Hi, I'm new..please be nice

[MpVpRb]

I am a 62 year old semi-retired engineer

I am also a master woodworker, semi-decent machinist and ok welder (if you're being generous)..so I have pretty good manual dexterity and understanding of materials

I have been fascinated by glass work for many years, and want to try to do it myself

I have been attending the University of You Tube, and am starting to get an idea what's going on

Big stuff with a glory hole and melting furnace is probably out of the question, tabletop flameworking is probably reasonable

First question..how important is a teacher?

Is it possible to learn using only books and videos?

I live in semi-rural Northern California, and asked the google for teachers in my area..no luck..any teachers out here in the Sierra Foothills?

Second question..I know that gear discussions can get quite heated among experts, but what is a good beginner equipment setup?

Yes, I know the old-timers are sick of getting this question, but please, be nice to a noob

I'm not sure what I want to make, I just want to explore. I suspect I will eventually want to make totally useless intricate geometric objects

I can afford decent tools

Helpful hints would be appreciated

[LowTideGlass]

Welcome!

Here is a good starting place.

http://www.talkglass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50425

A teacher will help you progress faster but you can absolutely learn on your own, especially nowadays with all the videos and all the help here!

Also by doing it on your own, you will find your own "voice" in glass instead of just following what you are taught. That is my opinion at least :)

Enjoy your glass journey!

[MpVpRb]

Yup, I read the FAQ before posting

I suspect I can probably do fine on my own, since I am very experienced teaching myself stuff

[Ray]

Videos etc are great but it might pay to set up to watch someone for a few hours etc.
Videos are great, but its hard to read the heat in a video.
I worked for about 2 months before I saw anyone else doing it..
and in a few hours I learned a lot of the little things that really helped when I was on my own.

[Yeef]

given that you're a 3D guy with a lot of experience, i think videos might help you out quite a bit.

if you're not worried about watching people making bongs, i'd suggest Revere Glass's (https://www.youtube.com/user/revereglass) videos on youtube as a starter. they're well made and dustin has an excellent (if quite stoned) handle on glass. (not that being stoned is a negative, just sayin'.) more advanced stuff is at Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG's) youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx9b2TiEudYcZ0c8onXdulY8T_Rto37sg) or Salem Community College (New Jersey's) Glass Master Series (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxpMyQ0GRa02O0bdiUUnTaBBAiX3vz9pS) with some of the best lampworkers in the world.

bandhu dunham's "Contemporary Lampworking" books, all three of them, might help a lot getting started. he's got a pretty straightforward noob approach to everything in there, and i'd recommend them to anyone. E.L. Wheeler's "Scientific Glassblowing" (http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015054392637;view=2up;seq=112) is a deep resource that's free online, or available on ebay and other book sources. it's not in print currently.

it's a good idea to fuck around with the material before you go all-in. so.. cheap torch.. a nortel minor or carlisle mini CC torch... the gtt lynx is what a lot of people recommend for a beginner torch if you're looking to expand, because their higher-end torches use the lynx as their smallest flame, so you already know how it works. gtt customer service is legendarily shit, though, unless you're lucky. ymmv. my first torch was a nortel midrange plus, after working on mini cc's at school, because it's got a National-threaded torch and a larger cannon-style torch in one package. plus, it's nice on your o2 budget.

i own a carlisle CC which has been the industry standard for a lot of years, that doesn't mean it's the best, but it will translate well from a lot of videos you might watch. it's comparable to a gtt phantom, or a mirage, depending on who you talk to. the bottom line, though, get a small torch first and find out if you fucking hate glassblowing. it isn't metal.

i'm an amateur machinist/metal artist, and i finally got into glass after a fucking lot of frustration, because glass isn't metal. it's more like clay that turns into a puddle as soon as you stop looking at it. it's a lot of fun, though, after you get past that.

best of luck!

[STROKER]

Welcome to the pot.
As someone with a pretty extensive background in making sawdust I can honestly say that glass is so much more humbling.
It starts as a hobby then becomes an obsession.
After 7 years melting I'm still constantly kept 8n check so for that glass has been a constant.
I am mostly self taught mainly due to a lack of glassblowing in my area. With the vid available and a persistent attitude you can for sure melt some nice stuff.
With that said the instructor route is so worth it if you click.
Would love to see some of your woodworking. I am sure others here who admire the many forms of art too would appreciate it.

