c/glassblowers

Hot take: I dropped $450 on a custom graphite paddle for shaping, and I'm still not sure if it was genius or a total waste. One side says it's the best control they've ever had, the other says a $50 wooden one does the same job. What's your take?

PSA: My old shop teacher's 'just heat it more' advice was wrong for color tubing

I kept getting cracks in my color pulls until a guy at the Asheville studio pointed out I was overheating the core. He said, 'You're cooking the color right off the glass,' and showed me to work it cooler and slower. Anyone else have a basic rule they had to unlearn for specific colors?

My new $85 blow hose decided to become a sprinkler during a tricky gather

I was working on a custom orb for a local gallery show yesterday, and the brass fitting on my hose just gave out with a loud pop. It sprayed water all over my bench and the hot glass, which made a sound like bacon hitting a griddle. Anyone know a good brand for a more solid replacement fitting that won't quit on you?

My instructor at the Seattle studio swore by a 2-inch gather for beginners

He said it was the only way to get control before moving to bigger pieces. I tried it for three weeks and my cylinders finally stopped wobbling. Anyone else have a specific size rule that actually worked?

That demo at the Corning Museum workshop made me rethink my whole approach to color

Everyone in my studio swears by layering color rods for depth, but watching a master from Murano work at Corning last fall changed my mind. He used a single, thick gather of intense color and shaped it with heat control to get these amazing shifts, no layering needed. It felt like cheating, but the result was way more vibrant than my usual stacked pieces. Has anyone else tried moving away from layered color for certain effects?

Getting a clean seal on a double-walled tumbler took me three full days of trial and error.

I'm stuck between thinking it's a basic skill you just need to practice more and the idea that some glass formulas are just harder to work with for that specific join, so what's your take on what makes a perfect seal so tricky sometimes?

Talked to an old timer at the studio about using a wet newspaper pad

I was at the studio in Austin last week and this guy, must have been in his 70s, saw me struggling to shape a gather. He said, 'Kid, you're holding that pad like it's a hot potato. You gotta soak it, wring it out, and then really press it into the glass, like you mean it.' I always thought a damp pad was enough, but he showed me how a properly soaked one gives you way more control and a smoother shape. He let me try his, and the difference on a simple 6-inch vase was huge. I've been doing it his way for three days now and my forms are way more even. Anyone else have a simple tool trick that changed your work?

My clear frit pulls used to be cloudy until I started pre-heating the cullet for 30 seconds.

The difference was night and day after just one weekend of trying it. Anyone else have a simple trick for getting cleaner color melts?

Rant: I had to pick between a cheap torch upgrade or saving for a new glory hole

Last month my old minor burner started acting up, and I had about $500 saved. I could either get a new mid-range hand torch now or keep saving for a bigger glory hole setup for my studio. I went with the hand torch, a GTT Bobcat, thinking it would fix my small work issues. It helped for a bit, but now I'm stuck because I still can't handle larger pieces without that bigger reheat station. Has anyone else faced a choice like this and wished they waited?

Tried a new color mix on a simple cup and got a total surprise

Honestly, I was just messing around with some leftover frit from a project last month, a mix of cobalt and amber purple. I rolled a clear gather in it and made a basic cup shape. When I took it out of the kiln this morning, it had this wild silver sheen in the folds I didn't expect at all. I think the heat from my glory hole, which runs a bit hot, might have pulled something out of the metals in the frit. Has anyone else seen cobalt do that when it's mixed with other stuff?

I was convinced my glory hole was fine at 1200 degrees, but a piece of clear boro told me otherwise.

I was working on a small goblet and the gather just wouldn't move right, kept chilling too fast. My buddy in Tacoma watched me struggle and said, 'Your orange ain't orange enough, man.' He was right, I bumped it to 1350 and suddenly everything flowed like it should. How do you all judge your heat without just staring at it?

Just read that a single glass marble can take over 200 precise reheats to get perfectly round

Found that wild fact in a 1970s studio manual from a library in Toledo, and it makes me appreciate every clear orb I see now.

