Art of Glass Blowing

Discussion in 'Art & Culture' started by wegs, May 29, 2019.

  1. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    9,253
    I took a glass blowing class last year, and it was really challenging! Made many mistakes, and had to keep starting over again.

     
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,985
     
    wegs likes this.
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    9,253
    That's so cool. I do have the glass, and I think it's ugly. The stem is just so mangled and strange, not at all what was intended.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  6. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,985
    Thanks.!!!

    That you tried an the blood sweat an tears is what makes it beautiful... what beter place than SF to share a pic of you'r art... yes

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  8. exchemist Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,451
    I did one of those, but it was in the physical chemistry lab at university, for my research year.

    So all I did was learn how to weld together lengths of glass tube, taps, bulbs and connectors, to construct a vacuum line, something looking a bit like the picture below. Not very artistic. The thing I was most proud of was making a Leibig condenser, which was tricky as it had a fat tube with a thinner one inside it and welded at both ends to make a cooling jacket to carry water, in between the inner and the outer. The challenge was each tube would tend to cool and contract at a different rate, cracking the assembly. One had to apply gentle heat all the time to the welds at either end as they cooled, to allow the glass to flow slowly and relieve the stress. Having completed it, I put it down and then stupidly picked it up again by the hot end, burning my hand quite badly. My supervisor told me to go to the pub for lunch and not come back until I had had at least 2 pints, to dull the pain! Those were the days (Oxford, 1975). I think the glassblowing course was the most fun I had during my research year.

    A vacuum line:-

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
    wegs and sideshowbob like this.
  9. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    9,253
    That looks pretty challenging! I found glass blowing to be tricky. I don't know why, but I didn't expect the heat to be so hot. lol The instructor was amazingly patient, and he really helped you get out of a bind, pretty efficiently. I need to post a pic of my glass, that I feel is horrid.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  10. exchemist Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,451
    One thing I remember is having a rubber tube in my mouth all day. When you weld together 2 melted ends of glass tube, you need to create a bit of +ve pressure inside, so the walls at the melting junction do not collapse inward. You do this by having one side blocked and the other connected to your mouth with rubber tubing that you blow very gently into, just to keep the walls parallel until they set. I got quite good and was even invited by one of my friends who worked at the crystallography lab to build a section on a line he had.

    But I think it is nice to work with - provided you don't burn yourself.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!



    I don't have a picture of the actual line I made: this was in the days long before mobile phones. There was only one electronic calculator in the whole lab and that was screwed to a table to prevent theft! I went through university with a slide rule (which I still have) and used a mechanical calculating machine (with a handle that you cranked) for anything requiring more than 3 sig fig accuracy. Seems funny to think of now, but people had already gone to the moon and back with nothing more.
     

Share This Page