China Import Glass vs Domestic

I did not put this information together I am simply sharing it for people to learn. All credit to Chameleion Glass via facebook.




#581 Saturn cut in half long wise to show full melt inside. No acute angles here, and no drill out of the bowl hole.




Both sides of the sacrificed #581. Smooth as a baby's bottom baby.




Not fully melted. What this means is that there are all kinds of acute angles where the latticino meets the interior wall of the glass. The first bump/shock will cause the cracks to start, and once they start, not only are you getting glass particulate in your lungs, the piece's days are numbered. You can kiss that $20 you "saved" by buying an import off, because you'll be buying a new piece soon.




Both sides of the import





Double click this one folks and bump up your magnification in your photo viewer. Check that 'awesome' drilled out bowl hole. Importers don't give a f*ck all about you, so, they ruin you AND the piece. You think importers or the stores who sell them take the time to wash all that glass dust out of the pipe? If you do, I have a bridge to sell you. All that crap gets sucked into your lungs, never to be seen again, because, like asbestos, the small to microscopic silica shards implant in your lung tissue and the cilia in your lings cant remove it. Mesothelioma anyone? Second, drilling glass ruins the strength and crystal integrity ... precisely at the place on the pipe that it needs to be strongest. The bowl takes all the day to day heating (expansion) and cooling (contraction) abuse, so weakening it there is only ensuring an untimely demise for the piece.

BUY USA

the only flaw in this i feel is that if your a person that never drops your pieces you will be fine lol, but i support local pieces all the way

Might be a great sticky.........

Few domestic glass-smokeware manufacturers remained in business following “Black Monday” in February ’03. That was the day that the Feds launched Operation Pipe Dreams, conducting nationwide raids on the glass industry. Black Monday resulted in multiple arrests and convictions, most notably of Tommy Chong, who served a year in jail for his involvement in his family’s bong-making company, Chong Glass.

But while the US government failed to eradicate the functional side of the domestic glass-art industry, it did succeed in handing over a tremendous portion of the business to not-so-nice people in volatile and not-so-nice nations like China and Pakistan, which manufacture shoddy and potentially harmful glassware.

Ken, a glassblowing artist and the owner of Chameleon Glass, based in Phoenix, AZ, packs your bowl with a dose of reality. So the next time you light up, first stop and ask yourself: What am I actually smoking out of?How effective do you think the raids in Operation Pipe Dreams were?After Black Monday, good-paying blue-collar glassblowing jobs nearly disappeared, along with domestic manufacturers. And with them went a wealth of innovation capability in function and design.

But perhaps if our federal agents had taken basic economics, simple Keynesian supply-and-demand would have indicated that they couldn’t eliminate glass pipes—supply may have been reduced, but demand remained. After the government quashed the domestic supply, the demand was still strong. Importers were happy to fill those empty cases. The US government now stands by idly as imports flood the country by the container. Why is the US glass industry concerned?In addition to the fact that importers pay astronomically low labor rates, they have also avoided substantial tariffs by manifesting the products [i.e., listing them for shipment] as necklaces or beaded curtains or glass handicraft. If they were declared as tobacco accessories and made to pay tariffs, the current uneven playing field might be leveled a bit.

Because Customs is lax about enforcing tobacco-product tariffs, the pipes can be brought in by container in pieces and slapped together in some no-name sweatshop. With artificially depressed prices, domestic manufacturers haven’t rebounded well in an import-price-driven marketplace. Does imported glass smokeware present a danger?When someone says, “Dude, that first pull was rough,” it may be due to the fact that they’re using drill-outs, which are typical of import pipes. US Customs considers any tobacco accessory with more than two holes to be paraphernalia—it falls into the category of contraband, allowing the cargo to be seized and destroyed. To avoid seizure, importers “sink” the bowl but do not blow a bowl hole, leaving the piece with two holes —a mouthpiece and a carb. String is then passed through the two holes on pipes and one-hitters to give credence to the falsified manifest, which describes the contraband cargo as a necklace or some kind of glass handicraft.

Later, the bowl hole is drilled out, which severely weakens the pipe at precisely the point that it needs to be at its strongest, due to the constant heating and cooling of the bowl, which causes its expansion and contraction. Drilling ruins pipe strength and leaves glass shards and powder for the user to inhale. The shards and powder, similar to asbestos, cause silicosis—a permanent and debilitating disease similar to mesothelioma. But don’t call your injury lawyer: Unlike a domestic company, importers disappear into thin air as soon as the container is empty.

