How things are blown out of glass. How it is done, how it works, how it works. What is known about glass making

I'll start from afar. Somewhere in 1996, I made an author's mirror-lamp and at the same time conducted experiments on it: I decided to decorate it with a drawing, etching the drawing with hydrofluoric acid. In the city where I lived there was a metallurgical plant, on the basis of which there was a glass-blowing shop. It was so simply impossible to get to this plant - only by passes. Of course, I didn't have any passes. There was a fence around this plant. I was not lazy, walked around it all and found a loophole in one place, where I climbed, bypassing the guards. I must say that this workshop was especially guarded, since, among other things, crystal was made in it. Entering this workshop, the first thing I saw: a large fiery furnace (later I saw several more), working people, one of whom, at the moment when I entered, was just blowing the product. In his hands was a long tube, which he thrust into the open window of the oven along with the glass at the end. Then he began to twist the pipe and blow some special thing into it (an air pump?). Later I found out that no one in production has blown glass with their mouths. This is mainly done by amateurs. It was very hot in the workshop, although it was winter, and this heat remained on the faces of the people working at the stoves. I stood with my mouth open as I had never seen anything like it before. And nobody noticed me. The spectacle, of course, is fascinating and I still remember. They also had a lot of tools with which they worked, but at that moment I did not see all of them. Therefore, for a hint I got into the book * :)

It is, of course, impossible to put a production furnace at home, so a glass blowing gas burner will be the most optimal device.

In addition, you will need:
Glass rod and tube set
Table
Gas for gas burner
Oxygen for the same gas burner
Compressor

Glassblower tools.

a - wire for cutting blanks;
b - transformer;
c - metal tweezers;
d - metal tongs;
d - victorious knife;
e - device for hot cutting of tubes and rods;
g - scissors;
h - metal reamers;
and - wooden reamers;
k - needle;
l - stand;
m - holder;
n - shoulder blade.

Work organization

First of all, it is necessary to place the work table (its area should be at least 120 x 70 cm, and its height - 70 cm) so that it is equally well lit from all sides. The top of the table should be covered with any refractory material such as asbestos.

Further, on the edge of the table closest to the master, a gas burner is fixed, to which hoses are connected, designed to supply gas, oxygen and air. Moreover, the valves from them are best placed on the left side of the glass blower, attaching them to the hoses under the table.

The gas burner is equipped with taps that allow the craftsman to control the supply of gas, compressed air and oxygen. So, if there is not enough air, the flame coming out of the burner throat becomes bright yellow in color. Such a flame is needed only when heating an already finished product. If the flame has a slightly bluish color, this indicates that the air is supplied in a slightly increased volume.

Quiet, strong jet of deep blue flame indicates oxygen supply.

Special care should be taken when working with the burner. Compressed air compressor, gas and oxygen cylinders are best installed outdoors, outside the workshop.

To make small figures from glass, you need to stock up on colorless and colored tubes and rods (the so-called darts). Glass flasks with a wide neck are also suitable as blanks.

Before melting the figurines, the blank tubes are cut into several parts using a victorious knife or circular saw. The workpieces, which are larger in size, are cut by preheating them with a tungsten wire, through which an electric current passes. After the operation, you can drop water on the workpiece in the intended place so that it bursts along the cut line.

Steel tweezers should always be at hand. It is needed for stretching molten glass, forming small and thin parts of the product, as well as for making small holes.

Wide tweezers (tongs) with copper, brass or graphite tips are often used in the manufacture of glass figurines that have parts flattened on both sides.

When blowing various products, the scissors used for cutting molten glass will not be superfluous either.

The purpose of the reamers is to unfold the semi-finished product in the process of finishing various funnels, supports in the manufacture of vessels. With their help, cavities and edges of products are formed and smoothed.

Holders are used, as a rule, when blowing large glass items.

Sequence of work

First of all, you need to learn how to confidently use the blowing tube. To do this, you can try to form a large glass drop at the end of the tube. When making glass products, you also need to be able to flatten the heated rod and bend it quite evenly, as well as solder several glass rods into one. And only after such a training, you can start blowing the conceived figure or product.