[MpVpRb]

best of luck!

Thank you very much!

I have been watching the Corning videos, and I will definitely look at the videos and books you suggest

I have no illusions that learning glasswork will be easy, but difficult challenges motivate me

I'm probably going to follow your advice against going "all in" at first, but that depends on the definition of "all in"..Even the top end stuff is relatively affordable compared to other hobbies I have tried (motorcycle racing, R/C helicopters)

After years of tool use, I know that it's harder to learn with crappy tools, but I also know that a beginner doesn't need the top of the line, and the expert-grade stuff may actually require expert skill to use properly

I am looking for the "sweet spot"

[MpVpRb]

I am mostly self taught mainly due to a lack of glassblowing in my area
From my initial searches, it looks like there are no teachers in my area

Any ideas on where to look to find a teacher near Nevada City CA?


Would love to see some of your woodworking

http://mp-m-and-e.com/DiningTable.htm

[PyroChixRock]

I was a pattern maker before I was a glass artist. So We come from similar backgrounds. :D

Where in NorCal are you? I'm in Redding. And I dig showing old woodworkers glass tricks. ;) Been trying to get my dad (also a master woodworker) into glass for years! I might have finally gotten him to make a marble box. He is considering going to buy special wood today, so I'm close haha. Excited to see what he comes up with.

You can learn with no teacher, most of us do. I assume since you know about welding stuff you have a good idea of the safety issues you need to be aware of going into this. Flashback arrestors and proper hoses, grade T for propane. They will try to sell you grade R at some welding stores, it's too soft. Yadda yadda. Read around, ask us anything you aren't sure about!

Welcome to the pot!

[glassdocnc]

Jay (STROKER) is a bit unusual. I'm pretty sure he has supernatural or alien skills. But I second the notion that you can do a whole lot being largely self taught. Could be you are superhuman/alien too.

Welcome to TMP and the glass obsession.

[PyroChixRock]

From my initial searches, it looks like there are no teachers in my area

Any ideas on where to look to find a teacher near Nevada City CA?



http://mp-m-and-e.com/DiningTable.htm

Garrett, Mattrick, and a few others are right in Nevada City. :)

[PyroChixRock]

VERY nice table! I love that you showed the entire process. awesome :D

[MpVpRb]

Where in NorCal are you?

Nevada City

[PyroChixRock]

Garrett is http://www.talkglass.com/forum/member.php?534-colonel4bin

Mattrick is http://www.talkglass.com/forum/member.php?47-HumanLathe

try those guys first.

[glassdocnc]

Excellent table and progress pics!

[Joe Userton]

Don't worry at all about not having a teacher. If you take a look at this history of this art form, there have been a lot of people who learned on their own who did incredible things.

[STROKER]

Jay (STROKER) is a bit unusual. I'm pretty sure he has supernatural or alien skills. But I second the notion that you can do a whole lot being largely self taught. Could be you are superhuman/alien too.

Welcome to TMP and the glass obsession.

Marina you are a hoot. I've been called alot of things but supernatural isn't one ,until now.

Damn that is a nice table and real cool progress pics. I haven't made any sawdust in a minute or two but I still have about 5000 bd ft of figured lumber if I ever go that way.

You definitely have patience and handskills so if you like glassblowing I forsee you being able

[MpVpRb]

Well..I did it!

Just got back from Sundance with a beginner kit and books!

I am looking forward to the challenge!

Easy stuff is boring

[menty666]

I would definitely seek out a lesson at some point, if nothing else just to make a contact that you can occasionally ask "will this blow me up?" type of questions of.

The rest you'll sort out as your hands figure out what to do.

Welcome!

[Yeef]

i built r/c aircraft when i was a kid, need to get back into that someday.

i've got a 2m sailplane i've flown on the lakes here in the winter, and the ice fishermen are always like ooooWHHHAAAAAAATT??? lol..

[Simian]

Damn sir! That table is some next level shit/math!

If you did that on your own as far as educating yourself you should be fine with glass. Classes always steepen the learning curve but I am glad I went at it alone for over a year before I got some minimal instruction. I can make more use of that instruction the more experience I gain.

[Gahhruuba]

Definitely check out revere glass.

Yeef had an excellent post back on the first page.

I haven't had any lessons or much torch time and my Glasswork is mediocre at best lol, but I'm slowly figuring it out. Have been learning about 50% YouTube and 50% trial and error.

