Time Machine....

[AdamCotter]

IF Doc and Marty came squealing up in the modded delorean, and in exchange for you making them a new Flux Capacitor ,

offered to deliver one single piece of advice to you on the day you first put flame to glass, what would it be?

Just one tip...

Has to fit on a Sticky Note...

Mine would be --

"Keep everything as straight and clean as possible, even where it won't show, or where you think it doesn't matter". That advice came from Nate Purcell when I was just starting out.

And that means EVERYTHING, don't leave that tiny bleb on your handle, trim it off. Center both of your points, even though you are going to tear them both off in 10 seconds. Blow out and recondense that coil potted section 3 more times AFTER you think it's perfectly even. Get that tiny, tiny bubble out, wipe that marver off, even tho you just did. Make that punt cold stick absolutely centered...move that one miniscule dot over half a mm before you melt it in...anneal even when you think there is no strain.
Honestly, best advice I was ever given.

Here is an example, you want to make some concentric rings, or a lip wrap.
If your handle had a tiny bleb on it when attached to the piece of stock, that little bit of wonky, really cam make the circles imperfect, and if you are going for an art deco style, or anything that calls for precision, the smallest fuck up in the beginning somehow travels (subconsciously or not) to the right, and deforms the lip wrap.

It defies logic, but there it is.

Also if you move forward rushing a step, you can never go back to fix it. Sure , you can get the circle straight by carefully pushing and pulling with tungsten and paddle, but the piece will lose its "flow" and start to feel forced.


Here is one more tip (doc and Marty wanted a cool glass skull shifter,so I get 2 messages, lol)

If you are making ear rings, or small pieces that need to be identical (like Ears or Eye Balls)
Don't try too hard to make 2 exactly the same, instead, Make 100, then sort them for matches.

In my experience it takes about as long to make 2 eyes of exact proportions as it will to make 20 to a somewhat looser spec. Then match.
Good practice, and more likely to have perfection.

That nugget of wisdom came from Josh Openaker.

One more, from Zed.

Don't give up.
Glass blowing is HARD, keep at it. Mouth closed, eyes and ears open. Get a notebook and wrote everything down. Don't feel bad about failings, that's how you learn. Glass breaks, it's ok.

And put in full 10 hour days on the flame (with safety breaks ofcrse), youneed 10,000 hours of torch time to be a master.

Some people have natural talent,some dont, I was told i have very little natural talent . We just have to work harder, but with practice most people will be able to master this.

My natural talent is for bass guitar, i still had to put in my 10,000 hours practice (5-15hours daily, age 7 to ?? ) ...and then I heard Victor Wooten...got started on 10,000 more.)


Ok, one piece of advice for you to tell yourself on Day ONE, what would it be?...one Chance to save years of difficulty

(unless Bill and Ted need a bubbler or something...maybe Dr who needs a new bell jar for his hand. ..

[PyroChixRock]

That is some great advice!

Here's a couple more:

Don't put fingerprints in the kiln. And don't take photos of them.

Every failure is a lesson if you're paying attention.

Some of the coolest things I've figured out in glass have been by making a mistake.

Be patient.

I've forgotten more in glass than I know.

If you feel like giving up, go put in an application at Mcdonalds.

It's not a job, it's a lifestyle ~ mer

The only way back is through the flame ~ me