Broken

The furnace is broken. And Mercury is in Retrograde.

Now, I'm not a huge fan of astrology. I like to read my horoscope (Scorpio, in case you were wondering) from time to time. But, since this furnace fiasco, many people have been telling me about Mercury in Retrograde. In a few short days, I have become a believer.

For a glassblower, there is no other piece of equipment that you'd like to see broken. The furnace is the core of our work. It keeps the glass molten, and without it, there is little that can be done.

Is it fixable? Yes.

Can we do it? No.

So, we must wait until our "furnace guy" is available to come to town to fix it. At this point, it looks like we won't be back to 100% for 5 weeks. (*gulp*)

I know what you're thinking......but Christmas is right around the corner!!!!! I know. I KNOW.

Fortunately, I live in the land of glassblowers. There are many studios in Rhode Island, and a good number of them will rent studio time. As best I can tell, I really only need a handful of days to keep my inventory in check.

It's not ideal, but it's the best I can do.......for at least 5 weeks.

Thankfully, Mercury will be long gone from Retrograde when that time comes.

(not soon enough for me).

Furnace work

I'm a "Furnace" glassblower. Why is that important? Because there are two types of glassblowers out there......furnace, and lampworkers. And we are very different. We work with different equipment, different materials (all glass is not created equal), and we make different objects.

I'm here to tell you about Furnace work. So, what better way to start than by showing you the Furnace.

It's about 6 feet tall, and 5 feet wide. And it runs 24 hours a day, operated by compressed air and natural gas. The idling temperature is 1950 degrees, and the working temperature is 2100 degrees. Yes, that's hot.

Why 24 hrs a day? Because glass has to be molten for us to work. It would take too long to heat glass to a molten state on an as needed basis.

(Open door)

Looks a little intimidating, doesn't it? To be honest, it is. Until you understand it. Then, it's just part of the process.

believe it or not, you can stand pretty close to it when it's open......just not for very long. Unless you want to get burned, or just singe some hair off your arms.

Inside the furnace sits a free standing crucible.......a ceramic bowl. It's made to withstand high temperature, and it is filled with approximately 150 lbs of molten, clear glass.

Here, the furnace has been turned off, and the door removed, and is a nice photo of the inside of the furnace.

A question we are frequently asked is "how do you get the glass in there?"

A: We use a powder/pellet, silica based product (that we buy, it's called 'batch'), and we use a very long shovel. I'm serious. And scoop the batch into the furnace while it's hot. We then spike the furnace temperature to 2350 degrees. Over a 16 hr cycle, the batch melts to molten glass. Viola.

By now, I'm certain you are now wondering how to get the glass out of the furnace. Well, that is a story for another day.

But, I'll give you a hint, it involves these pipes. Stay tuned.