If your interested in lessons I heard that The Boro School is awesome.

Also... I'd say if your serious about trying this for the long haul, get a little bit of a higher end torch right away.. it'd save the hassle of trading/selling your old torches for the new ones in my opinion.. I got a Bethlehem Bravo and I love the thing.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[dustyg]

I spent about a month making beads on mandrels before I took a pipe-making class, and I learned almost nothing because everything I saw in the class went straight over my head (and the stuff that didn't, I'd already seen online and in books). Also, I didn't have minor problems that needed correcting - I had had virtually no foundation. Maybe that's a good place to start a 1-month class, but a weekend won't do much, and I couldn't throw another $500 at another weekend, when I knew how little I got out of it.

So, I've learned on my own, and it was hard. I've spent months on things that could've been solved with a sentence of advice, and also I've had 3 words of advice end a years-long struggle. I don't know that classes would've helped much. What would've helped is a community, preferably in person, but I should've participated here more.

[jr23]

Dusty has a point . Taking classes that are to advanced or to basic is money better spent on supplies .

I will tell you that teaching comes in lots of forms .

In the past there was agi . A great place to go at any skill level and have fun .


You could learn in a class like setting watching demos / or talk with other artist attended . Then you could blow glass with bunch of other artist .

I have never been but many in this forum have .

It was like 500 I think and lasted a week .


But anywho I really think from your post you would do best watching and reading , set up a little bench get your fundamentals down and then think about taking a intermidiate class .

The only way I think a intro class will help , is if you don't have the safety knowledge and have never worked with pressurized gas and flames .

[mattholimeau]

Dusty, it kinda sounds like you simply took the wrong class with the wrong teacher, who wasn't willing or able to accommodate someone who didn't have the fundamental skills. (If they weren't able, as in it was clear in the course description that some experience was necessary, then they should have booted you and refunded your money. If they simply weren't willing, then that's just a shitty teacher. Either way, that sucks, man.)

Personally, I would definitely recommend an intro class for a complete beginner. I started with a class that went once a week for 6 weeks, 3 hours a session.... I wouldn't recommend quite that much - I think I got everything I was gonna get out of the class after the third one, but it probably did prevent a number of those years-long struggles that needed 3 words of advice.

If I were to start again, I'd think ideally start with like a 1-day, 6-8 hour class, then go home and practice for like 6 months, and then take another 4-5 hour class to address any questions and fix any mistaken or bad habits. (I'd love to take another class myself, but I'm not going to attend an intro class where I'll possibly end up educating the teacher, and I've found nothing in my area in the way of a lampworking class with the word "intermediate" in it.) I'd love to take that pipe-making class! Hah - but yeah, definitely not in place of the intro class when I knew nothing.

[dustyg]

Yeah, the class I took was not the best. Still, I'm not sure that I'd have got much more out of any weekend-workshop - my problems with glass were mostly a lack of skill, since I had already been reading everything I could find and I already had a studio. Maybe I just don't know enough to know better, since I never have taken a worth-while class, and it's easy to forget how hard things used to be.

Once they have proper equipment and a proper studio, the things a beginner needs to learn are 95% practice and 5% information.

I think once every 1-4 weeks, 1-3 hours a session, would be a good rate for a beginner class. Actually, I'd still like to take classes like that.

[shawnette]

I started out with a booklet and a hothead (You Can Make Glass Beads by Cindy Jenkins), before there was a YouTube. You can most certainly learn without classes. YouTube is an awesome resource and there are also several groups on Facebook. Check out Torch Talk, Glassblowing Tips & Tricks and Lampwork Beadmaking Tips Techniques and Questions. (There are many more, but those seem to be the most active ones that I am in.)

Classes are great when you can take them, but not a necessity.

[jr23]

Yep you can start and get a good foundation of skill by using the homer Hoyt introduction book .

I have one I would let go somewhere around here .

It is set up to walk you through fundamentals and gives you several projects .

Each project works fundamental skills .

From there I would combined the bandu books and you tube .

Then look for a intermidiate class when you feel ready .

I am a fan of both the demo style class and the actuall bring your torch class .

I was at a advanced class and there where a few greenhorns there that did not get much out of it .

Although I am sure they got there money's worth .

If you got cash to burn take a class .

But if you started woodworking without classes I think you can do this also.

If ya need any help or advise just ask .