Pittsburg Glass

In watching the glass blowing here and comparing to what we saw and did in Blenkos, there are a few things that I noticed.

One thing was the difference in creating the same style of "bowl" or dish.  In Blenko, a special made form was used to create the "waves" or intentions in the dish.  But in Pittsburg, they only used the force of gravity and centripetal force to get them to form.

What pros and cons can you come up with for each style of making the glass?

I Also noticed that the two different people that were helping us with the ornaments had a different style as well When it came to making the ornaments.  Even though all the ornaments turned out practically the same, the way they started out making them was completely different.

Watch the video below and see if you can notice the difference between what the two artists do.  You will have to watch the guy in the background as he is turning his glass and compare it to how the lady is turning hers.  What do you notice about the glass(color that was added) as far as how it is melting in the process?

We were able to make a Christmas ornament.  We had to work in pairs to accomplish this and that teamwork was more difficult than it seems.

Below are some pictures of it.

Fun Videos of Our Day at Carnegie Museums and the Phipps Conservatory

Just a couple of fun videos on things we saw today at the Carnegie Museums and the Phipps Conservatory.

Carnegie Museums:








And the Phipps Conservatory:

 

Carnegie History Museum

On our visit to the Carnegie Museum I noticed on the way in a display of a wonderful piece of art that uses the science behind the refraction of light to create an art piece.  Look at the two pictures below and come up with a short essay on how viewing the vase at different angles creates the difference in the pictures below. 

One of my many hobbies is observing great architecture and learning the historical aspect behind its creation.  One of the fascinating things I saw today were the replicas of some of the most awesome carving I have ever seen.  Check it out.

Mosser Glass

On our trip, we stopped in Cambridge OH at a small glass making company called Mosser.  Mosser company makes pressed glass in stead of the hand blown glass that we were able to make at Blenko Glass  This means that the glass is formed by molds that the molten glass is placed in.

Once the big glob of molten glass is placed on the mold, there is usually a two piece mold.  In the video below, you will see how the molten glass is placed in a mold, then pressed (the mold had two sides and the molten glass is sandwiched in between then two).  It is then placed under another flame to get rid of the stiff rigid marks left behind by the molds.  The tip of the pitcher is then heated up again for the finisher to start the spout on it.  Once the finisher completes the pour spout, the item is then examined and placed under another flame if necessary.  If the pitcher passes inspection here, it is then placed on a conveyor in an annealing oven (slow cooling) to get the perfect Temperature and 4 hours later, your glass product has cooled ell enough.

Enjoy the video and pay attention to the process and how pressed glass is made compared to how Blenko blows their glass

 

Pottery Production and Modern Innovation

Production of pottery is a process that appears to be simple in nature.  I mean, how hard is it to make a bowl?  We all have dabbled with modeling clay and made our own items so it can't be too difficult.... or can it?

As you watch this first video, write down any questions you may have about the process that you are watching.  I know that there is no narriation or captions to tell you specifically but we will discuss that together as a class.  Write down anything that you see but have no idea what it means or what the people are doing in the process.





Now that you have watched the video by your self, we will watch it together as a class whole as I explain some of the processes that you are witnessing.  Mark off your sheet any questions that I have answered and write any new ones you may come up with.


Now, we have to admit that the video above is not from a modern era.  Just like coal mining, the process of doing everything by hand has changed drastically over the years.  In this next video you will see a modern version of some of the same processes from the first video.  Once again, mark off any questions that are answered and write new ones that you may come up with.


 

Now, write down some of the differences that you saw from the first video and the similarities in the processes form then and now.

We will discuss your responses as a class whole.

Recycling....

In the process of making glass as with any other manufacturing process, there are always imperfections and mistakes that cause the product to need to be scrapped.  In the glass world, the scrap and mistakes can usually be discarded and used again.  Most glass manufactures find a way to recycle their glass and broken pieces if not in their own companies, at least transferred to other glass makers.

In our trip to Wissmach glass today we saw how they make sheet glass and it was a difficult process to make complete sheets without any "breaks" in them.  The good thing about glass companies is that they can reuse a lot of their imperfections and scrap. 

But what happens to the glass that they do not use?  That's where Gabbert Cullet comes into play.  They get cullet (broken discarded glass) and distribute it out to many different glass manufacturers making it a much smaller impact of glass being thrown away.

In households however, the process of recycling glass is miniscule.  The amount of places in most places that exist for glass recycling in very few and far between making it difficult and inconvenient for most families or households today.

