Loki Glass
06-13-2012, 06:04 AM
Hi everybody, I've been lurking for awhile now just reading and soaking up everything I can. What a great site!
I've wanted to get into glassblowing for years and years but never was in an appropriate place, or didn't have the available startup funds, or some other lame excuse for not being able to do it. There are a few local glassblowers, but not the type who really feel like having an audience, or much less teaching anything about the art. And as far as classes go, the closest one I could find is Diablo glass school in Boston, which looks awesome, but for the money I couldn't really swing it in the past. I've also heard it's better to give yourself a basic understanding and then attend a couple classes for the refinement of those abilities.
Anyways - I made the jump a couple weeks ago and ordered up some starter equipment- A simple Nortel midrange, a caldera kiln, some hand tools, the necessary safety equipment and a couple hundred bucks worth of tube and rod. I also ordered Contemporary Lampworking Vol 1+2, and The Alchemist guide to Boromax Chemisty. Can't wait to get into those!
The past week I've mostly just been playing around with the glass, trying to get a grasp of how it melts, bends and fuses. I've also been trying some of the basics like pulling points and opening and closing the tubes. I've even made a decent looking "fake" spoon (no hole in the bowl or mouthpiece), and a very, very simple one that works.
Well, nice to meet all of you, and I'll probably just be kicking it in the back for awhile soaking it all in.
Thanks for the great site and all the wonderful info!
I've wanted to get into glassblowing for years and years but never was in an appropriate place, or didn't have the available startup funds, or some other lame excuse for not being able to do it. There are a few local glassblowers, but not the type who really feel like having an audience, or much less teaching anything about the art. And as far as classes go, the closest one I could find is Diablo glass school in Boston, which looks awesome, but for the money I couldn't really swing it in the past. I've also heard it's better to give yourself a basic understanding and then attend a couple classes for the refinement of those abilities.
Anyways - I made the jump a couple weeks ago and ordered up some starter equipment- A simple Nortel midrange, a caldera kiln, some hand tools, the necessary safety equipment and a couple hundred bucks worth of tube and rod. I also ordered Contemporary Lampworking Vol 1+2, and The Alchemist guide to Boromax Chemisty. Can't wait to get into those!
The past week I've mostly just been playing around with the glass, trying to get a grasp of how it melts, bends and fuses. I've also been trying some of the basics like pulling points and opening and closing the tubes. I've even made a decent looking "fake" spoon (no hole in the bowl or mouthpiece), and a very, very simple one that works.
Well, nice to meet all of you, and I'll probably just be kicking it in the back for awhile soaking it all in.
Thanks for the great site and all the wonderful info!