Flameworkers using Chinese borosilicate have complained that it isn't uniform as if it wasn't stirred well or the
correct anti-crystallization measures weren't taken.
Quote: Originally posted by agorot  |
| I've used scientific equipment of houston in the past. They have excellent quality glass and am very satisfied. Reasonable prices and insanely cheap
shipping http://www.labmiser.com/ |
| Quote: Originally posted by chemrox |
| Quote: Originally posted by aonomus |
| Quote: Originally posted by anotheronebitesthedust |
| Quote: Originally posted by chief |
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| Quote: Originally posted by peach | ||||
That's definitely not worth fussing over. I have expensive QuickFit branded glass (which is an actual brand blown here in the UK) and the heads aren't dead on. If I'm using big, long stretches of vigreux and condenser, I'll stick a ball and socket in there somewhere to get some flexibility in the angles and avoid snapping things as it's clamped and heated. Really expensive, pro, large, usually custom order, glassware is all ball and socket for that reason; it's far too tricky to set up the heavy flasks and clamp the long lengths without something making that rage inducing 'crack' sound, which in my mind sounds more like "time for the bank account to take another raping".
I hope they sorted you out with that money wise, because there's no way I'd accept that. I wouldn't buy from them again and I'd probably take them to court if they refused to fully refund it, regardless of the rest of the glass. I've ordered from both Expedi and UGT. In fact, I sent something to one of the forum members here in an envelope from UGT that had a sticker saying "Visit our site!" on it, under which I wrote a note about Expedi being far cheaper. Admittedly, the only thing I've ordered from them is keck clips. UGT is quite impersonal and blunt, or none responsive sometimes. The guy running Expedi is much more talkative. UGT's keck clips where made by Schott Duran. Expedi's, which were less than half the price I think, where clearly imports from China. It not only had China as the country of origin on the sticker, but China printed on the clips. I do buy imports, carefully. The China clips where 'tacky' looking, in that the plastic wasn't very pigmented at all. But colour isn't a big issue. The moulding was nearly as good as the Schott Durans. Both are polyacetate, both melt at the same point, both fall apart around some corrosive gases. I haven't really seen any major difference between them other than the price.
I want to learn to blow complex glass. But, at the moment, it'd cost me far more for a poorer result to blow some of the things I need myself. I do agree, the attitudes and prices around preblown glass are often just stupid. I've asked a number of the purveyors of this 'dying art in need of young blood' for help getting into it, and received none. I realize it's difficult, but when I'm paying up to the £100 mark for a funnel, that's not realistic. Especially when said funnel features off-square tubing, tapers with visible ridges and snaps early in it's life (indicating it may not have been annealed). £45 - £55 for the repair, minus the next day insured postage each way. And, of coarse, if you ask for a refund for something like a potential annealing problem, the reply you'll get is "It's your fault". I have worked for companies that use that as their standard reply, regardless of how shit their product actually is; to the extent of hiding their postal addresses and leaving the (mobile) phone permanently on the machine, so the customers can't make direct contact with them. I resigned, in quite a heated argument (which ended with them physically threatening my family and myself), shortly after. Even people like Paypal 'openly' (don't know if they still do) admits to 'hiding' their contact information, to 'make the service cheaper in terms of staffing', as the eGimp forces you to offer their monopoly on payment and PayPal charge you their eye watering fees, whilst retaining the right to flag, fully drain and then access your bank account should they 'suspect' a transaction. The refund policy of Paypal is also out of line with what the acts regarding distance sales and consumer protection have to say. Something which I believe is technically impossible to enforce. Something people often forget is that paying with a credit card automatically insures the full purchase value. As the money is effectively on loan from the bank. And, in signing up for the card and the bank agreeing to loan you the money, they're legally said "we trust your judgment and ability to deal with our money". If the transaction fucks up, that's their money, and they agreed for you to spend it based on them deciding (legally) that you can make a fair judgment with it, so it's their responsibility to cover it. Also, you can pay directly into bank accounts in person, for free, and receive a teller's receipt (no arguing with that in court). Or use telephone / online banking to do the same. Somehow, I doubt adding the third party called Paypal improves the security of that transaction, if only for the added stage involved.
I've probably spent a few thousand on glass and equipment from eGay. For the most part, it's okay. But people really do start pushing their luck on occasions. I had a 1l QuickFit flask turn up just recently, described as being perfectly good. It was so scratched to fuck (deeply) I was confident it'd go under vacuum. So much so, I hooked it up, left the room, set up the video camera to record it for you if it did, and started the pump from the kitchen, watching through the window. It survived, but I am still highly skeptical of how it's going to behave under vacuum once heat is involved; it can have a go with some water first, a few times. Another, from the same guy and described as good, was chipped. When I contacted him immediately upon receipt I said "What have you been doing to this? That's badly scratched and I doubt it's going to be okay" (it looked like he'd taken a densits burr and skipped it across the surface inside). His reply was something along the lines of "QuickFit isn't designed for use under deep vacuum, if you need that, you need specialized glass". My reply "All of QuickFit's glass is designed for use under a total vacuum" His reply... never came. And he never answered me again, even when I offered to buy some more items. Just last week I bought some wash bottles. The guy I bought them from routinely sets his used prices very close to the retail prices. They were all described as 'like new' or 'perfect' and 're-annealed'. On arrival, one looked about two decades old and, again, was scratched. I'd sent him an extra £10 for another, which he hadn't sent. I had to remind him, three times, to refund the extra money. I had the courier smash my first bit of sent out glass two weeks ago. All shit is hitting the turbine as the buyer is going mental and I'm trying to get the money refunded by the courier for him. It's a slow process, that they have a tendency to not do their part on for glass items. UGT seem to know what they're doing, looking at their site, and the prices are okay on the glass. But that funnel story (as it stands) is not good at all, and fits with my opinion on their impersonal nature. [Edited on 14-8-2010 by peach] |
