I have seen people post time and time again to get USA made SPD glass. I started on a cheap Craigslist Chinese 2L kit. It got me through the learning curve. It never produced anything spectacular but not trash by any means. Just normal.
Fast forward. I upgraded to a 5l. I went USA this time. I went with Rocco. My buddy has a 5l Frankenstein together from hfs and xtractor depot. I think the glass is all hfs.
The distillate we both produce looks the same. Mine maybe a tad bit more on the water side but both produce about the same consistency and colors and yeilds at the same temps. (Same brand/type mantle, hfs)
Take this for what you want. I’m not saying all Chinese glass is good but rather there is good Chinese glass and not all is bad. I know my next cold trap (24/40) and mono cow with vac release will be Chinese most likely.
There is definitely some decent glassware from China. I think it’s just not that consistent. I also have a china 2L setup and had no issues with leaks at any of the joints. From what i read, I was expecting to have way more issues. That being said, I know some glassblowers who say there is a huge difference in quality of the glass rods and tubes that come from china to make pipes. It is more difficult to work with because it is more likely to check and crack when cooling.
This is false from my understanding, have had pope fix and modify pieces. Unless I was misinformed by their team, i was under the impression they make main body and condensers. Ace glass was making their hourglass receiving flask system that always leaked.
you correct they modify glass ,but they don’t make it ,chemglass does ,i personally been on them factory ,when i bought my wf
they have equipment to modify glass not to make it
i am not defending anybody ,just telling what i saw
Pope has been blowing scientific glass for decades. Their big seller was the jacketed and silvered dewars for LN2 cold traps. They don’t make the wiped film body though as they outsource that to another US company either Ace or Precision I believe. Could be that their repair job was bad but I’ve had other people tell me they have great quality
There’s is def some decent quality Chinese glass and shitty US glass but that usually isn’t the case. It has to do with their input materials. Garbage in = garbage out. A tiny leak could really damage your potency so make sure you compare both with testing as well
I stand corrected, Thanks. We had issues with flask joints literally just falling off on multiple pieces from them as well as poor fits on cold trap glass valves leading to constant leaks.
Never had any of the issues with other Chemglass or any other glass company.
like i said before i am not defending anybody
i will fly to them factory next month anyway ,and i will ask them who making them wf glass bodys ,but i sure it will be same answer
chemglass makes great glass,no doubt
but in long run i don’t really care ,long how is company stands behind them product ,if they dont then it is a problem
as china glass goes it is hit and miss as glass goes or warranty .
Usually china don’t honor warranty ,you have to fight for it ,it is from personal experience
They have been working a lot of angles to keep up with the demand for their glass products that has exploded with the canna industry - small glass wfe systems were only really R&D items for pharma and polymer research labs and they outsourced most of those parts because it made sense to from a biz perspective
they had to outsource further for a time to keep up with the recent uptick in sales but have since upgraded their facilities and now have a full glassblowing program- they produce all glass in house now- this is coming from someone who toured the facility and went in depth on every single aspect of their production as I was not touring as a customer but as someone who is building and prototyping WF systems… they thought I was a customer… I certainly will be when I need a 12” system.
People in canna like to shit on pope but they have a solid understanding of the technology and have been doing this for decades- adapting to the new world of legal canna and cater to our needs / supplying us with tools has as many challenges as any of us in this industry face.
They were very helpful in the early stages Of understanding wiped film distillation of cannabinoids while never charging for consulting or anything and yes my experiences with them was when they were just starting to sell units to this industry. Pope has excellent customer service and technicians.
Maybe it was just bad timing but yea never seen glass act like that before or since. You’d put a flask on a brand new condensor(int. And ext.) fully supported at atmosphere and you’d hear the distinct crack then have a perfect clean break around the joint like it had been scored.
a lot of my short path came from Pro glass including my cold trap. I have no problem with that company. I emailed him and was able to buy a bunch of spare GL14 and GL18 fitting too for like 1/2 price.
I got a lot of glass from Deschem too… I really havent bought any glass from china that was complete shit, and most of my short path and glassware came from the lowest price seller typically on ebay.
China really gets a bad wrap. Most of the goods we use today were made in china or have parts that were made in china. The problem arises when people and companies dont do their own quality control. If china isnt doing quality control and the american company isnt inspecting their goods…that when problems arise.