should have taken a picture..
Dec. 14th, 2008 03:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
slipstreamsurfrback after a 3 hour stint blowing...
One thing I can say is that Brad has the patience of a saint to tutor me. The glass that he melts is recycled plate glass. So it sets up quickly. If I can learn to blow and make things with this stuff, I'll be able to make things out of anything, beer bottles, old windows, any cullet that's out there, of that gooshy smooshy stuff known as spruce pine batch.
Hot good, cold bad. That's a simple rule right? Why did I keep trying to forget it. Gathering is better , though I still sometimes try to tag the furnace or door on the way out. Found better ways to gather from the gas furnace and avoid most of the sting. Though I'm still taking too long and it's getting hot too far up the pipe. First marver on the steel marver is getting better, papering and then learning to cap and blow the starter bubble. Here is where you remember, hot is good, cold is bad. Remember that.
The first couple of times I would struggle to put the jack lines too close to the end of the pipe. Brad would come back by and see what I was doing, then do another demo piece Blow it out more, then go up on the shoulder more before you press the first jackline. He showed me the right way to make a punty, then tried to punty up on the piece. After two tries we gave up, I'm taking too long to make the punty, things get too cold and they won't adhere solid. Something to work on next time.
By the end of 3 hours I was doing a fair job of the gather, first marver, paper to shape, then I'd have to go in for a deep reheat because I'd sucked too much heat out of the gather to cap and blow the starter bubble. A good solid reheat and the bubble would start. Thumbing the pipe for a cap and blow was something I never figured out how to make happen on my own, with him showing me, it became simple, as long as there's enough heat.
Blowing out a single gather bubble over a couple of heats as I'm still working too cold, trying to keep it on center, putting in a fairly decent jackline, then chill and break off in the trash pan at the foot of the bench with the tweezers. I'd look at the end of the pipe and find a collar of thin glass from the shoulder that I'd stretched and pulled out for the jackline. I was finally starting to get it.
The last piece of the day could have made a nice little 1 gather cup. So I flattened the bottom, flashed the piece in the glory, hung it in the stand and made my punty as quickly as I could and carried it all back to the bench. Roll the pipe on the rails, grab the tweezers and set the punty, roll over, then back and it's as close to center as I can make it. A bit of water and I chill the jackline. Bonk the pipe with the back of the tweezers and I break the jackline... AND the punty at the same time and my cup falls straight into the trash pan. I'm sure it was a beautiful site to see from the side as I stood there with a punty and a pipe and nothing in between. (chuckle) But hey! I've figured out how to reliably chill and crack off a piece finally!!
I probably made more progress in actually understanding what is happening, how to start a piece, how to put in a good jackline, and chill and crack off after this 3 hours than in all of the 3 years I tried to teach myself how to blow glass. I need a lot more practice. Of course. But there is guarded optimism that I'll eventually be able to make something :)
Should have taken a picture of the trash pan, all those broken little glass globes from my days work. Maybe next time I'll actually have something to box. But you know, at this stage, it doesn't matter that I have anything in the annealer... I LEARNED stuff today. I begin to UNDERSTAND what is happening. That is just cool.
Still need to come up with an avatar for glassblowing...
One thing I can say is that Brad has the patience of a saint to tutor me. The glass that he melts is recycled plate glass. So it sets up quickly. If I can learn to blow and make things with this stuff, I'll be able to make things out of anything, beer bottles, old windows, any cullet that's out there, of that gooshy smooshy stuff known as spruce pine batch.
Hot good, cold bad. That's a simple rule right? Why did I keep trying to forget it. Gathering is better , though I still sometimes try to tag the furnace or door on the way out. Found better ways to gather from the gas furnace and avoid most of the sting. Though I'm still taking too long and it's getting hot too far up the pipe. First marver on the steel marver is getting better, papering and then learning to cap and blow the starter bubble. Here is where you remember, hot is good, cold is bad. Remember that.
The first couple of times I would struggle to put the jack lines too close to the end of the pipe. Brad would come back by and see what I was doing, then do another demo piece Blow it out more, then go up on the shoulder more before you press the first jackline. He showed me the right way to make a punty, then tried to punty up on the piece. After two tries we gave up, I'm taking too long to make the punty, things get too cold and they won't adhere solid. Something to work on next time.
By the end of 3 hours I was doing a fair job of the gather, first marver, paper to shape, then I'd have to go in for a deep reheat because I'd sucked too much heat out of the gather to cap and blow the starter bubble. A good solid reheat and the bubble would start. Thumbing the pipe for a cap and blow was something I never figured out how to make happen on my own, with him showing me, it became simple, as long as there's enough heat.
Blowing out a single gather bubble over a couple of heats as I'm still working too cold, trying to keep it on center, putting in a fairly decent jackline, then chill and break off in the trash pan at the foot of the bench with the tweezers. I'd look at the end of the pipe and find a collar of thin glass from the shoulder that I'd stretched and pulled out for the jackline. I was finally starting to get it.
The last piece of the day could have made a nice little 1 gather cup. So I flattened the bottom, flashed the piece in the glory, hung it in the stand and made my punty as quickly as I could and carried it all back to the bench. Roll the pipe on the rails, grab the tweezers and set the punty, roll over, then back and it's as close to center as I can make it. A bit of water and I chill the jackline. Bonk the pipe with the back of the tweezers and I break the jackline... AND the punty at the same time and my cup falls straight into the trash pan. I'm sure it was a beautiful site to see from the side as I stood there with a punty and a pipe and nothing in between. (chuckle) But hey! I've figured out how to reliably chill and crack off a piece finally!!
I probably made more progress in actually understanding what is happening, how to start a piece, how to put in a good jackline, and chill and crack off after this 3 hours than in all of the 3 years I tried to teach myself how to blow glass. I need a lot more practice. Of course. But there is guarded optimism that I'll eventually be able to make something :)
Should have taken a picture of the trash pan, all those broken little glass globes from my days work. Maybe next time I'll actually have something to box. But you know, at this stage, it doesn't matter that I have anything in the annealer... I LEARNED stuff today. I begin to UNDERSTAND what is happening. That is just cool.
Still need to come up with an avatar for glassblowing...