We’re also concerned because importers don’t trouble themselves with innovative ideas or products—they copy everything. Did importers come up with double perks?No. Did importers use scientific techniques to incorporate ground joints instead of rubber grommets? No. Did importers invest any time and effort to develop techniques that allow the incorporation of dichromatic materials into glass? No. These are all domestic innovations—innovations that have all but stopped after Black Monday. What can consumers do to protect themselves?First, look at that bowl hole closely. If the sidewall of the bowl hole looks rough or frosted, it’s a drill-out—and that first pull is gonna be ugly. A flame-worked bowl hole is tapered, shiny and smooth, whether it comes from a retailer or your local guy.

Second, research reputable domestic manufacturers and buy that brand at your brick-and-mortar retailer. Internet e-tailers are famous for fakes and imports. Imports are often referred to as “India glass.” Is India the main culprit?Actually, India mainly produces true art glass —vases, lighting fixtures and the like—which sells for more money than pipes. Most of the so-called “India glass” pipes are actually produced in Pakistan at government-sponsored, indentured-child-labor camps. Do you really want to be sending your cash to Pakistan? Do you really want to support child slavery?

You may be, unwittingly. Importers typically only accept cash from retailers. Then they funnel it back to the country of origin: no taxes paid, no roads paved, no hospitals built, no new teachers. Think about that the next time you spend four hours waiting in the ER after two hospitals closer to your house were shuttered due to budgetary shortfalls.

From hightimes.. yeah, your right. This would make a good sticky.

Is Chameleon Glass still in business? I remember seeing their name on stickers for a lot of low to mid priced spoons.........

I think so.. they are low end American glass. They stole a lot of ideas and everyone hates them.

I'm confused by the initial post. Aren't those just differences in quality that have nothing to do with being Chinese made or not? No way you can conclude that there are no lazy or miss informed American glass blowers and that all Chinese are lazy/miss informed...

I could easily post pictures of several American pieces that were just as poorly made but it doesn't mean all Americans make shitty pipes.

Great thread. Subscribed.

No, this is a practice of all Chinese pipes. The real artist on China are known. The people like snuden ripping off roor and elhe are what we are speaking of.

dankshizzle said:

No, this is a practice of all Chinese pipes. The real artist on China are known. The people like snuden ripping off roor and elhe are what we are speaking of.

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Oh....explain please.

A practice of ALL Chinese pipes. What a bold statement lol

Have you ever been to China? There are a ton of artists, MOST of which are unknown.

Obviously he have never left his moms basement.

Snuden said:

Obviously he have never left his moms basement.

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Lets not be as presumptuous as he is being.

Gastanker said:

Lets not be as presumptuous as he is being.

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I guess he is, of some sort. We have all been young and naive.

You claimed to make knock off roors and exxe brand bongs. What's to explain?

Snuden hasnt said anything poor regarding his workers or their conditions, and in fact the opposite. But lets keep bashing him anyway, right?

There's a ton of American glass that looks just as poor as the glass people are comparing it to. Its all about the glassblower MAKING the item. Not about what nationality the individual making it is. Most import glass isnt even from China, its from India and California.

Next time you want to rag on china, call me on your iPhone or Skype me on your laptop. Both of which, were made in china.............

It's about him openly selling fake roors. You don't get that yet? he is making roors illegally and marketing them to America and Canada as real roors. If he was doing that in Michigan I would be calling him out to. Get the discrimination thing out of your fucking skull. He is a scam artist.

And your growing pot illegally in Michigan, yet your customers dont care either. Its glass. The customers know what they are buying. At least he ships his customers their glass.

How am i growing pot illegally? I am a medical card holder. I'm allowed to have 72 plants and had cop check em last month. So don't bother sending any kitty.

dankshizzle said:

It's about him openly selling fake roors. You don't get that yet? he is making roors illegally and marketing them to America and Canada as real roors. If he was doing that in Michigan I would be calling him out to. Get the discrimination thing out of your fucking skull. He is a scam artist.

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Trademark infringement is no laughing matter - I hope everyone frowns on that. But are you really saying this all started when one particular person stated they make rip offs? This thread was up way before Snuden said anything about that - and isn't even directed at snuden... Actually the attacks on Snudens thread were made before he mentioned Roor as well... and the attacks you deleted in your thread.

You are clearly discriminating against the Chinese. Just look at your statement of ALL Chinese glass being not melted in - you can't claim you're not making a blanket statement based on race, ethnicity, or nationality alone. If Chinese then bad. Is bad = banket statement, if Chinese = reason. So yes your reasoning is based on discrimination.

Love the logic though. If Dan moves to China his glass is bad. Hell, if anyone moves to China their glass is crap, right? Wait... that doesn't make sense. I just hope you're not growing with any Chinese ballasts - wait, that's pretty much all of them. Or chinese bulbs - oh wait, that's at least 50% of them.