Aventurine Green Kaleidoscope

[Audrey]

Wow! That is gorgeous.

[Rebecca]

215!  That's a lotta kaleidoscope!

Rebecca

[Evelyn]

Jim,
Your scope is absolutely beautiful!  Matches all the other scopes you have done and glad to hear that you are actually making a profit on them.  I've made three so far - and I used the premade domes and filled them with my glass scraps.  Got lots of comments at craft shows - adults showing their children - and then watching their reactions - really neat. 
And I love how you post pictures of the insides - fascinating!

[glasisfun]

This is a very pretty piece.  I too love the shots of the inside.  I have made one that works with a tube of material that flows past the mirrored piece, but I can't tell from your pictures and you photos.... does the part with the glass display move? Is it attached?  I can't tell from the picture for sure if this is two pieces or one?  Would really like to hear more about how this is made.  Great Job!

[Scope Builder]

@glasisfun

It is a dry tumblewheel.  I cut two glass disks with my circle cutter, find the center and drill a hole for the axle.  I put a long piece of the axle tube the glass disk and through a hole in my grinder top and grind  it while turning the disk around the tube to true it up.  I can usually find a hole in the grinder surface that allows me to do this.  I have made a couple of jigs to make sure the axle hub is straight in the two glass disks and to keep the disks parallel to each other. I buy 3/8" wide brass strips at Ace Hardware that is soldered around the outside edge until there is about an inch left, I then fill the wheel with glass chips faceted glass jewels and fired glass pieces close the last of the brass strip and seal it up. 

The wheel does turn on the axle and if the wheel doesn't have too much glass inside the pieces tumble.  You should never get a repeat pattern.  I am not much of a fan of tubescopes or wet wheels because when I see an image I like I can stop and look at it, with the wet devices the image moves until the pieces settle in the liquid.  They are hard to photograph with still shots.

Hope this explains what you were looking for.

[glasisfun]

Just the info I was looking for!  Your kaleidoscope is quite remarkable! You are right about not being able to stop the action on a liquid model.  Your description of how you built this is very good and thanks for letting me know.  Sometimes I look at all the great things I see on this forum and wonder how did they do that....

Thanks for filling me in!