trippyfloors
10-18-2016, 08:15 AM
Greetings.
Texas is a gorgeous place. No one really rides horses, you see that in Arkansas much more frequently. Yes it is very hot. Always. Winter barely exists.
I don't blow glass (yet) but I am very interested in the chemistry behind making glass. I am currently going to school for chemistry and inorganic has always been my preferred subject. After I started dating a glass blower, I realized that someone had to be designing and making all the colors he uses. I've started looking more and more into the glass color industry. Ordered a few glass chemistry books. I've been looking into the thermodynamics of it all, some of the metals and compounds used to create colors.
Unfortunately I'm not finding too much on the internet about how you actually get INTO the industry. It's my senior year so it's a little too late to get into any material engineering classes, or I would, and my school does not offer any glazing or glass chemistry classes. So I've been doing my best to find another school that does. Alfred University is far far far out of my poor college student price range. Corning seems to focus on glass blowing, not quite glass mixing (? correct me if I am wrong.) I'm trying to find some sort of technical certification perhaps.
I talked to someone recently who pointed me towards this fourm. He also told me how most of the people in glass mixing/making are glass blowers themselves and most have originated from Northstar glass(? Looking for more info about this). I have a friend who has offered to give me lessons, which I am definitely taking her up on once I get the time. But for now I still want to do everything I can to learn more about the science behind glass colors.
So, questions for y'all:
(1) What kind of education or technical experience do any glass mixers you know have? Did they take a specific course/class? Learn from any specific school? Teach themselves? Basically, what can I do to gain the knowledge/experience to make myself more appealing to future employers?
(2) Where do I need to go/who do I need to know to find careers in glass coloring? I know most of the companies are up north on the coasts, and I'm planning on moving out of Texas to be closer to them once I finish school and have some financial stability to throw around.
(3) I know there are some actual textbooks for glass blowing techniques, are there any specifically written for making glass colors that I could buy and read?
(4) I know of Northstar, Glass Alchemy, Sundance, Mountain glass. Can any one educate me on who runs these companies? Does just one person direct all the manufacturing for each? Or are there several people, each individually experimenting with colors for the company to sell?
So yeah, that's it. I wood burn and have an IG for that, you can follow me @trippyfloors
Thanks for your help and I look forward to an active and exciting future on this fourm :crazy:
-T.F.
Texas is a gorgeous place. No one really rides horses, you see that in Arkansas much more frequently. Yes it is very hot. Always. Winter barely exists.
I don't blow glass (yet) but I am very interested in the chemistry behind making glass. I am currently going to school for chemistry and inorganic has always been my preferred subject. After I started dating a glass blower, I realized that someone had to be designing and making all the colors he uses. I've started looking more and more into the glass color industry. Ordered a few glass chemistry books. I've been looking into the thermodynamics of it all, some of the metals and compounds used to create colors.
Unfortunately I'm not finding too much on the internet about how you actually get INTO the industry. It's my senior year so it's a little too late to get into any material engineering classes, or I would, and my school does not offer any glazing or glass chemistry classes. So I've been doing my best to find another school that does. Alfred University is far far far out of my poor college student price range. Corning seems to focus on glass blowing, not quite glass mixing (? correct me if I am wrong.) I'm trying to find some sort of technical certification perhaps.
I talked to someone recently who pointed me towards this fourm. He also told me how most of the people in glass mixing/making are glass blowers themselves and most have originated from Northstar glass(? Looking for more info about this). I have a friend who has offered to give me lessons, which I am definitely taking her up on once I get the time. But for now I still want to do everything I can to learn more about the science behind glass colors.
So, questions for y'all:
(1) What kind of education or technical experience do any glass mixers you know have? Did they take a specific course/class? Learn from any specific school? Teach themselves? Basically, what can I do to gain the knowledge/experience to make myself more appealing to future employers?
(2) Where do I need to go/who do I need to know to find careers in glass coloring? I know most of the companies are up north on the coasts, and I'm planning on moving out of Texas to be closer to them once I finish school and have some financial stability to throw around.
(3) I know there are some actual textbooks for glass blowing techniques, are there any specifically written for making glass colors that I could buy and read?
(4) I know of Northstar, Glass Alchemy, Sundance, Mountain glass. Can any one educate me on who runs these companies? Does just one person direct all the manufacturing for each? Or are there several people, each individually experimenting with colors for the company to sell?
So yeah, that's it. I wood burn and have an IG for that, you can follow me @trippyfloors
Thanks for your help and I look forward to an active and exciting future on this fourm :crazy:
-T.F.