What Can I Do With Glass?

What Can I Do With Glass? What will it cost?
Rev. 3/30/95, 8/22/95, 2/11/97, 11/29/97, 1/3/99, 8/19/99
What can I do with glass and what will it cost to do it? Where can I read about it?
Prepared by Mike Firth
Glass working starts cold and goes up to very hot. Generally the cost goes up with the temperature.

1) A simple list of categories roughly by cost of working the glass
Cold worked glass
Foiled and leaded stained (colored) and beveled (usually clear) glass.
Glass cast in a matrix - Mosaics and dalles and stepping stones
Etched and carved glass - chemical etching and abrasive blasting.
Glued glass
Kaleidoscopes

Hot worked glass
Lampworked in a torch, including beadmaking
Tube lampworking, primarily neon and other rare gases
Kiln worked glass including sagging and fusing
Kiln casting including pate d'verre
Molten casting
Glassblowing from molten glass
Paperweights and marbles

2) A set of brief descriptions in the same order.

Cold worked glass begins with using copper foil and solder or solid lead came to frame pieces of stained glass and beveled clear and mirror. Besides flat panels, foiled glass can be used to make boxes and lampshades. Glass may be covered with thin metallic films (dichroic) for special effects. Glass may be laid with cement to form mosaics or thicker pieces (dalles) may be held in cement or epoxy so light shines through. Optical glass may be cut, ground, polished and glued with special glue to appear to put things inside the glass that shouldn't be there (ie. square bubbles, dichroic films.) Glass may be sandblasted or chemically etched to produce frosted patterns. Stained glass work is the most popular to do. Sandblasted pieces are often used in buildings. Kaleidoscopes are arrangements of two or three mirrors to form star shaped images; the housing for the mirrors may be stained glass or any other material.

Hot glass work, in summary, begins with lamp working where glass rods and tubes are held by their cold ends and worked together in a torch flame to make objects or (with a rod mandrel) for making beads. In Neon working, tubing is worked in larger flames to make line shapes which are pumped to a vacuum to which small amounts of noble gases, such as neon and argon, are added so they glow when electricity is added. Glass may be arranged in a cold kiln and the temperature raised until the glass flows (sagging or slumping) or melts (fusing); often colors are fused on a flat surface and the result is then sagged into a form. Glass may also be cast by arranging broken glass in a mold and heating it until it flows to fill the mold (pate d' verre) or may be melted and poured into a mold (casting.) And finally, glass may be melted, taken out very hot on pipes and blown and shaped. 3) A longer narrative giving costs, sources of information, etc., in the same order.

In more detail:
Cold Glass
Copper foil technique stained glass work requires only glass, a cutter, special pliers, foil, solder, soldering iron and a work surface in a well ventilated area. Additional equipment can include forms for lamps, heavy pins, work boards, and more tools, but an investment well under $100 is enough to get started. Lead came, the older more classic method, is somewhat more expensive if the came is to be pulled, cut, and handled properly but is still only about $100 to start. Foil can be used for more complicated forms, such as lampshades, while lead is more traditional. Beveled glass pieces are usually bought although they can be hand ground. Stained glass is usually cut from larger sheets, but may be purchased in smaller amounts at many stores around the country. Many books are available on the topic of making stained glass objects, Library of Congress Cataloguing # 748. Lead free solder should be used and work done away from household and cooking surfaces. Periodicals: Glass Artist; Glass Patterns Quarterly goes into detail step by step on a number of different types of projects.

Before or after fabrication glass may be covered with thin metallic films (dichroic) in a vacuum facility to produce an irridescent color. Dichroic glass may be used like any other glass - foiled, fused. etc. This kind of glass is most often used in smaller pieces, fused jewelry and plates and paperweights.

Mosaics and dalles are a relatively low cost activity that has become much more popular recently. Making stepping stones of glass and cement has increased as molds become available so the craft involves laying bits of glass in a reusable plastic mold that provides an interesting outline. Both involve breaking or chipping small pieces of glass and arranging them to make a picture or color image. Dalles are thick pieces of glass that are used more like stained glass in a thick opaque frame. The pieces are held by cement (or epoxy), mosaic being much like laying bathroom tile.

