c/glassblowers

Hot take: I picked a $400 used glory hole over a new one for my home studio

My old one cracked last month, and the choice was a new one for $1200 or a used one from a shop closing in Portland. I went with the used one, cleaned it up, and it's been running perfectly for six weeks now. Has anyone else had good luck with used gear, or is it always a gamble?

I bought a 'professional' color bar kit before I knew what I was doing

Back when I was just starting out, I saw a kit online with every color bar you could think of for about $300. I thought having all the colors would make me better, faster. The truth is, I didn't know how to use half of them properly, and a lot of them just sat in the case for years, gathering dust. I probably used maybe $100 worth of it before the rest went bad or got contaminated. It was a hard lesson that tools don't replace skill. Has anyone else blown cash on fancy materials before you had the technique to match?

My shop switched from a standard glory hole to a ribbon burner setup last fall

Everyone told me the old glory hole was fine. But after 3 months with the ribbon burner, my color work is way cleaner. Less scum, more even heat. I can hold a piece in there for 45 seconds without getting that weird haze on the surface. It cost about $1200 to retrofit, but it's the best upgrade I've made. Has anyone else made a big change to their heating setup that paid off?

Am I the only one who sees color differently after blowing glass for 3 years?

I was mixing a batch of cobalt blue frit in my Seattle studio last week and suddenly realized I can spot the exact shade in car paint and street signs now. Has working with colorants changed how you see the world too?

I finally had my first major furnace brick failure after 8 months

The back wall of my old Glory Hole just crumbled into the firebox yesterday, which was a real mess (and a bit scary, honestly). I'm looking at about $500 in new firebrick and a full weekend to tear it out and rebuild it. Has anyone else had to do a full rebuild on a smaller glory hole, and did you change the brick layout at all?

I was reading an old glass trade journal from 1978 and found a surprising fact

It said that back then, a master glassblower in the Corning area could make about 30 simple tumblers in a single hour. I always thought production was much slower, even for basic items. It really makes you think about the skill and speed that was expected before a lot of modern tools were common. Has anyone else come across old stats or methods that made you rethink how things were done?

Unpopular opinion: I think those fancy graphite paddles are overrated for beginners.

I was trying to shape a simple vase in my garage studio last month and my cheap wood paddle cracked right when I needed to flatten the base, so I grabbed a wet newspaper instead and it worked fine. Anyone else just use basic stuff when starting out?

Hot take: I thought those fancy annealing ovens were just a waste of money

For years in my home studio, I used a basic kiln and just hoped my pieces would hold. My friend in Seattle kept telling me to get a proper annealing oven, saying my work would be stronger. I finally bought a small one after a big vase cracked for the third time. The difference in how my glass holds up now is real, and I feel silly for waiting so long. Has anyone else been stubborn about a tool that turned out to be a game changer?

Update: My old propane torch setup almost cost me a piece in the studio last week.

I used to run the oxygen way too high thinking it made a cleaner flame, but after a piece cracked from thermal shock, my mentor in Austin showed me a lower, wider heat spread that changed everything for my sculptural work... anyone else adjust their gas mix after a close call?

My new garage studio in Phoenix got over 100 degrees last week

I was trying to work on a simple cup and the glass just kept cracking as soon as I put it in the annealer. I think the huge temp shift from the hot room to the cooler kiln was too much. How do you all keep your shop cool enough to work in the summer?

Am I the only one who thought the Pittsburgh marver was just a flat slab?

I was at a workshop in Seattle last year and saw an artist using the curved edge of their marver to shape a stem. I'd only ever used mine flat on the table for about five years. It completely changed how I handle basic pulls. Has anyone else found a simple tool they were using wrong for way too long?

Showerthought: my old kiln shelf trick from a Phoenix studio three years ago still works

We had a batch of cobalt blue that kept sticking to the shelves, even with kiln wash. A guy there said to try a thin layer of alumina hydrate powder under each piece before firing. It worked like a charm and I still use it for tricky colors. Anyone have a different method for preventing sticking?

