D.A.S Micro Lines AKA Micro Creases, Cold Rolls, Scaling, Landscaping

By Matthew Davis (BibleFREAK)

The examples below are from the Dave's Appalachian Swirls (D.A.S.) Run on May 18, 2014 AKA Joker Jubilee. These marbles showed a large percentage of landscaping, or micro creasing. Produced on the new machine by Dave McCullough, may of the 2014 marbles showed up with these markings. For the most part they ultra fine cold rolls, but the cause is related to temperature control of the varying glass colors as they flow out from the tank. This may be disputed by some, but if you look closely you will see this is clearly the issue. Also this is common (although not as) on some vintage marbles as well. I have personally seen these markings on Vitro, Peltier, and Akro marbles.

First note - Lines are common to the melding or striking of different glass types in the furnace process. The lines appear in other runs as well but they are not as noticeable, as they are usually minor or blend in well. Larger cold rolls are caused by the fast cooling of the glass at the cut point, this impacts the rolling process as they move down the rollers to the drop buckets. This can be caused by many things from debris in the glass, to the over abundance of the dropped glass into the tanks base glass. Additional causes can be the introduction of new glass base, the varying temperature of the furnace gas, outside temperature, an air bubble forming at the cutter, or in the flowing molten glass, etc...

Second note - The Landscaping (so called for the resemblance to the topographical lines on a map) are more clearly defined by the varying temperatures of the striking glass, as it is added to the base glass, and the rapid cooling of the combined glass on the rollers. This forms the micro creases as a result of the rolling process on smooth rollers. One of the striking and unremarkable features of note on these marbles is the lack of roller debris which is common on older machines. The new D.A.S. machine has a lack of such debris which makes the rollers smoother and causes the polishing which makes the Landscaping marks more apparent having a polished look.

Collectability - Value is always subjective. Because of the abundance of these in the recent D.A.S. Runs I believe that those with more remarkable Landscaping will hold value over time. At the very least they are a part of the history of the Marble Master Dave McCullough's legacy.

The football oddities which are being sold in indvidual and group lots are related to this process. These will become very collectable over time. You can see that the end of these form a round with has some roller debris. This is because the footballs are formed as the marble rolls in a wobbling motion because one end is being gripped by the edge of the roller where the debris is most formed on the rollers.

Below are some high end images for the history.

LANDSCAPING EXAMPLES.

Click a picture to see a larger view.