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is it called ‘lampworking’? What type of glass do you use? What is annealing? How does the hole get in the bead? How do you make marbles round? Can I play marbles with the marbles? I played with my marbles and now it has a chip or crack in it, can it be fixed? Do you sign your pieces? Do you take custom orders? Why is it called ‘lampworking’? Lampworking is also know as ‘flameworking’ which is a more accurate term. Back in the 1700’s glass workers would do their glass work at oil lamps (thus the name ‘lampworking’.) These lamps had a foot operated pump to supply more air to make the flame hotter. The torches (designed to be hand held) or burners (designed to be mounted to a table) use a fuel gas, such as propane or natural gas, and oxygen to create a much hotter flame. There are also single gas torches that work with MAPP gas that don't require oxygen. The term ‘glassblowing’ is also used by glass workers making scientific apparatus which is also done at a torch.What type of glass do you use? I use Effetre (Moretti), Lauscha, and Vetrofond glass. Effetre and Vetrofond are from Italy and Lauscha is from Germany. All three glasses are compatible with each other and are ‘soft’ glasses. For glass to work together they have to be compatible, which means they expand and contract at the same rate when heated and cooled. (If the glasses are not compatible they will literally rip each other apart when cooling.) There are primarily two types of glass; ‘soft’ and ‘hard’. Soft glass is also known as soda/lime glass and has a lower working temperature and longer working time. Hard glass is also known as borosilicate glass and has a higher working temperature and short working time. When glass is melted and manipulated stress builds up in the glass. If this stress is not removed the glass will eventual crack; this can take anywhere from a few minutes to hundreds if not thousands of years, but it will crack. By annealing the glass this stress can be removed. Annealing is done by holding the glass at its ‘annealing temperature’ (for the glass I use, this is 968° Fahrenheit) for at least half an hour. The glass is then cooled to its ‘strain point’ (830°) very slowly (86° an hour). Once it reaches the strain point it can be cooled faster (334° and hour) to room temperature. My annealing oven has a digital controller to handle all of this for me so I don’t have to worry about it.How does the hole get in the bead? When a bead is made, it is made on a stainless steel rod called a ‘mandrel’. The mandrel has been coated with ‘bead release’ which keeps the molten glass from sticking to it. The hole in the bead is where the mandrel was.How do you make marbles round? One you get the colors and the design in the glass you want, you put it between your palms and roll it really fast... No, just kidding (don’t try this at home, I'm not going to be responsible for burnt palms.) To make round marbles you use a marble mold. This is a piece of graphite or hard wood (cherry) that has a half sphere cut into it (there are other variations of molds; some have a hole all the way through them, others have a cone shape like the molds by Drew Fritts). When you first look at them you say ‘oh, you make one half of the marble, then the other’, but that doesn’t work. You actually use just the rim on the next size smaller hole, that’s what took me six months to figure out.Can I play marbles with the marbles? Yes you can, but I don’t recommend it.I played with my marbles and now it has a chip or crack in it, can it be fixed? This can also happen if the marble hits something hard in just the right way. The answer is maybe. I have repaired a number of marbles with no problems. Other times, if the crack is large and goes into the marble, a bubble may form during the repairing process where the crack ends inside the marble. This is due to the outside becoming liquid before the center. If there is a chip, that glass is gone and more than likely the pattern cannot be replicated, so there will be a scar there (the repaired marble will be round.) And there have been times when the marble has exploded all over my workbench; in this case I will give you the pieces back, as there is no way to put the marble back together. I offer no guarantee on repairing marbles. Beads no; marbles I’m just starting to. Marbles will be signed either with an engraver on the surface of the glass or with a signature chip inside the marble. Yes, give me a call and we can talk about your needs. |
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