(Continued from previous lesson) From our last lesson you learned a little bit about what the glass looks like before it goes in our furnace, and becomes molten enough to be worked with. Well today I have some photos of what the furnace and the glass inside looks like when its hot. As you can see in the photo on the right, our controller shows that the furnace temperature is 2,151 degrees Fahrenheit. This is hot! But not as hot as our glass gets. When working with the glass outside of the furnace, it cools down. So in order to be able to manipulate the glass again, we use a piece of equipment called a reheating chamber. This equipment is a barrel laid on its side and heated with gas and air to create a radiant heat of up to 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit.
0 Comments
Learn about glassblowingI have decided to start a blog post about all things glass. If you have ever wanted to learn about glassblowing, follow this blog, or take one of our classes to try it yourself! Just head to the CLASSES page for more information on that.
Glass can be made in many different ways. At Blazing Paddles Studio we purchase premelted clear glass. The company we buy this glass from mixed what is call glass batch. Batch is a mix of different elements, including silica oxide, dolomite and lime. To get this glass in a molten state we turn our electric glass furnace up to 2100 degrees Fahrenheit, and fill up a pot made of high temperature refractory. At this temperature the glass melts and takes on a honey like consistency. Check back next time to learn more about glass. |
Archives
February 2018
Categories |