First you need to make a blank

* Work on glass, ed. "Veche", Moscow, 2000

Glassblowing is the art of creating glass products by processing molten glass. Glassmaking originated in the Middle East around 300 BC. e. Since then, blown glass products have become indispensable both in everyday life and for scientific innovation, and glass blowing has become an important art form. There are two types of glass blowing: lampwork and hollow tube glass blowing.

Steps

Blowing glass with a tube

    Draw up molten glass. Draw up the glass melt from the furnace containing the glass melt with a hollow steel pipe or glass blowing tube. The temperature of the molten glass in the furnace must be between 1380 and 1435 ° Celsius.

    • A simple but accurate analogy is wrapping an apple in caramel. Imagine the steel rod is an apple and the oven is a can of caramel. As in the case of the slow rotation of the apple in hot caramel, the steel rod in the oven must be constantly rotated for an even set of molten glass.

  1. Shape the glass. Once the molten glass is stable, transfer it to a steel rolling table and start molding it. Glass shaping begins with rolling the glass on a rolling table. In this case, it is important to obtain a symmetrical cylinder. Once you have received the cylinder, continue rotating the blowing tube to prevent the melt from dripping.

    • The rolling table will take a lot of heat from the molten glass melt, because when the glass is rolled on the table, both materials come into contact.
    • If the walls of the molten glass become too thin, cool them by rolling them on a rolling table.
    • If the bottom of the molten glass becomes too thick, then put the glass back through the hole in the glass reheat oven (designed to keep the glass viscous) and focus on heating the bottom of the molten glass. While heating the glass, turn it all the time.

  2. Make a blank. Blow into the tube and close it with your thumb. The heat will expand the air trapped in the tube and form a bubble. This first set and bubble is called a blank.

    • Once you get the vial with even walls, you can use the roller table again and draw more glass. Remember to constantly rotate the rod, moving it from the rolling table to the oven and oven hole.

  3. Re-fill with glass melt. Collect more molten glass per drop. The required number of sets of molten glass depends on the desired size of the product - the larger the product, the more you need.

    • If you want to add some color, now is the right time to apply it to the cooler "post" (cylindrical blank).

  4. Shape the pellet. When you have finished collecting the molten glass, moisten the newspaper and use it to shape your blank into a pulp. Then heat it up again in the oven opening. Remember to rotate the rod all the time!

    Decide on the shape. Form the product by rolling it on a rolling table while an assistant blows air through the tube into the molten glass.

    • down on the glass, roll the walls, not the bottom. If the sides are colder, then when air is blown in, the bubble will push the bottom.
    • If you want the bubble to move of glass, that is, to expand the walls, roll out the bottom. If the bottom is colder, then when air is blown in, the bubble will push out the walls.

  5. Make incisions. After shaping the product, make an incision line on the neck with special pliers. The neck diameter must be equal to or less than the diameter of the glass blowing tube. Keep rotating the tube!

    Open the product and complete its manufacture. This requires transferring your product to another rod called a pontia. This is one of the most difficult operations in glass blowing. However, knowing a little professional secret makes it much easier. Find a small tool (a file is the best option) and dip it in the water. Carefully draw a line around the neck. This will reduce the strength of the glass and make it more fragile. After that it will be easy to separate it from the first tube.

    Align the edges. Heat the glass in the oven opening and smooth the edges with tongs.

    Refrigerate the product. Place your thumb over the hole through which you blew air, then gently submerge the item in a bucket of water, keeping your finger on the blast hole all the time to prevent water from entering the tube and ruining the item.

    Kick the product off the tube. Use a wooden board to knock hard on the tube - your piece will fall off the end.

    Anneal the product. Carefully transfer the piece to an annealing oven (oven that cools the glass at a controlled rate) and let it cool overnight.

    Lampwork

    1. Use the lampwork method for small glass items. A lampwork is the process of processing molten glass over a small burner. Lampwork is used to create, for example, beads or other small items like paperweights. This section covers how to make a small bead using a lampwork.

