Glassblowing Thread

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These are my first attempts, so the next ones should be sleeker.

My mother made beautiful glass jewelry and pipes on the reservation, but never taught me how to work with glass.

Where's the easiest place to start? Any good resources or books?

>>1013968
thoes are pretty awesome dude

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Most recent thing I've made

Ive wanted to learn glasswork for years but it seems expensive and like it has a very steep learning curve.

Where to begin?

>>1014010
I started at 12, classes are expensive

>>1014013
Post online sites or ways to get started.

Post the price of classes and shit equipment.

Inform us that way people with spare cash can try shit out son.

>>1014013

>>1014010
Not the same anon, as >>1014018 but would appreciate any tips you could provide

>>1014022
>>1014018
I do pipe working which isn't feasible to start on your own, you'd have to pay for classes, mine were 80 an hour when I was learning, you could learn torch working which can be done cheaply but is very different

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>>1014018
Basically what this anon said: >>1014083
Large scale (glory hole and all that) equipment is much more expensive just to operate than Lampworking equipment.
I'm even talking about initial classes cost here — large scale equipment is just expensive to operate as such.

Also, large scale does NOT mean it's somehow "better" or that the results are artistically "more valuable".
Large scale means just that — larger objects.
Glassworking can be just as fun and feasible and valuable with proverbial "nortel minor" as with 200$/hour large-scale workshop.

Now, as for the prices:
Where I live (Moscow) basic lampworking classes cost about 100-200$ (for two days intensive), plus renting the actual workshop to practice costs about 5$/hour.
In USA I'd say it can be about 2-3x time more expensive, but that's about the price range you should expect.
(Actually, I just checked the place where I initially learned lampworking and prices for classes seem about the same http://www.crefeld.org/register-for-classes/ )

Anyway, some stuff I made this year (using nortel minor running off oxygen concentrator).

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>>1015439
Close up of the pea.

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>>1015439
Some other stuff.

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Bump.

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Not trying to shill my site here, but I've done some small-scale scientific glassblowing if anyone's interested. Mainly making vacuum tubes (pic related). I've made a thread here before about it.

http://simplifier.neocities.org/

For those of you just starting out, you can do quite a lot with neon sign tubing (the lead-free kind, leaded glass gets ugly fast) and an ordinary blow-torch. You won't be able to make anything very large (3/4" tubing was challenging to work with) but it's a good way to learn how glass behaves, and it's cheap ($15 for the torch and $50 for a box of glass from brillite).

I'm in the process of upgrading my equipment right now; I just built a new torch, and I'm in the middle of building a glass lathe, but I should be back to making stuff within a month or two. Planning to make some stuff out of beer bottles just for fun, then start working with pyrex. I hope this thread stays open that long; glass is a really cool material and I'm happy to see it getting popular, especially for making things that aren't bongs.

>>1016649
>especially for making things that aren't bongs.
Amen to that. Though I'm not sure people who don't work with glass will get the joke, lol.

Actually, reminds me of a joke we have:
"At your first lesson of glassworking your are taught how to make a paperweight. At your second lesson and all lessons thereafter you are taught how to avoid making a paperweight."

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I'm looking for a glassblower who would be interested in doing historical reproductions of a small number of glass objects.

mostly simply stuff - inkwell sized bottles and the likes. A few more complex ones though, and most in greenish glass, or sometimes clear glass. I'd be wanting them pretty accurate in terms of proportion and shape to originals, as I work making high-end replicas of medieval objects.

Anyone feel they are interested in historical glass, and inclined to try? If so, feel free to put up samples of work and a contact/price.

>>1016752
It would really help if you at least included:
1) size and thickness of the object you need (drastically different heat sources are use for different sizes)
2) if the type of glass matters (modern glass is cheaper and better overall, but you can recycle "original" glass if you have that)
3) where exactly are you. Shipping from Europe into Japan is slightly more complicated than shipping from PA to NJ, you know.

>>1016649

I'm interested in getting into neon sign making. Where do I order glass from? Everywhere on the net won't ship.

>>1013968
I've always loved glass work, even as a kid. Maybe one day I'll follow my dreams...

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>>1016752
>>1016772
Very good points. Afraid I dont know the details of the processes to really give complete details. I can tell you how to do tooled leatherwork in the 15th C german or italian fashion, or a 12th century longsword hilt forged in wrought iron, but glass is something I've not done myself.


Dimensions are all a bit up in the air right now, so cant give detailed summaries there yet, but generally between inkwell/perfume bottle size with fairly chunky construction, and small beaker/glass size, with 1-2mm thick glass. but I'd have to look in more detail. Something like this 14th C English flask in my pic is 64 mm high, 47 mm diameter.

Type of glass, I honestly don't have enough experience to know - hence I'm looking for someone who'd be interested in that sort of job, so they'd be able to advise me on what's best.

Shipping to the UK.

>>1016866

This 64 mm high, 47 mm diameter thing is easily doable on any lamp-working torch.

Anything smaller is also doable.

Anything larger would require larger torch (rare and more expensive to both buy and operate).

"Normal-sized" plates and glasses would require glory hole furnace (MUCH rarer and MUCH more expensive to operate).


The only thing that is not imminently obvious in this regard is how symmetrical and "clear" you want them to be. I mean, you CAN add extra bubbles and impurities into them, but that would actually be ARTIFICIAL degradation of quality if you use normal modern glass as raw material.

>>1016832

http://brillite.com/products/tubing.php

Here you go. I've only ordered their clear uncoated tubing, but that was around $2/lb and shipping was only $20 for 15 lbs. It's very nice to work with, and doesn't require annealing (although it helps, of course).

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>>1017031

Thanks bruv.

