Old School Steamroller

the wife likes old steamrollers but they are getting hard to find and seem to be made w/ thinner glass than the ones I used back in the 80s. can anyone here point me to a decent site or blow one for me? if hand made, I would prefer about 10-14 inches long & narrower than normal,meybe 1 inch hole but I want the glass to be thick & heavy. think barglass quality or better.something that can handle being dropped.
looking for xmas present so no rush.
thanks...mc

Maybee. If you've been nice this year..

I'd be happy to make you one. What were your thoughts with respect to where the bowl is and what style it is? Some steamers use glass-on-glass joints and some just use a pressed pushed bowl into the steamer itself.

25mm diameter (1") and 4mm thickness is about the best you can get for that size. If you want it to be able to be dropped, I'd recommend *not* getting the ground glass joint on it and sticking with a pushed bowl on the tube.

researchkitty said:

If you want it to be able to be dropped, I'd recommend *not* getting the ground glass joint on it and sticking with a pushed bowl on the tube.

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I hear you about the ground glass joint but thats what the wife likes. currently have a pushed in bowl & she doesn't like it.
as to bowl location,good question! I would like it about 3-4 inches back from 1 end. when smoking w/ someone w/ a cold, its nice to have them hit it from the other end & most put the bowl too close to the end making it a bitch to light.
25 mm sounds good but only 4 mm thick? was hoping for something a little thicker. after breaking the bowl off 1, I was able to reattach it w/ a propane torch & some pieces of pyrodex I had -it was 1/2 assed but worked. could you wrap the bowl where it meets the stem with some glass rod ? or make the bowl itself out of much thicker glass?

4mm thickness is the maximum thickness glass is made in that size. You dont start getting thicker (5mm-9mm++) until you hit much larger diameter glass tubing. 4mm thick may not sound like much, but its Extra Heavy Wall. Most people would use 2mm or 3mm thickness. Reattaching a broken piece with a propane torch will *appear* to work, but you wont be getting the weld on the glass properly melted in unless your also puffing it and condensing it a few times. That means you'll have stress in it no matter what, and it will probably break a few uses later. One of the hardest things for a glass blower to learn is how to make glass not stress and not crack, even with proper tools and torches. You'd have a better time using UV activated glass glue, as long as the glass glue isnt near where you would be using the actual flame (or within an inch).

Bowls can be made with super thick glass, as thick as you'd like. It sounds like just a properly made steamroller is what you'd like, the last one sucked eh?

researchkitty said:

... It sounds like just a properly made steamroller is what you'd like,.. ..

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yeah, it lasted long enough to find a replacement
OK so 12-14 inch long, 4mmx25mm stem,no taper or enlarged ends, very heavy glass bowl,average size, about 4 inches from end.can you give me an approximate cost? & guess on how long it will take? thanks...mc

Others here, besides just me, can also make it, too! From me, in simple clear, it would be $40 delivered, and with a glass on glass joint with an slide for it, an additional $20. The $40 version would have a pressed big bowl. It'll hit like a truck.

thanks, I would guess 3-4 weeks to make & deliver so I will get ahold of you around mid Nov