      Turn on the burner. If you have an oxygen / propane burner, you can use that too.

      Heat the holder in a slow burner flame. Try to get hold of the ceramic coated stainless steel holder. The ceramic coating will prevent the molten glass from sticking to the holder when you want to remove it.

      Fire the glass with the tip of a flame to prepare it. If you do not burn the glass, it may crack from thermal shock instead of melting. Burn for about 30 seconds.

    2. Start bringing the glass closer to the base of the flame. Keep it in the flame until a nice orange ball forms.

      • Continue to rotate the glass to keep it round.

    3. Attach the melted glass tip to the holder.

      • Place the glass on the holder and start wrapping it around the holder away from you. Wrap until you have a solid cover on the holder.
      • Using a burner flame, separate the glass rod from the holder. The easiest way to separate the glass from the base is when both the glass and the holder are in the flame.
    • Do not forget to burn it all the time in the oven or oven hole while working on the product; this prevents cracking.
    • Wet your hands before collecting glasses. This will reduce discomfort and prevent burns.
    • You can get tinted glass by rolling out your colored powder glass set. You can also heat small pieces of colored glass and attach them to the blowing tube.
    • Ask a partner to help you move the glass from the blowing tube to the pontium (rod) to avoid cracks and breaks.
    • Glassblowing is an interactive process, the steps will vary greatly depending on the shape of the product. The steps above are general glass blowing techniques. Search the internet for videos showing different ways of blowing glass, as well as the many shapes and styles you can recreate. Check out these online demos for a great example of the art of glass blowing.
    • Try to get the most symmetrical set of molten glass as possible.

    Warnings

    • Glassblowing is a hot process, because the temperatures here exceed 1350 degrees! Be extremely careful. Don't try to work from home. Find an instructor, especially if you're just starting out.
    • After dialing, never lift the receiver above eye level; molten glass can get on hands, face and eyes.


* Calculations use average data for Russia

Glass is considered to be one of the most interesting and spectacular materials used for making souvenir products. Glass is distinguished by its relatively low cost, plasticity and high flexibility in processing. Glass can be used to make products of a wide variety of shapes and colors, from simple dishes to real works of art that will decorate any collection. Meanwhile, the production of glass products cannot be called a simple matter. Rather, on the contrary, it is a complex process that requires the master to have a lot of work experience and professionalism. In addition, he must also have good artistic taste, otherwise his glass products will not be in demand. An additional advantage of glass products is that due to the specifics of the process of their production, which is carried out entirely by hand in small enterprises (and even in large factories this process cannot be fully automated), each finished product is one of a kind and inimitable. Glass jewelry is no less popular among consumers, which may not be as durable as products made of natural stone, but are very beautiful and original. The range of glass products is almost limitless. It can be glass bouquets, and small vases, and figurines of animals, ornaments, and signs of the zodiac, etc.

Manual production of glass products

The technological process of making glass products in small glass-blowing workshops involves the use of exclusively manual labor. On the one hand, this significantly complicates production and increases the cost of the product, and on the other hand, it raises the value of such a glass souvenir in the eyes of buyers. In a simplified way, the process of "manual" manufacturing can be represented as follows: first, the master heats up a workpiece, which is called a glass tube, and then, using a special tool, gives it one or another shape. This procedure is not only laborious, but also dangerous. It can sometimes take several hours to make one complex product.

Before starting work, it is necessary to clean the workplace of dust and debris so that foreign inclusions do not get into the glass. Then a glass dart (glass dart) of the required shades, length and thickness is laid on the desktop in front of the master. The glass rod is made of colored glass sticks up to 40 cm long and from three to six mm in diameter. A special burner is used to melt the glass. First, the master heats up two glass rods to a plastic state, and then makes a part of the future figurine from this mass, giving the blank in the process of work the necessary shape. Other parts (eg legs, heads, tails) are made from glass rods of different thicknesses and / or colors. In this case, the same technology is used: first, the glass is heated on a burner, and then small parts are attached to the base body. At the last stage, the final look is given to the figure by gluing ears, eyes, clothes, noses and other elements to it. Finally, the finished figurine is left to cool completely, and then checked for defects. To do this, the master or supervisor simply carefully examines the product to the light. If no defects are found, the figurine is packed and sent to the warehouse. If in the process of work any mistakes were made, then small cracks are clearly visible inside the figure. Such a product is recognized as a defect and is sent for recycling. Depending on the skill and experience of the master, as well as on the complexity of the figure, it can take from twenty minutes to several hours to make it. Other souvenir and gift products, such as vases and Christmas tree decorations, are made in a similar scheme in small workshops, but in this case the glass is inflated to form a cavity inside the product.

