How to Blow Glass
Blowing glass is a wonderful way to make a piece of usable art. Here’s how to blow glass the safe way. A beginner will probably end up with a paperweight or a glass tumbler, but it’s sure to be an exhilarating process.
Materials
Punty
Marver
Glory hole
Jacks
Tweezers
Water
Annealer
Procedure
If you’re a beginner, make sure that you have an expert supervising your actions. Dealing with molten glass is no joke and you need to take every proper precaution.
glass blowing
Take the punty, a long metal rod and approach the furnace. Don’t be afraid, but at the same time, be mindful of your movements.
Gather the molten glass onto the tip of the punty by first resting it on the sill of the furnace.
Then, dip the tip of the punty into the molten glass, and make the rod go around in three clockwise rotations. Make sure that part of the punty is still resting on the furnace sill. Put out your left hand just a tiny bit further to support the rod.
Pull your left hand back and pull out the punty, now with molten glass on the tip.
Bring the punty and the molten glass to the marver. The marver is made with steel so that the glass will harden quicker. Shape the glass into a symmetrical shape with an on-center opening by rolling it on tope of the marver.
Blow some air into the punty and cover the hole with your thumb. The remaining heat on the glass will cause the air to expand inside the glass.
You have an option of harvesting more glass. If not, you can skip this step.
Put the glass back to reheat in the glory hole.
Shape the glass even further by rolling and rotating the punty parallel to the floor against two metal rails in either side.
Use a jack, which is like a pair of giant tweezers to squeeze an indentation on the edge of the glass nearest the rod.
Once the glass was hot enough, it took on an orangey glow and we rolled it into a more desirable, curved shape. The glass extended about an inch and a half beyond the tip of the rod. Then it was time to sit down and rotate the punty parallel to the floor against two metal rails—one on either side of you—while using giant tweezers called jacks to squeeze an indentation around the edge closest to the rod. Squeeze and push harder because this stuff can be quite resistant.
Use a pair of tweezers to drop two drops of water on the indentation.
Bring it to the annealer, to cool the glass at the right pace.
Lightly tap the blowpipe to disconnect the glass.