shop has all the right or correct info.

[songa]

 

i understand the concern and desire to gain knowledge. thats respectable. but not to get on your nerves or nothin but i really do think you are over thinking, or at least taking this a bit further than necessary. the questions you are asking are valid, good questions that i would even like to know the answer to. but i don't think they are the most important questions to be asking when you're looking for a new piece. there are lot more other important factors, as vertigo and many others have been trying to convey. if all this stuff you are asking happens to be most important to YOU, then fine. all power to you.. but i feel like i should just let you know, as a glass head and on behalf of the other heads here commenting - i don't think u have to worry bout that shit homie! nobody else really is...i mean not to say we buy any old glass like from china and shit - we obviously have standards for quality but once ur there u worry more about the quality of shaping/construction, the function of the pipe, the art work, etc...

[Caribou]

 

Originally Posted by Josh

HBG and HVY look to be made by the same company and ive heard so much bad shit about HBG, i took my HVY and put it in a box because the foot snapped in half. the tube itself is 5mm but it "feels" different than my Puck gridded circ glass quality wise.

like delgato said by what YOU like not what some one "says" you will like.

for sure bro, carpe diem

[Caribou]

 

Originally Posted by Caribou

I'd be interested in reading any information about the strength of Roor, Zob and HVY, as I'm weighing my options for a purchase.

^original post