Glassblowing workshop: premises and equipment

So, the size of the start-up capital for opening own production of glass products directly depends on the planned production volumes. Experts say that it is better to start such production with a glass-blowing workshop with at least fifteen jobs. First of all, you need a suitable room. It should be spacious enough and comfortable to work with. The recommended area should not be less than 50 sq. meters, and the height of the ceilings is at least 3-3.5 meters. The workshop floor is best covered with linoleum or PVC tiles. With a soft floor covering, there is less risk of a glass piece falling to the floor breaking into small pieces. The arrangement of furniture and equipment in a glass-blowing workshop has special requirements related to the specifics of production, which must be taken into account when choosing a room. So, for example, work tables are arranged in such a way that light falls on the work surface of the masters from behind or from the side, and the distance between the burners at the work places should not be less than 125 cm.

In addition to the work space, several utility rooms will also be required, which may be of a smaller area, the main thing is that they are isolated from the main one. Grinding, sharpening and drilling machines are installed in one of these rooms, as well as a machine for cutting tubes and blanks, in the other - compressors, and in the third - fume hoods (calibration work will be done here). Please note: windows and doors in all rooms, including work and utility rooms, must open outward. In addition to the equipment, racks are installed in the working room, where workpieces, tools and finished products will be stored, as well as special vertical racks for storing glass boats. You can make such racks and racks yourself.

Gas, oxygen and air are supplied to each workplace. In most cases, glassblowing workshops use gas from an overpressure city network, or propane gas in cylinders. In the latter case, all gas cylinders are placed outside the building where the workshop is located, in a metal booth, which is locked with a lock. From cylinders, gas is supplied through a reducer through pipes to the premises of the glass-blowing workshop. Oxygen from cylinders is also supplied to the working room through high-pressure metal pipes to the switchboard, which must be placed on one of the walls of the workshop. Oxygen is supplied from the switchboard through a reducer to each work table. Gas, air, oxygen are supplied to the burners through the corresponding branch lines on the high pressure rubber hoses. Typically, these hoses are secured under countertops and out through holes or cutouts in the table top near the burner. All gas and oxygen supply must be approved by Gosgortekhnadzor. The pipelines supplying gas, air and oxygen to the table are mounted on the wall and painted in different colors (red, yellow, green).

The workshop room must be equipped with exhaust and supply ventilation without fail. Above each table it is necessary to install an umbrella connected to the exhaust duct to remove smoke and combustion products. Centrifugal fans can be used as supply ventilation. It is not necessary, but highly desirable, to install air conditioners in your workshop room, which will help maintain a comfortable air temperature during the hot season.

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In addition to daylighting, the workshop will also need to be equipped with fluorescent lamps. For certain types of work, you can use special table lamps with a reflector.

In one of the utility rooms, compressors of sufficient power are installed, which will help to provide excess air pressure at the burner. For a uniform air supply, a receiver or a strong sealed container or, in extreme cases, an empty steel cylinder is used. In the latter case, two threaded holes must be drilled in the cylinder, into which short pipelines are then screwed. A pressure gauge and a spring-loaded safety valve of the PSK type are mounted on one (upper) outlet.

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When working with oxygen, the system through which air is supplied to the workplace must be equipped with oil filters.

