Basic Glassblowing Tools

Glassblowing is a kind of glass-forming technique that has been done for ages, like since ancient times. This technique composes of many stages we need to soften the glass with heat and shaping it into a variety of objects.

Doing glassblowing at home is hard because the equipment and the place you will work must be suitable for glassblowing. Therefore, it may be expensive but there is an alternative for glassblowing which is lampworking. For lampworking, small places and less equipment are enough to start it immediately.

Like every other technique, glassblowing also has special materials to do it.

• Furnace: It has a hole (glory hole) that contains very high temperatures like 2000 Fahrenheit. The furnace is the source of the heat to melt the glass and they are generally gas powdered.
• Bench: This is the place where glassblowing is practiced and with its arms it supports the blowpipe.
• Yoke: It is a stand that is placed in front of the furnace to support the blowpipe. The blowpipe is set on the yoke to guide it into the furnace.
• Annealer: After molten glass shaping, there must be slowly cooling process with an oven(kiln). The previously soft glass hardens with the cooling process.

Other small types of equipments are:

• Block: It is generally made of wood and used for shaping molten glass. They are mostly in the spoon shape and help to form glass at the round shape.
• Blowpipe: They are used to blow air and inflate it with a mouthpiece on the one side and the other side molten glass.
• Jack: It is a kind of metal blade that looks like a large tweezer. Jack is used to shaping, sometimes expanding inflated glass and separate glass from the blowpipe.
• Shears: It is used for cutting or tightening the hot glass. Their sizes are changing according to glass shape and work.
• Paddle: It is a kind of shovel made of wood, used to create a flat surface of the glass.
• Mold: These molds, usually made of wood, are used to shape molten glass. There are molds according to some predetermined dimensions.
• Marver: This one is a surface, used for shaping molten glass to its form. This surface can be steel, brass, or graphite.
• Punty: Basically, it is a metal rod that can be attached to the bottom of an inflated glass. It makes the glassblower work more comfortably on the top of the glass.

To discover more and buy the required tools, discover Prometheus Hobby. We are here to help you to create your best art!