Just screwing around with glass
Last night I made some re-fried beans for Zoe's dinner, and tonight I used the can they came in as a make shift crucible and melted a few bottles down into it. I poked a blow pipe into it, gathered a blob, shaped it a bit, blew a bubble into it, and made some globes. Here are the big things I observed:
1. It's very difficult not to get detritus from the garage, and the forge onto the glass. If I'm going to do this seriously, I need to build or buy a brick lined kiln or glory hole.
2. I'd prefer a side opening on that hot box.
3. It can be much smaller than my forge. I went through a fair amount of gas tonight.
4. Because glass working is quiet, I can work well past my usual 10pm curfew.
5. Given a clean heat source, clean materials, and some better tools, I could probably make some neat stuff at home, possibly even solo, though working with a partner would be a big plus.
6. When the blow pipe is red hot and you plunge it into the quench tank, it can boil enough water to make a 7ft geyser.
7. This was a fun end to a stressful (but successful) day.
1. It's very difficult not to get detritus from the garage, and the forge onto the glass. If I'm going to do this seriously, I need to build or buy a brick lined kiln or glory hole.
2. I'd prefer a side opening on that hot box.
3. It can be much smaller than my forge. I went through a fair amount of gas tonight.
4. Because glass working is quiet, I can work well past my usual 10pm curfew.
5. Given a clean heat source, clean materials, and some better tools, I could probably make some neat stuff at home, possibly even solo, though working with a partner would be a big plus.
6. When the blow pipe is red hot and you plunge it into the quench tank, it can boil enough water to make a 7ft geyser.
7. This was a fun end to a stressful (but successful) day.
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