In the room adjacent to the workshop, metal tables for muffle furnaces are installed. On the metal surface of the table, it is necessary to put sheet asbestos, on which, in turn, put muffle furnaces with different capacities of the furnace space (the best option is with automatic temperature control). This equipment is used for firing finished products. Above the table where the muffle furnaces are located, a marble shield with magnetic starters for each furnace is installed. If the layout does not provide for an adjacent room, then the stoves can be installed in the workshop room.

In the room for mechanical processing of glass, there are several grinding machines (four furnaces are enough for the above-mentioned footage), a machine for cutting glass with a corundum or diamond disc, a tabletop drilling machine for drilling holes in glass. In addition, it is necessary to have a grinding machine with a vertical corundum wheel for sharpening tools.

In the graduation room, in addition to the fume cupboards, all the utensils and reagents for drawing marks are stored. Both in the workers and in the back rooms of the workshop, according to the requirements, there must be fire-fighting equipment, a box with sand and a shovel, foam and carbon dioxide fire extinguishers. In addition, do not forget to purchase a first aid kit from the workshop with dressings and medicines to provide injured first aid workers.

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To organize such a workshop, it will take from 3 million rubles. The payback period is from 1.5 years. An additional source of income (in addition to selling glass products) can be guided tours, master classes and courses for those wishing to learn the basics of working with glass.

Industrial production of glass products

Medium and large enterprises for the production of glass products carry out a full production cycle. The manufacturing process here begins with the preparation of a charge - a mixture of various materials selected in accordance with the type of glass produced, which is subjected to careful processing. In the next step, the glass is melted. This is a very important operation, on which the quality of the finished product largely depends. Glass melting is carried out in special glass melting furnaces with a gradual increase in temperature in them from 700 ° to 1450 - 1480 ° C. After cooking, the glass mass is cooled slightly, and then products are produced or formed from it using various methods. There are several main molding methods, including blow molding, press blow molding, compression molding and centrifugal molding. Blowing can be carried out by mechanized, vacuum blowing, manual (in molds) and free methods. Each of these methods uses separate equipment. For the manufacture of simple souvenir products at such enterprises, the first two methods are used. Manual blowing into molds, which is carried out using a glass blowing tube, is a much more laborious and expensive process, therefore this method is used here for the manufacture of complex products. Free blowing (the so-called gutting, or Guten technique) is the free molding of a product (without using a mold). In this case, a glass ball is collected on the tip of the tube, which is then inflated through the tube into a ball with continuous rotation and constant adjustment of the ball with wooden bars. The resulting workpiece is removed from the tube and placed on an iron rod for further processing. The nature of the processing depends on what is planned to be obtained at the end. The master can open the top or roll out the bottom of the workpiece to get one shape or another. The distinctive features of blown products include a small wall thickness of the product, more complex and varied shapes than with other production methods, and high transparency. Centrifugal casting takes place under the action of centrifugal forces. The press blowing process is carried out in two stages. First, the product is molded in molds, and then it is given its final appearance by exposure to hot air. Such products have thicker walls, are not so transparent, but are often decorated with embossed ornaments.

After molding, regardless of the method used, glass products undergo a firing procedure - they are kept in ovens at a temperature of 530-580 ° C and slowly cooled. This makes it possible to significantly increase the thermal and mechanical stability of the material. Then the finished products are processed (the tops that adjoined the blowing tube are cut off, the edges, the bottom and the neck are smoothed by grinding) and decorated with paints and various elements. There is a wide variety of options for decorating glass products. So, the methods of decorating hot glass (that is, before the finished product cools down or even during its production) includes bloom, satin glass, irisation, crackle, sulphide glass, decoration with glass thread, colored embankment. A bloom is a colored glass decoration that is applied to the surface of clear glass. Satin glass is a combination of milky and colored glass using intricate shapes with protrusions and recesses of various sizes. The sulphide glass technique consists in obtaining marble-like and opal stripes of different color shades. Colored mounds are multicolored beads on the background of colorless or colored glass. Irrigation refers to the processing of glass products in a hot state with vapors of tin or silver salts with the addition of strontium compounds, which form a thin iridescent film on the surface of the material. Crackle decoration consists in the formation of thin cracks in colorless or colored glass melt, creating the effect of an antique (artificial aging). When decorating with glass fiber, the finest colored threads and stripes are placed on the surface of the molten glass or inside it in the form of a free-form pattern, parallel stripes, spirals, etc.

