c/glassblowers

Spent 3 hours trying to get a clean seal on a simple 6-inch bubble yesterday. The heat just would NOT cooperate.

Hit 500 paperweight sales on Etsy this month and it feels weird

I started making them as a side thing, just to use up scrap color. Now it's a full third of my income. The number 500 hit me because it's not about art anymore, it's about making the same thing over and over. I have a system down: gather, shape, punty up, flash in the glory hole, and pop it off. Takes about 12 minutes each. It's good money, but my bench feels like an assembly line. Has anyone else had a simple piece blow up and change how you work?

My plumber saw my garage setup and said something about my annealer

He was fixing a pipe and noticed my old kiln, then asked if I ever checked the actual temp with a separate gauge. I'd been trusting the dial for years... but when I borrowed a pyrometer, it was off by almost 50 degrees. Anyone else had a tool reading be that wrong?

I just read that the first glass furnace in America was built in 1608

Honestly, I found that out in a book on colonial crafts I picked up at the library. It was in Jamestown, Virginia, and it only ran for a few years before it shut down. Tbh, it just hit me how long people have been trying to do this work here, with way less gear than we have now. I always figured it was a much newer thing in this country. Makes you think about how much easier it is to get a decent torch or kiln today. Has anyone else come across an old fact about the craft that stuck with you?

My old teacher came by the studio and said he missed the sound of the old gas-air torches.

He told me the new silent oxy-fuel rigs are efficient, but the constant hiss and roar of the old setup was the sound of the shop working, and it made me realize how much the feel of the place has changed without that background noise.

Pro tip: The 'cheap' graphite paddle from that online auction site is a total fire risk

I bought a 'graphite' shaping paddle for $15 from a seller called 'GlassTools4U' on that big auction site, thinking it was a steal. After about a month of normal use, it started to smoke and flake off black dust into my piece, ruining a whole day's work. It turned out to be some kind of painted wood or composite, not real graphite at all. Has anyone else found a good, safe source for basic hand tools that won't burn up?

Found a way to keep my color bar from cracking when I cool it down

I was having a real problem with my custom color bars cracking almost every time I put them in the kiln. It was wasting a lot of glass and time. I tried slowing down the heating, but that didn't help much. Then I read about annealing soak times on a forum and decided to try holding them at 950 degrees for a full 30 minutes before dropping to strain. It worked perfectly on the last five bars I made, no cracks at all. Has anyone else found a specific temperature that works best for their color mixes?

A workshop in Seattle completely changed how I handle color frit

I was at a demo last fall where the artist, Maria, said 'the heat in the kiln is a clock, not just a temperature.' She showed us how to layer frit by timing the heat cycles, not just by eye. I tried it on a set of six tumblers and the color saturation was way more even. Anyone else use a timed approach for their frit work instead of just watching the glow?

Pro tip: I switched from a standard 5mm blowtube to a 3mm one for small goblet stems about a year ago.

The thinner tube gives me way more control on the pull, which cut my stem breakage rate in half. Anyone else find a small tool change made a big difference in a specific piece?

I was sure that propane torch for garage work was fine for small glass jobs

For years I used a basic Bernzomatic propane torch from the hardware store for small repairs and punties, thinking the big oxy-propane rig was just for the main work. A guy at the studio in Asheville finally convinced me to try his smaller, proper surface mix torch for detail stuff last week. The difference was huge. The flame was way cleaner and more focused, and I didn't get that carbon haze on the glass. It made adding tiny stringers to a small pendant actually possible without soot. I burned through maybe $10 in oxygen and propane testing it out, but it was worth it. Now I'm saving for a smaller bench torch of my own. What small tool upgrade made the biggest difference for you guys?

Question about using a heat shield for your hands

I used to just tough it out with gloves and deal with the radiant heat, but after burning my knuckles for the third time last month, I started using a small piece of kiln shelf as a shield. It's a total game changer for working close to the glory hole. Anyone have a better material they use for this?

Pro tip: I accidentally left a batch of cobalt blue frit in my annealing oven for an extra 4 hours at 950F and the color shift was wild.

Honestly, I was cleaning the garage and totally forgot about it, but the pieces came out with this amazing deep violet hue instead of the usual blue, so has anyone else messed up a schedule and gotten a cool surprise color?

I finally gave up on my old way of marvering after a workshop in Asheville

The instructor there said 'your marver is a brake, not a clutch,' and that simple idea made me stop mashing the glass and start guiding it. Has anyone else had a phrase or tip that completely shifted a basic technique for you?