Just how would recycling benefit our environments? 

What types of glass do you have in your household?  Do you or your family recycle? 

Do you know of a recycling facility in your area?


Go to the following page:

http://igsfederal.com/glass-life-cycle.html

Take the data listed and create a table or graph to visually show the comparisons between glass used, glass recycled and glass thrown in the trash. 

Whey do you think the number of land fills has fallen so drastically since 1978?


Here is a blog from a city in Alabama.  What do you think the author of this blog is trying to tell the community?

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2010/05/huntsville_residents_your_recy.html

What do they write as the pros to recycling glass?

What cons can you infer with recycling glass?  Divide you paper into two columns and compare the pros and cons.  Does one greatly outdo the other?

Do you believe a recycling plan in your community would be beneficial?  What are some ideas you could come up with for the use of broken and discarded glass?

 

Fenton Art Glass

Fenton Art Glass was founded in 1905 and is located in Wheeling WV. 

Once one of the top glass producers of handmade art glass, Fenton has now produced any large production pieces for the last two years.  Now they mainly produce and design handcrafted glass beads.

Why do you think that a company that specializes in handmade items has been forced to stop production for something that is slowly becoming a dying art?

In the glass bead production room, there are a number of employees with different jobs.  One person was the designer, there were a few employees creating and making the beads from glass and then the ones that were actually painting the designs on the small beads. 

Now, lets talk about the process and the tools used to create these small wonders. 

First, the glass is melted and formed on a small metal rod.  The man below is not forming beads but is creating the teardrop glass pieces that are used to create the ear rings.  But much of the process is the same as with the beads.

So lets talk a little about the rods that hold the molten glass.  The very tip of the rods are coated with a substance that has a sandy or gritty texture to it.  This will enable the release of the glass later on in the process to be easier. 

The glass maker will the turn the molten glass on a mold called a marver.  Look at the picture of the marver below and hypothesize as to why you think it would be used.

There are three different sizes for the different items that they make.  The marver is used to keep the size of the beads consistent and even.

Once the beads are made, they are put in an annealing oven to sit overnight and then a release agent is used to get them off the rods.  Once they are checked for imperfections, the beads are then lined in the center with metal to create a protective layer between the beads and the chain or necklace that they will eventually be placed on.  You can see that in the picture below.

 



Here is another picture of the different styles that are created at the company.

As you can tell, there is a wide variety of designs to choose from.



Use the diagram below to create a pie graph of the percent of ingredients used to create class and compare it to the chart.  What do you notice?

 

Gabbert Cullet

Our first stop on the tour was at a company that had been started almost 25 years ago in Williamstown,WV.  They specialize in selling cullet to glass makers all over the United States and some companies overseas.  They get discarded and broken glass from recycling businesses and other glass manufactures which is purchased by the ton.  They mainly provide cullet to art glass companies and marble manufacturers.

When the glass comes in, they sort it by size (they have a machine for that) and by color which is sorted by hand.  They sell their ware for a dollar a pound.

 

 

 

 

 

Blenko Glass Trip

The Glass Making process behind the scenes is much more entailed than it seems.  We were able to go behind the scenes to see the glass making process first hand.

We didn't get to see the actual process of blending the chemicals to create the glass because it needs to be prepared in advance and then placed in an oven to "melt" together in the glass making process.

What are the normal temperatures for an oven containing the molten glass?

We were assigned to make two different items.  A candy dish and a water bottle.  I'm going to start with the process of making the candy dish.

The first step of the process was to choose a color thet we wanted to make for our candy dish.  they had a samole on hand to give us an idea of how the color would blend with the glass.  Then, we had to get et a glob of glass on the end of the glassblower's pole.  We were using crystal as our "base" for the candy dish.

(Insert picture)

The glob of glass was then placed in a smaller oven to help maintain the consistency of the molten glass.  It was then "rolled" in the color granules that each individual chose and placed back in the small oven to melt them.  The glass was then "rolled" in the color granules again (some chose different colors for the second time and some chose the same - I chose the same color - red) and placed in the small oven a second time.

Meanwhile, if you were a visitor to Blenko, you would only see the "other" glass blower at the observation deck and would not have seen this "behind the scenes" process.

Once the second layer was melted, there would be a second layer of crystal placed on the "glob" at the end of the pole.

(Insert picture)

That was then taken to the glassblower on the observation deck where visitors to Blenko could watch the final process of mankind the candy dish.  That is shown in the video below.