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sometime furnace worker. posting something i made about 10 years ago to keep the thing alive.

>>1016752
i could make something historical nobody would want to pay what I would charge. probably like $80 per hour. whats that $80 going to get you one thing. then add shipping. how much would i make honestly not that much. you could find the actual historical item on ebay cheaper. wheaton glass in nj has done historical reproductions for years.

>>1014018
look for classes near you. look at the prices and sign up. big schools are corning, penland, pittsburg, snowfarm, philchuck and one in maine that escapes me. most likely you would be waisting you money and be over your head at those schools.

>>1014083
I'd say pipe working is almost the only thing that is feasible to start on your own if you dont mind watching a lot of youtube. but community is a big thing for most glass artist. we actively
try to weed out the dangerous people
>>1015445
cool
>>1016649
as a furnace worker beer bottles are a bitch to work with.

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Bump with some older stuff.

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>>1016641

>>1014002
tits or gtfo

>>1020928
That's a guy anon. A feminine one but a guy nonetheless.

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>>1020928

>>1021016
>no timestamp
dropped

Fucking cool stuff guys, I've never even contemplated making something in glass, but it seems like a really cool medium.

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Up, up and away from going into archive yet.

Been thinking about taking a glassblowing course (there's one near me)

not only to make dude weed pipes but glass art like u guys.

I have one question though, can I make glass dildos this way? this is very important please respond.

>>1022705
>can I make glass dildos this way?
Sure can. The SIZE of those, however, depends of the kind of equipment you will have access to.

>tfw taken glassblowing classes a couple of times
>want more
>cant afford more
>studio where i took the classes isnt doing teaching anymore
>the handful of people ive talked to in my city dont teach, id have to drive 2+ hours to a studio

>>1022814
the will probably just be normal human size, not for me but for a friend ,u know?

>>1022819
this is the same problem I had with metalsmithing

>>1022826
>oh ill just do flameworking instead of a glory hole
>oh wait i dont have the space for that
>cant find studio that will rent me equipment and space
>cant find a tiny space for me to buy my own equipment and work

fuck living in SoCal. expensive bullshit

>>1018107
>we actively
>try to weed out the dangerous people

Fuck you it isn't "your" community, I'll make dangerous shit if I want

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Awa-a-ay from 404ing we go.

>>1022825
Yeah, completely understandable.

You could even test them out and see how they feel for your friend too. No harm in wrecking your pooper for the sake of a beloved pal ol buddy ol friend. You actual homosexual bum blasting queer. :^)

someone down to make me a custom bong?

>>1016649
u know how to make a neon laser tube? Also, make me a custom bong.

>>1024931
Do you have any idea what a "neon laser tube" even is?

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Haven't been to /diy/ in awhile. Bumping with the last thing out of my kiln.

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Been on a hammer kick lately.

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Some experimental orange color I've been fucking with.

>>1026858
Dude weed lmao 420 blaze it fgt

>>1027580
Every day.

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>>1027614
Here is me not striking amber purple.

Drug paraphernalia is not allowed on /diy/ by the way.

>>1027718
> pipes can only be used to smoke illicit drugs

Mum tell you that anon? You should get out more.

>>1016649
Have you got a solid lasting seal yet?

>>1027737
Sorry faggot, but when somebody says "Dude weed lmao 420 blaze it fgt", I can't help but think of illicit drugs.

>>1027718
That rule is so that the board isn't spammed with teenage "how to make bong out of what's on my dad's workbench" threads

i tried forever to figure out a way of puting a hole in a yager bottle to make a water bong i tried heating it up and stabin it with a screwdriver i tried filling it with hot water and drilling it i tried cutting out a circle with a glass cutter what ended up working in the end i took a bb gun and shot a perfect hole in the side no spidering no smash! i know this aint glass blowing related but all them pipes just kinda reminded me of that lol either way thats a prety bad ass skill keep up the good work

>>1027937
You can just put a diamond core bit from the harbor freight on a dremel and drip some water so as not to wear out the bit. Should take like 5 minutes. But bottles with a more even thickness are less likely to break which is not a jauger botlle. I would have told you a bb wouldn't work but if it did those bottles must be really thin. I would say only someone who had torched open glass under optimal conditions would stand a chance at touching a hole.

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Tube anon here again. No glass lathe yet because it's too hot outside to do aluminum casting. Been working on making more tubes out of pyrex though, pic and link related.

http://simplifier.neocities.org/rotomold.html

Gonna make a few more envelopes today, then get started on making bases/seals.

>>1027740
Yeah, titanium in soda-lime glass is reliable so long as you grind the titanium to a bright finish before sealing, and heat the glass to liquid after making the initial pinch. The triode I made for my audio amplifier still works fine and it's almost four months old now. Now that I'm using pyrex I have to get used to tungsten seals though; they aren't tricky to make, but I haven't tested any for airtightness yet. I'm sure the first few tubes I build will be leaky garbage.

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Pistol cases are the best things to store glass in.
>>1028967
Shaping on point dude, looking good.

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Can someone explain to me in really deep detail how this was made?

I'm absolutely fascinated by it, but I have such a hard time figuring out how it was done.

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>>1029342

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>>1029343

>>1028967
>The triode I made for my audio amplifier still works fine and it's almost four months old now.

Cool.

>>1021016
Hey bby, u got kik?

>>1029342
>>1029343
>>1029344
It's could have been done in several ways, but non of the steps involved look like a very unusual technic.
Just google for some lampworking videos or something — noone here is likely to spend time explaining to you multi-step process that is much easier to understand if you actually see it.

>>1029342
Looks like a disc flip with murrine that was turned into a marble. Making murrine on a torch is a lot more time consuming than the way they do it in soft glass, but the principles are the same.