Warning: I was getting terrible bubbles in my clear pulls until I tried a different way to heat the gather

For months, my clear pulls kept coming out with tiny air pockets right at the base where I attached the punty. I thought it was a dirty pipe or bad glass, but cleaning didn't help. I was working on a series of simple tumblers and ruining about one in three. A guy at the studio in Portland said to try heating the gather for a full minute longer than I thought I needed, but to keep the pipe spinning slower. I gave it a shot yesterday, and the difference was huge. The extra heat and slower spin let the glass settle more evenly before I started the pull. I made five pieces in a row without a single bubble. Has anyone else found that a slower spin during the initial heat makes that much of a difference for clear work?

I used to think a big glory hole was always better, but a demo in Asheville changed my mind

For years I worked with a 12 inch glory hole on my bench, thinking the extra space was key for big pieces. I saw a guy at a studio in Asheville using a 6 inch hole for a complex vase and it looked so much easier to control the heat. He told me, 'You're fighting the heat, not using it,' and that stuck with me. I switched to an 8 inch hole last month and my shaping got way better because the heat is more focused. I'm not losing glass to the sides anymore and my pieces are more even. It was a simple change but it made a huge difference in my work flow. Has anyone else found a smaller glory hole helped them with control?

A batch of cullet from a supplier in Toledo nearly ruined my kiln

Last week I was pulling a set of tumblers from a 1300 degree anneal when I saw a weird, milky haze on the inside of the kiln bricks. I traced it back to a 50-pound box of clear cullet I bought three months ago from a new supplier. The stuff looked clean, but it must have had some kind of contaminant, maybe a trace metal or a bad batch of old glass. It didn't show up in the initial melt, but after repeated firings it started to vaporize and coat everything. I had to shut down for two full days to do a deep clean and a burn-out cycle. Has anyone else had a supplier issue where the problem only showed up after a while?

Went to the Corning Museum of Glass and saw a demo where the artist used a blowpipe from the 1800s.

It made me wonder how much our basic tools have really changed in the last century, or if we're just working with fancier versions of the same stuff.

Vent: I had to choose between a big glory hole and a smaller one for my new studio setup

When I was setting up my home studio last month, I had a tight budget of about $2,500 for the main equipment. The big choice was the glory hole size. I could get a smaller, cheaper 6-inch one that would heat up faster and use less propane, or go for a bigger 10-inch model that costs more but lets me work on larger pieces. I went with the smaller one thinking I'd save on fuel and it would be fine for my usual stuff. Honestly, it's been a pain. Just last week, I tried to make a decent sized vase and kept hitting the sides because the opening felt too cramped. It really slows me down. Now I'm wondering if I should have just spent the extra cash upfront. Has anyone else picked a smaller glory hole and regretted it, or made it work with some trick?

My sister told me my color choices are too safe

We were looking at my recent batch of tumblers, and she said, 'They're all blue and green. Where's the risk?' She's not even a glassblower, just a painter. But it hit different because she was right. I've been sticking to the same palettes for a year, scared to waste good color bar. Has anyone else had a non-glass person give you a kick in the pants about your work?

I've been holding my blowpipe wrong for maybe two years now...

My teacher in Tucson pointed out my thumb was in the wrong spot, which explained why my gathers kept coming out lopsided. He said, 'Your thumb needs to rest under the pipe, not wrap around it,' and it clicked. Has anyone else had a simple hand position fix change their whole process?

Vent: My studio partner tried to switch us to all soft glass three years ago and it was a disaster

He got a deal on a pallet of soft glass rods and said we should just use it for everything, even our pipe work. Within a month, we had three major pieces crack in the kiln because the annealing schedules were all wrong for the different COE. I remember one piece, a worked tube I spent 6 hours on, just split right down the middle. We lost about $400 in materials and time before I put my foot down and made us go back to boro for the structural stuff. It felt like we had to relearn our own craft. Anyone else ever have a partner push a material change that just blew up in your face?

Been using a standard graphite paddle for years but just switched to a marver with a water trough

I was working on a complex color overlay last week and the paddle kept sticking and pulling the glass, but the wet marver gave me a much smoother, more controlled surface without any drag. It felt like I had way more time to shape things before the piece got too stiff. Has anyone else found a specific tool that changed how you handle color application?

Appreciation post: A student at the Tacoma demo asked me why I never use a graphite paddle

I was showing a basic gather and marver technique, and she pointed out I always reach for a steel pad instead. She said her teacher in Seattle told her 'graphite is for color, steel is for heat' and it made me rethink my whole setup. Anyone else have a tool they avoid for no real reason?

Showerthought: people keep putting their glory holes way too close to the bench

I've seen it at three different shops in Portland, and it always leads to heat control issues. The radiant heat from the hole makes the piece on the marver start to set up before you're ready. My old teacher said to keep at least 18 inches between them, and it changed my whole flow. Anyone else run into this and have a good fix for a tight studio layout?

Just read that the first glass marbles were made in Germany in the 1840s

Found that on a museum site while looking up old techniques. Anyone know if that's true or just a common myth?