c/glassblowers

Warning: I keep seeing people at the studio blow their first gather way too thin

I was at the open studio in Asheville last weekend and watched three people in a row pull their initial gather off the pipe before it was even 1/2 inch thick. It makes the whole piece unstable from the start and you can't add enough heat later to fix it. How do you guys judge when that first gather is thick enough to start working?

I chose a cheap, used Paragon kiln over a brand new one from a big name brand.

Everyone said I was crazy to risk it, but after 3 months of steady use for my small vases, it's been perfectly reliable and saved me over $2,000. Has anyone else had a good experience going against the grain on a major equipment purchase?

A client asked me 'what's the real difference between a $20 pipe and a $200 one' and I had to pause.

I started explaining the hours of annealing and color chemistry, but they just said 'so it's the care,' which honestly reframed how I talk about my work to non-glass people.

Hit 1000 paperweights before I realized I was counting wrong

My notebook said I'd made 1000, but my wife pointed out I'd been counting each day's total, not each piece... so it's more like 750. Anyone else ever have a milestone turn out to be a total math fail?

My old way of heating a gather always left me with bubbles, but a simple change fixed it

For years, I would just jam my rod straight into the glory hole and spin it, trying to get the whole gather hot at once. I figured more heat faster was better. I ended up with so many tiny bubbles trapped inside, especially when working with colored glass. About six months ago, I was watching a video from a guy who works at a studio in Asheville, and he said something like, 'you have to cook it like a marshmallow, not burn it like a hot dog.' He started by just barely warming the very tip of the gather, then slowly working the heat back toward the pipe, letting the heat soak in. I tried it that afternoon and it was a total game changer. The glass gets so much more even and the bubbles just don't form. Has anyone else switched up their basic heating method and seen a big difference like that?

Rant: People keep calling it 'glass blowing' when they mean 'flameworking'

I see it all the time online, even from folks selling their work. They'll post a detailed bead or small sculpture and say they 'blew' it. That's not how it's made. Flameworking uses a torch and rods, not a furnace and a blowpipe. I learned the hard way at a studio in Asheville when I signed up for the wrong class. It matters because it confuses new people about the tools and skills they actually need. How do you guys explain the difference without sounding like a jerk?

Watching a demo at the Corning Museum made me rethink my color mixing

I always just eyeballed my color powders and hoped for the best. At a workshop there last month, the instructor weighed every single batch on a tiny scale. She said being off by even half a gram could make the whole piece fire wrong. I tried it back in my studio and my yellows are finally coming out clean instead of muddy. Anyone else measure their color that precisely?

Just found out how many glassblowers get hurt from not wearing safety glasses

I was reading an old safety report from a glass art school in Seattle. It said over 30 percent of their student injuries in a year were eye related, from tiny glass chips or hot specks. I've been blowing glass for about five years now and I got lazy, I'd skip the glasses on simple stuff like punty transfers. Seeing that number really hit me. It only takes one bad pop or a piece of cullet flying up. My buddy had to get a fragment removed last month and he said it was the worst pain he's ever felt. I dug out my old Uvex goggles and I'm keeping them on the bench from now on. How many of you actually wear eye protection every single time you're at the torch?

A quick tip on annealing schedules that saved my last batch

I ran two test pieces through my kiln last week, one with my old slow cool and one with a faster ramp down from 950 degrees. The faster schedule cut my time in half and the piece came out with less stress marks! My teacher in Austin always said 'slow and low' but this new method worked better for my thick vase. Has anyone else found a faster anneal that still holds up?

TIL a cheap harbor freight heat gun can fix a small crack in a punty seal

I was working on a small vase last week and got a hairline crack right where the punty attached. My usual torch was too big and hot for the spot. I grabbed an old heat gun I use for shrink wrap, set it on low, and slowly warmed the area for about two minutes. The glass smoothed out and the crack sealed shut without messing up the shape. Has anyone else used a heat gun for small fixes like this, or is it a bad idea for bigger pieces?

Thinking back to my first studio's old glory hole setup versus the one at the new place in Portland

We used to have this one glory hole that was just a basic brick box with a single burner, and it took forever to get a good gather. At the new studio I worked at in Portland, they had a triple burner glory hole that could heat a 2-inch gather in maybe half the time. The difference was night and day for keeping your piece at temp while working. Anyone else find a specific upgrade in their shop that just made everything flow better?

