Moving On.....and Up

This past week, Rhode Island suffered it's worst flooding in over 100 years.

When I awoke early Tuesday morning to see that my sump pump had not worked properly, I was facing an inch of water in my basement, and it was rising quickly. By 6 am, it was clear that anything I did that day would be to maintain the water level. 2 sump pumps and a shop vac (and 3 people), worked all day. And we won that battle! Very little was lost.

(Some of my neighbors were not as fortunate. 3 blocks from me, residents were evacuated by Emergency crews on rafts).

However, the Studio resides about 100 yards from the Pawtuxet River in Cranston, and was one of the areas that was hardest hit by the floods

This is the Studio. The water is over 5 feet deep (inside and outside). My heart sank, and my knees buckled when I stood there.

It took the River 2 days to recede enough for us to enter the building. I did not know what to expect......I knew it would be devastating, and very mucky, but it was worse.

Very little was where it *should* have been. Tables were taken clear across the studio. In 3000 square feet, you could not walk 2 feet without running into something large.

This is my studio space, in the back of the building. Notice my *safe* shelf, that floated down to safety as the waters receded.

I am still heartbroken, but I am moving on (and UP, to higher ground). Amazingly, I was able to salvage about 70% of my inventory. But that's it. All my display, packaging and supplies were destroyed. And my beloved glass tools? They were the first thing I looked for, and I found them (hooray!).

Tanner Glass will continue.....it just make take me a little while to get settled. I will find a glass studio to rent, so I can continue to make all the things I love to make. But for the short term, I am consumed with salvaging what is left.

For all the well wishes, I am eternally grateful. Thank you all for your support.

The Wait is Over

Finally. It hardly seems possible that I could have this blog for over a year, and have neglected to put a picture of myself in the Studio.

So, this really is Life as a Glassblower.

It sure is sunny there, but that's not why I'm wearing sunglasses. And I'm pretty cool, but that's not why I'm wearing them either ;)

The reheating chamber we use to reheat the glass is very hot. And bright. It's not as bad as staring at the sun, but pretty darn close. So, I wear them to protect my eyes. There's also the possibility that glass may *pop*, and I don't want a piece of that near my eyes, either.

Safety first.

(those tools in my hand? Those are my beloved Dino jacks. You can read about them here)

Enjoy!

Back in Business

There has been much concern expressed about the state of the furnace (thank you!)

The furnace (the source of all the glass) at the studio had to be shut down for maintenance.

In November? Yes. The worst possible time of year to have it turned off. This was unscheduled maintenance.

(Unfortunately, turning it off, and back on is not so simple. As you might recall from this blog post, it operates at 2100. So, it takes about 4 days for it to cool down. And another 4 days for it to get hot. All total, including the maintenance days, it will have been unuseable for about 12 days.)

As of now, the furnace is just about Hot, and we will resume working on Tuesday.

The most obvious question I was asked was:

What will you do? Two weeks with no glass?

And here is my answer.......

A lot!

Just about everything I make involves some type of Cold Work. Which means, it has to have additional thing(s) done to it when it is cold.

Bottlestoppers, Sea Stones and Oil Lights have to be ground (a process used to make things level or flat). Sea Stones and (some) vases have to be sandblasted (a process that gives the glass an etched appearance).

Bottlestoppers have to be glued (to cork or chrome plated stoppers)

And then there are the finishing touches.......

Ornaments have to be strung with ribbon, Chrome Bottlestoppers are packaged, gift boxes are stamped, Pocket Coins are packaged. There's a lot to do.

And then, of course, there are the Magnets and Hooks. Last Xmas season I sold over 400 sets (that's SETS, not individual) Magnets/Push Pins. I'm certain I would have sold more if I had the inventory. And this year alone, I have sold over 200 Hooks.

So, I've been busy. And in reality, have enjoyed this "cold" time. For, soon enough (10 days to be exact), I will begin my run of Holiday Craft Shows.......and will be grateful for all the Hot, and Cold time I've had at the studio.

Beat the Heat

The summer is not my favorite time to be a glassblower. The winter......ah, yes. But, the summer, not so much.

We can't air condition most of the studio.......it's inefficient due to the space (big old mill building), and the fact that glass can't cool too quickly (and blasting cold air in there would cool it too quickly).

For those of you that have spent this summer in New England, you know that we have barely had a summer.......until now. All of a sudden, it's extremely humid and temps are averaging around 88 degrees.

So what does that mean for the studio? 100+ degrees. And remember, the furnace and reheating chamber are working at 2100 degrees, and the ovens we use are at 900.

It's hot. So hot.

And it kicked my butt.

My diagnosis was heat exhaustion (thank you, WebMD). After 2 days of working in those conditions, my body just said "no more, please", and shut down. Normally, by August I have acclimated to these conditions, and 2-3 days of working in the "oppressive" weather is manageable (barely, but it is). But not this year.

A day later, I feel better, and was back to glassblowing......but only a half day for me today.

(and lots of time in my air conditioned office).

Stay cool.

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.