Glass Making

                                                             Glass Making

The history of glass making can be traced back to 3500 BC in Mesopotamia, Rome, mid evil Europe the United States and other places. glass making has spread across the world  
There are many kinds of glass making, such as: Glass Blowing Glass pressing, glass drawing, glass casting and lamp working, but i would like to talk about glass blowing
Glass is made up of four main ingredients Sand, Limestone, Soda ( No not the kind you drink ), and Cullet (recycled glass). all the ingredients are mixed together and then poured in to a furnace which is heated to 2,550 Fahrenheit so all of the mixture will melt into a molten mass. While the glass is in a molten state, it is pulled out and shaped.
In order to perform glass blowing, the artist must have a blowpipe. The tip of the blowpipe is preheated by dipping it in the molten glass as it sits in the furnace. A “Gob” of the molten glass is formed on the blowpipe and rolled onto a tool called a marver, which is usually a thick flat sheet of steel.
The marver is important to the glass blowing process because it creates a cool layer on the glass and makes it possible to shape. The artist blows air into the blowpipe in order to form a bubble with the molten glass. If the project calls for making a large piece, the artist can add additional “Gobs” over the original. With the glass blowing process, a variety of shapes can be created. By using big tweezers, the glass blower can pull the glass or add detail. The artist can also use special paddles made of either graphite or wood to design flat areas in the glass.
In order to form the glass into various shapes, the glass blower uses tools called jacks. If the artist needs to make cuts in the piece, he or she uses straight shears. Once the artist has created a piece of the appropriate size, he or she moves the piece to a tool called a punty ( an iron rod ) Here, the glass blower can finish the top of the piece.

Glass blowing has a history dating back to approximately 200 B.C. In these early ages, the glass was formed around a core made of dung or mud. Typically, the process was used to create containers for holding liquids. Today, it is used to create art, craft projects, and to hold almost any food item in your house.

Here is a video to show you what it looks like.