Back when I started, I'd spend hours trying to get a perfect seal on a simple cup

I'm talking like 2008, in my first shared studio space in Asheville. I'd heat the whole piece forever, mash it together, and pray. The join was always thick and ugly, and I'd lose maybe one in three to cracks. A few years back, I watched an old head at a demo just heat a tiny ring at the very lip of each part, barely touch them, and puff. That was it. I tried it that week and felt like an idiot. Now I use almost no heat, just a pinpoint flame for maybe 30 seconds, and my seals are clean and strong every single time. It's faster and wastes way less glass. Why did nobody explain this to me sooner? What's one basic move you learned way later than you should have?

I always thought a full face shield was overkill until a hot shard flew up last month

I was working on a simple cup in my garage studio, just wearing my normal safety glasses. A piece of the hot gather popped off the pipe and hit my cheek, leaving a small but nasty burn. My buddy Mike saw it and said, 'Dude, your eyes aren't the only thing on your face.' I bought a proper face shield the next day and haven't looked back. Has anyone else made the switch after a close call like that?

I thought the 'cold seal' trick for attaching punties was just shop talk until I saw it work on a cracked bowl in Seattle.

TIL a simple trick for checking glass thickness from a retired lampworker at a flea market in Portland

Pro tip: I see a lot of new folks in the shop not letting their punty seals cool enough before moving on.

It leads to cracking at the joint, and I learned that the hard way after losing a whole set of goblets in my first year. How long do you all let yours set before you start the transfer?

Unpopular opinion: The glass at the new museum in Austin felt kind of lifeless to me

I went to that big modern art museum that opened last month, and their whole glass sculpture wing just felt off, like everything was too perfect and cold. Maybe it's just me, but I think a piece should show some of the maker's hand, not look like it was made by a robot. Does anyone else feel like some studio glass is getting too polished and losing its soul?

Hot take: That perfect furnace run in Flagstaff last October ruined my local shop for me.

Everything just clicked for a week straight, no punts, no seeds, and the color fades were insane. My main shop's ventilation can't match that dry mountain air at all. Anyone else have a location that just makes the work sing?

Cleaned out the shop and found my first ever batch of marbles

Honestly, I was just moving some old crates in the back and a dusty box fell open. Inside were about 50 marbles I made back in 2009, my first real try after my apprenticeship. Looking at them now, the colors are muddy and the shapes are all off, but I remember being so proud I kept them. Has anyone else dug up their early work and been surprised by how far they've come?

Spent a week trying to get a clean seal on a simple 8-inch bubble

The issue was my glory hole temp, which I had set way too high based on some old advice. It took me 7 full days of blowing and cracking before I dialed it back by about 200 degrees and got a perfect seal on the first try. Anyone else have a basic skill that took an embarrassingly long time to nail down?

A warning about a bad batch of color rods from a supplier in Toledo

I was at a workshop in Cleveland last fall and this guy next to me was using a cobalt blue rod from a new supplier. He said 'this stuff is cracking like crazy on the second reheat' and showed me three pieces he'd lost. He was right, the batch number was 22B-47. I checked my own stock and had two rods from the same lot. Tried one on a simple pendant and it spider-webbed instantly after I put it back in the glory hole. Has anyone else run into this specific batch or know what causes that kind of failure?

Appreciation post: my $200 custom graphite paddle snapped during a big piece last Friday, and a local artist showed me a way to reinforce my next one with a steel core.

I was shaping a heavy 24-inch vase when it gave out, but now I'm wondering if anyone has a good source for small-diameter steel rod that won't react with the hot graphite.

I was heating my punty rod all wrong for months

I kept getting cracks at the seal until a guy at the Tacoma studio pointed out my torch angle was too steep, making the heat uneven. I switched to holding it almost flat and the next five seals came out clean. How do you guys usually set up your bench torch for a solid punty?

My old teacher was right about letting a piece cool in the kiln for a full 24 hours

I used to pull my stuff after about 12 hours to save time, thinking it was fine. My instructor, Frank, always said '24 hours minimum, no shortcuts'. I rushed a custom vase order last month and pulled it early. It developed a crack right down the side after two days on a client's shelf. That was a $300 piece and a lot of work down the drain. Has anyone else had a piece fail from cooling it too fast, even if it felt cool to the touch?