Some of the most unusual pieces made with glass use modern glues. Pieces of window plate glass may be stacked into sculptures with the layers (and green edge) visible. Optically clear glass pieces may be carefully ground and and then glued with special "water-clear" ultraviolet curing glues to appear solid while putting things inside the glass that shouldn't be there (ie. square bubbles, dichroic films, cities.) The assembled pieces may be ground onto spheres. Careful examination still reveals the interfaces as slight changes in the light flow. Silicone and epoxy glues may be used to join unlike glasses and join glass to marble, wood, or metal for special contrasts.

Pieces of glass used in foil or came work can be etched or the etching may be applied to full pieces of glass, including mirror, used like paintings. A major business for architectural partitions. Air pressure blasting can use abrasive or other materials (usually not sand, because of silicosis) and may produce deep looking effects; the least expensive blasting equipment (siphon) providing less control than a pressure pot. Etching can be done with acid pastes, but only a shallow effect. Blasting requires an air compressors, material tanks, ventilation, and protection for lungs (respirator) and surroundings (shielded, filtered room/box.) Silicosis is a risk. Equipment cost is several hundred dollars, most of it in the air compressor which must be fairly large.

Hot Glass
Hot glass begins with lampworking and at the least costly level with a propane torch using colored and clear rod and tubing with a tungsten or coated metal rod for glass beadmaking. With somewhat more heat (air-propane, oxy-propane, MAPP with air or oxygen) higher melting point glasses (borosilicates, Pyrex) can be used to make more complicated figures and shapes, ranging from the little gossimer swans at carnivals to scientific glassworking to goblets and sculptural assemblies. The best torches, called surface-mix bench burners, which are quieter and more flexible, can cost $400-700 and up. When thicker pieces are made, an annealer is required, which may be a kiln or home built, costing $200 and up. Scientific glass work is lampworking and most glassblowers listed in the Yellow Pages do this. Besides the materials, including fuel, eye protection and ventilation are needed; some glass colors contain lead. Periodical: Glass Line. Source: Wale Apparatus A special category of lampworking is neon tube working, which requires special burners to make the long sweeping curves. Carrying out the entire process to make a glowing neon sign or object requires very expensive equipment to produce high voltages and vacuums and clean out the tubing; since neon sign workers have this equipment getting friendly with one may save the expense of buying it.

Warm Glass
The next step in hot glass is kiln worked glass (now often called warm glass.) This requires a kiln which does not have to be as powerful as a ceramics kiln (which can, with care, be used), but is usually bigger (across) and electric. Most kiln worked glass involves fusing pieces of glass at temperatures of 1500-1600.F and sagging glass at 1200-1400. Equipment required includes glass cutting tools, possibly including a saw, forms for slumping, glass carefully selected for compatibility, a kiln and a ramping controller that will slowly lower the temperature (which is usually not part of a ceramics kiln.) Unexpected costs include a ventilated work space and enough electrical power. Periodical: None known. Book: Boyce Lundstrom's three books on Sagging, Fusing and Casting.

At temperatures just above fusing, casting and Pate de Verre can be done. This requires a heat proof mold. Broken glass pieces, perhaps mixed with binder, carefully placed, can create pictures. Or glass can be stacked above a mold to melt to a uniform mass. The kiln is heated after the glass is placed and raised in temperature until the glass flows or fuses depending on the desired result. The whole mass is then cooled to the annealling point and annealled for many hours, up to days or weeks, because of the mass of the glass and mold together. Periodical: None known

Hot Glass
At even higher temperatures, nearly the same as for glassblowing, glass can be melted to molten and poured into a heated mold, which is then annealled. Some of the most complicated glass pieces seen today are cast from several different colored glasses, producing shaded effects. Periodical: None known

Finally, the highest temperatures and fastest action occur with off- hand glassblowing, where glass is melted and gathered in a molten state on a hollow pipe so air can inflate the gather for shaping. Further glass may be gathered on the outside, color bits may be picked up, glass details may be formed, etc., until the piece is done and is placed in an annealer to hold and then cool. The very high temperatures involved and the extended heating time require care in setting up facilities and often will require special zoning in places that have it. It is possible to melt glass for working for under $1,000 but double that is more realistic and double that ($4000-10K) likely for a minimal professional setup. Tools that stand the heat are limited production and costly ($100-200 each.)