Went to a glass shop in Austin and saw something that made me nervous

I stopped by a new studio on South Congress last week to check out their setup. They had a really nice glory hole, but I noticed the ventilation hood above it was just a basic kitchen range hood, not a proper fume extractor. The owner said it was 'good enough for now' but I could smell a faint chemical odor the whole time. Has anyone else run into shops cutting corners on air flow? What's the best way to bring it up without sounding rude?

My studio in Austin lost power for a whole day last week

I was right in the middle of a big order for a local gallery, trying to finish a set of six matching tumblers. The furnace dropped from 2150 to about 1200 degrees before I could even blink. I had to scramble to save the pieces on the pipe, but the color in two of them just went totally muddy and weird. Has anyone else had to deal with a major power cut during a critical heat? What did you do with the glass still in the furnace?

Can we talk about the 'hot box' method for keeping your punty warm?

I was struggling with punties cracking off during transfers at my studio in Portland. A guy at the Pilchuck gaffer's bench told me to keep a small ceramic fiber blanket in the kiln at 900 degrees and just rest the punty on it between steps. Tried it last week and it completely changed my flow, no more cold shock breaks. Anyone else use a similar trick for keeping tools at temp?

I was at the Corning Museum of Glass last weekend and saw a lot of new artists using a lot of bright, almost neon, colors in their work.

Shoutout to the instructor who pointed out my bench posture was wrecking my shoulders

I was getting a weird ache after every session until she showed me how my elbow was dropping below the table, putting all the strain on my rotator cuff. Anyone else have a simple tweak that fixed a nagging studio pain?

My mentor in Seattle told me my gathers were too cold and it clicked

He watched me work and said, 'You're rushing the gather, it's not hot enough to stick right.' I started heating my punty for a full 30 seconds longer before the first gather and the difference was huge, way less cracking at the join. Anyone else have a simple tweak that fixed a basic move?

My new 'heat-resistant' gloves melted during a big gather

I grabbed them from a vendor at a craft fair for $45, but the first time I reached for a heavy gather, the thumb seam split and the material bubbled. What's a reliable glove brand you've actually put through the wringer?

Got told my punties were too thick and it finally clicked

A guy at the Tacoma studio last month watched me work and straight up said, 'You're fighting that piece because your punty is like a tree trunk.' I was using a 12mm rod for everything. Switched to matching the punty size closer to the piece's neck, around 6mm for smaller stuff, and wow. Way less stress cracks, way more control. Anyone else have a basic habit they had to unlearn?

PSA: My old way of cleaning punties was a total waste of time

For years, I'd just knock the hot glass off my punty iron and then let it cool before chipping the leftover bits off with pliers. It was loud, took forever, and I'd often scratch the steel. About six months ago, I saw someone at the studio in Asheville just dip the hot punty tip back into the glory hole for a few seconds after transfer. The leftover glass melts right off into a clean drip. I tried it the next day and it works perfectly every time. Now my punties stay smooth, I save maybe 15 minutes a day on cleanup, and my ears aren't ringing from all the banging. Has anyone else found a simple tweak that saves a surprising amount of hassle?

Changed my mind about cold working after a really frustrating Wednesday

I always thought grinding and polishing was just a boring cleanup step, but my piece cracked at the punty mark because I rushed it. Has anyone found a good way to smooth that area without stressing the glass?

My kiln in Portland shut down mid-firing last week.

The controller showed an error code I'd never seen before. Has anyone else had a Bartlett controller fail like this, and how did you fix it?

I was having a nightmare with my color frit sticking to the pipe, then I tried a trick with a piece of newsprint from a local paper

Heard a guy at the Tacoma studio say 'color is just decoration' and it really got under my skin.

He was talking to a new student about a simple vase, saying the form was the only real skill and adding color was just a trick. I think that's a lazy way to look at it, because getting a clean color pull or a good reaction from frit takes real control. Do you think some people look down on color work as less important?

I finally got a handle on my furnace flame after a bad start in my garage

I was trying to pull a gather last Tuesday and the flame kept going orange and sooty, which almost ruined a piece. I realized my air intake was clogged with dust from a project I did the week before. Has anyone else had to clean their burner ports more often in a dusty space?