Finished products are decorated with mechanical methods (for example, engraving), painting, metal films, chandelier paints, chemical methods (etching), etc. Engraving is a matte pattern with a large number of small contour details, which is applied using copper discs of various abrasive mass. When etching, the pattern is applied using mixtures of solutions of hydrofluoric and sulfuric acids, which dissolve the glass. There are several types of etching: simple, pantograph and deep. In the first case, glass products are covered with mastic containing wax or paraffin, then a pattern is applied using special equipment equipped with needles, and then the etching mixture for 15-20 minutes, after which it is washed off with water. This is mainly done for patterns with rings, zigzags and spirals. With pantograph etching, you can make more complex ornaments, and deeply decorate products from thick glass. Glass products can be painted with brushes and stencils with special silicate paints, followed by firing at 550 ° C. To create gold ornaments, the technique of decorating with a metal film is used. It consists in applying liquid (twelve percent) or powdered gold onto colorless and colored glass on frosted and etched relief surface. In this case, gold is applied with a thin brush, then the product is dried and fired to fix the ornament. Also, glass can be coated with chandelier paints, followed by firing to obtain a shiny metal film on its surface. A patterned thread is often applied to the glass using grinding wheels followed by polishing, or molding - liquid glass in the form of droplets, followed by blowing it out to form the desired shape.

Certain requirements are imposed on the quality of art glass products. It must comply with the approved reference standards and the requirements of regulatory and technical documentation. Such products are sorted, depending on the appearance, the degree of permissible defects and physical and mechanical properties. This takes into account the defects of glass melt, production and processing of decoration. During the quality assessment, specialists take into account the type, size, location of the defect and the size of the product itself. Depending on the raw materials used, the type of product and its purpose, art glass products are sorted by grades, the number of which is regulated by standards, and are marked with stickers indicating the manufacturer, trademark, standard number.

Since glass is a very fragile material, products made from it are carefully packed in cardboard boxes with preliminary wrapping in soft paper or in foam cases. Special requirements are imposed on the transportation of such products. It is carried out in boxes filled with shavings and other soft materials, with warning notices. But such products do not require special storage conditions in warehouses. It is enough to keep the room dry and closed. Do not make too high racks. When placing products, take into account its weight: heavy products are placed on the lower shelves, and light ones - higher.

To organize such production, special expensive equipment will be required: an automated line with a feed channel for raw materials, "scissors" for cutting molten glass, an automatic press into several forms, a hydraulic drive station for a press, a forming machine with an air cooling system, a system for extracting a pressed product from a forming machine, an oven pusher annealing, paint application unit, drying unit (for drying paint on products), glass crushing and washing equipment, blowing equipment, etc.

The cost of such equipment is several tens of millions of rubles. The exact price depends on the configuration (determined by the assortment produced and the planned production volumes), as well as the manufacturer (Chinese equipment is most popular because of the price-quality ratio). To accommodate the line, a large production area will be required - at least 1000 sq. meters. Annealing furnace and drying chamber should be located in a separate room, which, meanwhile, communicates with the workshop. In addition, we need an area for a finished product packaging workshop and a separate room for a warehouse. To work in such a production, you will need at least 5-7 people plus a foreman-technologist and a supervisor to replace. Most of the enterprises work in two or three shifts (with maximum workload). The payback period is from 2.5 years.

Manufacturers of glass souvenir and gift items sell their products through wholesale companies, various retail chains, individual stores (including online stores, although in this case special individual packaging is required for safe transportation), retail outlets and even markets. In general, this product is in consistently high demand, although some influence of the seasonality factor is noted. So, most of the orders fall on the pre-holiday periods (before the New Year, March 8). In the summer months, manufacturers of glass souvenirs do not complain about a drop in sales, their "geography" simply shifts. During this period, souvenirs are most actively sold in the south of the country. Many companies even produce special collections with a nautical theme for the holiday season.