Paperweights are made with a combination of skills, although they can be made entirely on the pipe or its solid relative, the punty. Classic paperweights require much preparation which may include flameworking to make millifiore rod or animal or plant figures which are encased in clear molten glass to make the final piece. Modern style abstract glass forms and bubbles are less complicated to make. Paperweights require an extended annealing time that can take days because of their size.

Marbles may be made by lampworking or off hand techniques requiring special tools (primarily graphite pads with hemispheric holes) to make totally round objects.

Best Books

If you are looking for a good book on beadmaking, James Kervin's "More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Glass Beadmaking." It is available from Frantz Beads, Wale, or Hoy's.

MF- The best book on furnace glassblowing around right now for beginners is Beginning Glassblowing (previously called Ed's Big Handbook of Glassblowing) by Edward T. Schmid, available from him ($27 with shipping, Edward T. Schmid, 927 Yew St., Bellingham WA 98226) or from the Book Exchange [90 W. Market St. Corning NY 14830 607-936-8536 FAX 607-936-2465] It includes good drawings, lots of suggestions, etc. His "Advanced Glassworking Techniques" also very good. I got my copy and read about 30 of the 320 pages of material and the blowing time for the things I want to do from the book passed the 1,000 hour mark.
While this book does not replace Ed's Big Handbook of Glassblowing as an introduction to techniques and attitudes of getting involved in glass, it is not as fearsome as the title might reflect. If I were teaching classes and felt I had a sure set of exercises and skills to bring students up from beginner, I would encourage purchase of this book because the essentials of working glass at the advanced beginner and low intermediate level are there at the beginning of the book.
Edward T. Schmid Glass Mountain Press, 927 Yew Street, Bellingham, WA 98226 $32.95 + $4 for priority mail, 320 pages, ISBN 0-9638728-1-8

The best book on building equipment is the 3rd Edition (not earlier ones) of Henry Halem's Glass Notes, $30 per book plus $4 s&h for the first book, $2 for each additional. Make checks to Franklin Mills Press [P.O.Box 906, Kent OH 44240, 330-673-8632, FAX 330-677-2488, hhalem@glassnotes.com] and MasterCard or Visa may be used.

The best book on lampworking is Contemporary Lampworking by Bandu Scott Dunham [Salusa Glassworks, P.O.Box 2354, Prescott AZ 86302 $35.95 (add $2 only if want Priority Mail shipping). 272 pages, ISBN 0-934252-56-4] This book is first of all a great pleasure just to handle and look at. It is in landscape (horizontal) format with a glossy hard cover and soft sheathed wire bound binding with several color pictures. Virtually every page has pictures and drawings. Photos include work by a wide variety of artists. The instructional drawings are precise and contain only enough lines to give detailed information.

The best books on fusing are those by Lundstrom available at many libraries. "I'll "ditto" Kathy Cowan's advice - Boyce Lundstrom's "Glass Fusing Book One" is the very best! I have most every book ever published on fusing, and his is the easiest to understand and the most comprehensive." AVERY H. ANDERSON CompuServe. Boyce Lundstrom wrote three wonderful books that deal with fusing, slumping and casting. .. Kiln Firing Glass (Glass Fusing Book I) .. Advanced Fusing Techniques (Book II) .. Glass Casting and Moldmaking (Book III)
If you're just doing fusing and slumping, Books I and II are probably what you're looking for. All three are available from Chester Book Co., 4 Maple Street, Chester, CT 06412 (1-800-858-8515). and many other sources. 12/10/95 Also contact Bullseye Glass [3722 SE 21st Ave., Portland OR 97202] which sells glass tested compatible for fusing.

Many community colleges offer continuing education classes at very reasonable cost on making stained glass objects.

The best overall book on a wide variety of glass working activities is probably The Complete Book of Creative Glass Art, by Polly Rothenberg, 1974, which is apparently not in print, but which is available in many libraries and thus by interlibrary loan to all. "500 Photographs Apparently superb introduction to most aspects of doing things with glass; the parts I know are dead accurate. Includes photos, sample projects with all steps. Leaded stained glass, Bonded glass (epoxy), Fired glass, Painting glass, Glass jewelry, Blown Glass, Glass Sculpture & Architectural Art." Mike Firth