c/glassblowers

Tried to make a simple cup, ended up with a wonky alien vase

I was using some leftover cobalt blue from a job in Austin, thinking I'd just knock out a quick tumbler, but the gather was off and it started to sag weird on one side. I kept trying to fix it, but it just got longer and twistier, so now I have this thing that looks like it's from a sci-fi movie. Anyone know a good use for a piece that's too tall and narrow to hold anything?

PSA: I found out how much old stained glass windows can actually weigh

I was helping a friend restore a church window from the 1920s in St. Louis. We had to move a single 2-foot by 3-foot panel. I guessed maybe 40 pounds, but when we got it on the scale, it was over 85. The lead came and the thick, uneven glass add up fast. I found this stat in a restoration guidebook from the library. It really makes you think about support structures for big installations. Has anyone else had a piece turn out way heavier than expected?

I keep seeing people at the studio skip the annealing step for small pieces, and it drives me nuts.

Watched someone crack a beautiful little pendant yesterday because they just put it in the vermiculite right off the pipe. It doesn't matter if it's just a marble or a tiny pendant. That thermal stress is still there. My old teacher in Toledo would bench you for a week if you did that. It takes what, an extra 20 minutes in the kiln? Are we really that impatient now?

Hit 1000 pulls on my new Carlisle torch and the color clarity is just... different now.

It crept up on me, but the glass just flows smoother and holds color better. Anyone else notice a big shift after a certain number of hours on a new torch?

PSA: My propane tank regulator froze up in the middle of a big vase pull yesterday afternoon.

I wrapped it in a towel soaked in warm water from my thermos, which got me through the pull, but what's the best long-term fix for a home studio in a cold climate like mine in Chicago?

I was talking to my neighbor who works in a stained glass studio

She said she never uses a glass cutter without first warming the glass with her hands for a full minute, even in summer. I always thought that was just for cold shops, but she said it helps the score run smoother on any sheet. I tried it yesterday on some 3mm clear, and the break was way cleaner. Has anyone else picked up a simple tip like that from a different glass field?

Warning: I was using a cheap propane torch for years before switching to a proper oxy-propane setup

The difference in heat control is night and day, especially for working on larger pieces like 20-inch vases. My color application is way more even now. Anyone else make this switch and have tips on adjusting the flame?

I thought the $300 'color bar' technique was just a gimmick until I tried it on a vase last week

Rant: A furnace door hinge broke on me at the Tacoma studio last month

It was a cheap cast piece that gave out during a big gather, and now I only use forged steel. Anyone know a good supplier for small parts like that?

Vent: My friend said my studio's ventilation is basically a joke

I was showing my buddy my new garage setup, proud of the big box fan I put in the window. He's a safety guy for a big shop in Portland and just shook his head. He said, 'For the volume you're moving, you need at least 1200 CFM to actually pull the bad air away, not just stir it around.' He showed me his phone with a picture of their proper hood system. It hit different because I've been getting headaches after long sessions and just blamed it on being tired. Now I'm rethinking my whole safety approach versus just getting work done. Has anyone else had a wake-up call about their shop air that made them change things?

I keep seeing beginners heat their punty rod way too fast

At the studio yesterday, a new guy was trying to attach a punty and kept cracking the piece. He had the rod in the flame for maybe 30 seconds, glowing bright orange. That's way too hot, too fast. The glass needs to heat evenly from the tip back, or you get thermal shock. How do you all teach the right speed for heating a punty?

Back when I started, I thought those digital kiln controllers were just a gimmick

I learned on an old manual kiln where you had to watch the pyrometer and turn knobs yourself. When a friend in Portland got a Bartlett controller about five years ago, I figured it was just a pricey toy. What changed my mind was seeing his color runs come out perfectly even, batch after batch, while I was still babysitting my own. He could set a complex schedule for striking a certain red and go to sleep, something I would never risk. Now I run one myself and it's hard to imagine going back. Anyone else have a tool they were wrong about at first?

Shoutout to the guy in Toledo who told me to try a 3/32 inch blowpipe

I always thought the standard 1/4 inch was fine for everything, but he said the smaller one gives way more control on small pieces. Tried it on a set of perfume bottles last month and the difference was real, especially on the neck pulls. Anyone else switch up their pipe size for specific jobs?

