PWV96 Non-Lithium Batch from Spruce Pine

[Lynn Read]

Great. I will call Jeff and see what the ETA is. Thank you

[Pete VanderLaan]

Particle shape does matter in melts. Greg ran mine against SP87 and said mine went down a little faster but I don't think it's significant. Penland did test with both glasses side by side, and Nick indicated that they were remarkably similar in behavior. That was the point. So having the school pick it up is a big deal for me.
Simply put, it's been a bit slow to get out there. Tonnage is impressive. Greg is installing a new mixer which cuts mix time in half. It's still tonnage and a container is 41,000 lbs or it violates DOT regulations. Many of the distributors don't get one ton pallets but get 2,500lb ones since they sell it by the bag frequently. But Olympic should have arrived, Jeff is getting it at High Temp, Jim Myer at East bay has it now. There's another dealer in SoCal that I don't know the status of. Greg and I will count up pallets pushed at the end of the month.
Given the quality and the engineering in the PV96 batch, 50 cents a lb difference is tough to ignore. I work it at the same temperature you do.

I don't think that the batch requires the super clean sand at all unless all you make is thick clear work. Short Mt has been very good and the Minispar is a very nice spar. It's possible that the process machinery is contributing iron. I don't know.

[Hugh Jenkins]

Could someone clarify for me what the "snowflake" batch version is or was. I once tested the true pelletized version of SP and it was explosive. Philips pellets had to be dried if stored very long and had the same problem. The SP batch I have used now for years is lumpy but not real pellets and has not ever given me problems/

[Pete VanderLaan]

Snowflake is simply adding ten gallons of water to the initial batch mix. It comes out like a fine grained batch but still could be called dusty. Way less so than the stuff which is agglomerated, which is a big word for adding water to the batch, running it through a coarse mesh where it turns to sort of pidgeon shit pellets. Then down the conveyor and into the bags. Given the humidity in the place, this is not even close to an exact science. It varies every day. It's a great concern of mine.

In the first batch runs of this, I requested the "Snowflake" version. It indeed has some dust but nothing compared to making it from raw materials alone. I liked it but it could have been a touch more stuck together. The trouble with that is it also sticks in the mixer fins.

GLASMA uses Sodium silicate as the binder, requiring an adjustment of the basic formula to account for the changes in both the silica and the soda.

Spruce Pine has never embraced this way of doing things while Phillips and GLASMA both did.

My longer concern is what happens in the agglomerated version should the batch sit for long periods of time and we still don't have an answer to that yet. About thirty years ago, I had Spruce Pine mix my old formula which had both a hydrate lime and the potassium carb I like so much in it.It set up so hard, I had to take the full ton to the landfill. I could not break it, I tend to blame the hydrate lime for that.

I have a mess of the new stuff here in both versions and I find I can get it to break up pretty easily. It melts great and is excellent glass. It fits everything and is nice and bright. I am hoping that Greg will develop a method to force dry the agglomeration before it gets to bagging. A big fat flame ought to do it and that's what I recall way back in 87 when I visited Harvey in Spruce Pine. I'm told that's my imagination but I still recall it steaming.