Tried a clear base color over a dark one and got a weird foggy effect

I was working on a simple vase last week, using a dark cobalt blue as the base. I wanted to add a clear layer over it to make it shine more, so I picked up some standard clear frit from the shop. After I put it on and worked it in, the whole piece went from a deep blue to this milky, foggy gray. It looked awful, like I had mixed in some kind of white powder. I let it cool down and checked my notes. Turns out, the clear frit I grabbed has a slightly different COE than the cobalt rod I started with. I think the mismatch caused a tiny bit of devitrification right at the join. It was a real bummer, but now I know to double check my batch numbers even for 'clear' stuff. Has anyone else had a clear coat ruin a color like that?

Just read that some early Venetian glassblowers were forced to live on an island to keep the trade secret

Found it in a footnote of a library book on Murano. They couldn't leave without permission, which is wild to think about. Anyone know other crazy historical rules for the craft?

A flashback from the Corning Museum demo last year made me rethink my bench setup

I was watching a guest artist at the Corning Museum in New York work on a complex goblet. They were doing a tricky color wrap, and their punty rod just... slipped. The whole piece swung and hit the edge of the marver. It didn't fall, but the sudden jolt caused a major crack in the stem. The artist stayed calm, but you could see the focus it took to save it. It made me realize my own punty connections at my home studio were not as secure as they could be. I got lazy about checking for tiny bits of glass or dust on the rods before attaching. Since then, I wipe every rod end with a damp cloth before I even heat it up. It adds maybe ten seconds to my process, but the peace of mind is huge. Has anyone else had a near miss that made them change a small habit like that?

A guy at the Tacoma studio said my color mix looked like 'a sunset in a mud puddle' and I can't unsee it.

He wasn't wrong, and now I'm stuck trying to figure out how to get cleaner, brighter amber and violet reactions without them going murky, anyone got a good frit blend or striking schedule for that?

Spent $800 on a fancy digital kiln controller and it just made my work worse

My partner, who's a potter, watched me work and asked why I always anneal for a full 24 hours. They said 'clay just needs to dry, but you're baking out stress, right? Could you do it slower and cooler?' It got me thinking about our shop's default schedule.

Spent a decade heating my punty rod too fast before a guy in Tacoma asked why I was rushing the cool down.

He pointed out that my pieces were cracking at the joint not because of bad seals, but because I was shocking the glass by attaching a hot punty to a piece that had cooled just a bit too much, a simple timing thing I'd never clocked.

I was messing around with a batch of cobalt blue cullet from a garage sale and it came out looking like a storm cloud.

Found a box of old glass bits at a sale in Springfield for ten bucks. Figured it was just standard cobalt. Mixed it into a clear gather for a simple tumbler, but when I worked it, it went all milky and swirly with these deep blue pockets. Turns out the previous owner must have mixed in some opalizing frit or something. I was going for solid blue, but I kinda love this accidental marble effect. Has anyone else had a mystery batch of cullet do something totally different than you planned? What did you end up making with it?

Everyone says you need a 5mm thickness for a basic tumbler, but I've been making them at 3mm for years

I keep seeing new folks at the studio in Asheville get told they'll get cracks if they go under 5mm, but that's just not true if you know how to manage your heat. I've sold over 200 pieces at 3mm and only had one come back, and that was from a drop. The extra weight just isn't needed for most daily use pieces. Has anyone else found they can go thinner without issues if they're careful?

Just lost about $150 on a 'premium' color bar that turned out to be a total dud.

Always thought the 'cold seal' trick for punty transfers was just studio gossip until I saw it work perfectly on a 12-inch vase at the Tacoma open house.

Has anyone else tried this method on a piece that size and had it hold?

My old way of heating up a gather felt like a total waste of gas

I used to just jam my rod into the glory hole and spin it fast, hoping for even heat. My teacher at the Tacoma studio would always say, 'You're cooking the outside and leaving the middle cold.' For years, I thought more time in the hole was the only fix. About six months ago, I started holding the rod still for a solid ten seconds on each side before I even start to rotate. It lets the heat soak in deeper from the start. Now my initial gathers are way more consistent and I'm not fighting cold spots when I start to shape. It feels like such a simple shift, but it saved me so much frustration and reheating time. Does anyone else have a small change to their heating routine that made a big difference?

I used to think the 'cold seal' trick for punties was just shop talk nonsense.

A guy at the studio in Austin swore by it, and after my third punty popped off a heavy vase blank, I tried his method of barely touching the hot glass to the cold rod. It held perfectly. Anyone have other weird, counterintuitive tricks that actually work?