My dad always said to keep the glory hole at 2100 degrees for everything, but my first solo piece proved him wrong

He's been blowing glass for 40 years, so I took his word as gospel. I was working on a small, detailed perfume bottle last week, trying to get some fine stringer work on the neck. At his suggested 2100 degrees, the whole piece just kept wanting to slump and the stringer would melt in too fast, blurring the design. I was getting so frustrated I almost quit. On a whim, I dropped the glory hole down to about 1950, and suddenly I had the control I needed. The gather stayed stiffer, letting me place the stringer exactly where I wanted. The piece came out clean. It made me realize his advice was perfect for the big, heavy vases he makes, but not for my smaller stuff. Has anyone else had to unlearn a 'rule' from a mentor when you started doing different kinds of work?

I was blowing a simple vase for months before a workshop in Tacoma showed me my heat base was off

I kept getting cracks at the bottom of my pieces and couldn't figure out why. At a workshop in Tacoma, the instructor, Mark, watched me for five minutes and pointed out I was only heating the very bottom of my punty, not the whole seal area. I'd been doing it wrong for almost a year. Has anyone else had a basic heat control habit they had to unlearn?

I always thought a full face shield was overkill for small torch work, but a hot shard hit my cheek last Tuesday and changed my mind.

TIL that adding too much cobalt oxide to a batch of clear glass makes it look like a murky pond

I was trying to get a really deep blue for a vase last week, so I threw in what I thought was a normal amount of cobalt powder. When I pulled it from the glory hole, the whole piece had this gross, cloudy greenish tint instead of being clear and blue. It turns out I used about twice the amount you're supposed to, and it completely blocked the light. Anyone have a good rule of thumb for measuring strong colorants like that?

PSA: The local craft fair scene has changed a lot in three years

Three years ago at the Asheville summer market, my booth was one of maybe three doing blown glass. Last week at the same event, I counted eight of us. It's cool to see more people getting into it, but the vibe is totally different now, way more competitive on price for simple pieces. Has anyone else seen this shift in their area, and how are you dealing with it?

I finally stopped rushing my color frit melts after a harsh critique

An artist at the Portland studio told me my cobalt blue frit pieces looked 'muddy and cheap' because I wasn't letting the glass get hot enough before adding them. I started holding the piece in the glory hole for a full 30 seconds longer before rolling, and the colors pop way more now. Do you think that extra heat time is always needed, or does it depend on the frit size?

My first time at the Asheville studio festival taught me a lesson about gravity

I was trying to make a big vase, maybe 18 inches tall, and got a little too confident with the heat. The piece was glowing like crazy and I went to put it in the annealer. Halfway there, the whole thing just folded over like a wet noodle, right onto the concrete floor. My instructor just looked at me and said, 'Well, it's not a race, you know.' I learned that day to let things cool a bit more before moving them, even if you're in a hurry. Anyone else have a piece do the dramatic flop on them?

Shoutout to the old guy at the Tacoma flea market who told me most studio glass from the 70s was made with 20% less soda ash than today's batches

My color rod shattered mid-pull in the middle of a demo

I was showing a group at the local studio how to do a simple twist when the whole piece just popped. Had to stop everything and clean up the hot bits before anyone got burned. Anyone know a good brand for more stable color rods?

Bought a $200 annealing blanket and it saved my last project

I was working on a big vase last week and my old kiln just couldn't keep up with the slow cool down. The piece cracked overnight, which really got to me. So I spent about $200 on a fiber blanket made for annealing, wrapped my next piece in it, and let it cool for two full days. It came out perfect, no stress marks at all. Has anyone else tried using one of these instead of relying only on the kiln? What's your slow cool method for bigger work?

My five year old nephew asked me why I make 'glass bubbles' and it stuck with me

I was working on some simple implosion pendants at my home studio last weekend, just basic stuff, and my nephew was watching. He pointed at the furnace and asked, 'Why do you make so many glass bubbles?' I mean, I just laughed at first and said it's my job. But later, I kept thinking about it. To him, it wasn't a paperweight or a pendant or a vase, it was just a bubble I trapped in glass. It made me realize how much I overcomplicate things trying to make 'art' and sometimes forget the simple joy of the process itself, you know? The way the glass moves and captures air. Has anyone else had a simple question from a non-glass person totally shift how you see your own work?

My propane regulator started acting up and figuring out the right replacement part took me a whole weekend, not the 20 minutes I thought.