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In early December, glassblower and owner of the Steklow workshop, Yegor Komarovsky, invited all those who were not indifferent and interested to his master class. The workshop is located on the ground floor of the House of Sculptors of the Union of Artists at the address: St. Petersburg, Zanevsky prospect 26, building 2. Yegor said that artistic glass-blowing craft is now not as popular in Russia and widespread as in European countries. He mastered the craft on his own, studying literature in English and watching video lessons from foreign masters, now he is open to cooperation, ready to teach and surprise.

All the stoves, and there are four of them, Yegor assembled in the workshop himself. An induction crucible furnace can be seen in the center of the photo. It got its name from the Crucible - containers for heating, drying, burning, roasting or melting various materials, in this case there was heated glass.

In Russia, there are about 8 colors of glass on the market, in the American markets - 120, the difference in quantity is quite noticeable. Examples of glasses and their colors.

Let's start the process of making a vase, heat the blow tube. This is a hollow metal stick 1 - 1.5 m long with a mouthpiece at the end. We were shown the free blowing technique, which consists in free forming a product. Glass objects made by free blowing are also called blown glass (from the German hutte - guta, glass-blowing workshop).

Let's scoop molten glass from the crucible furnace and start blowing it through the tube.

During the cooling process, the master rolls out the cooling glass, correcting its shape.

Let's add more glass from the oven.

The glass ball is getting bigger and bigger.

The sequence at the initial stage is simple: you dip, twist and shape, heat, blow ...

In addition to free blowing, other techniques can be used: Hand blowing into molds allows you to create products that are similar to one another. For example, laboratory flasks. The glass blower draws molten glass onto the tip of the blowing tube, blows out the bubble and begins to mold it, constantly rotating the tube and molds the glass into wooden or metal molds.

Press blowing. The future product is first molded in a mold, and then hot - with air. The products are thicker-walled, less transparent. But this method allows you to create embossed decorations on them.

For heating Egor uses a cuckoo stove. It is heated to operating temperatures from +1100 to +1200 ° C. The doors of this oven open if necessary, allowing you to place the product in the oven, rotate it in it, place the product partially and without touching the walls.

Gravity helps to shape the glass.

A little more time and the ball turns into a drop.

The glass heats up and the tube rotates constantly during heating.

Take glass plates of several colors combined into one element, attach it over the product and heat it.

After heating, the plate gradually bends and turns around, when rolling it forms the shape we need.

We form the product.

Roll out again.

And we heat the workpiece.

At every stage of work, constant quality and dimensional control is required. When the work is carried out according to the drawn up project, the first version is initially made, which is broken down for accurate measurements of the wall thicknesses, after making adjustments and corrections, the final version of the product is made.

Heat up again and blow out a little.

After blowing out, roll out, giving the required shape.

We create a decorative pattern, pay attention to the finished product for it.

We form the ideal shape by gradually rotating and cooling the product. Cooling is done with wet newspaper.

When it cools, the color of the workpiece changes.

Let's add some volume, blow it out a little more ...

Let's add a transparent glass over the colored one. The new layer will be the third, we will get it from the crucible furnace.

By gradually heating and blowing out, we get a rather large figure of the future vase.

We check the quality.

We shape the bottom and fix the product to it.

Create the shape of the neck of the vase.

The last steps ...

Annealing refers to heating to 530–580 ° C followed by slow cooling. With rapid and uneven cooling after molding, residual stresses arise in the glass, which over time will lead to the fact that the product will collapse by itself, for no apparent reason. Annealing reduces these residual stresses and makes the glass durable.

After the end of the annealing, the vase is polished and it can be used for its intended purpose. The furnace for annealing in the workshop is electric, and when the power is turned off and the glass is quickly cooled, it becomes fragile and short-lived.

There are many different glass products in the workshop, all of them are handmade.

If you want to create something yourself, for example, a ball on a Christmas tree, a glass or a vase, or vice versa, you want to learn how to work with glass, then Yegor Komarovsky is happy to conduct individual lessons, excursions, master classes for various age groups.

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