[HN Gopher] You Can Learn Glass Blowing (1938)
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You Can Learn Glass Blowing (1938)
Author : Tomte
Score : 89 points
Date : 2021-03-07 12:18 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (blog.modernmechanix.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (blog.modernmechanix.com)
| onion2k wrote:
| But what if I suck?
| germinalphrase wrote:
| No matter how hard you try, you absolutely will create a bunch
| of chunky, ugly cups akin to elementary school arts and crafts.
| Also like elementary arts and crafts, it's a lot of fun.
| anton96 wrote:
| Pasting instead of copying. This scares me
| danparsonson wrote:
| Presumably you'll make a glass stick, or else an emergency room
| visit, depending on how hard you suck.
| mkl95 wrote:
| Glass blowing is clearly going to replace most manual jobs in
| the 1940-50s. If you are one of those unemployed chimney
| sweepers you should look it up.
| jedberg wrote:
| Glass blowing is a great team building exercise. You all get to
| take something home and cheer each other on, and if you mess up
| you can get seriously injured. All the hallmarks of a great team
| building exercise. :)
|
| But seriously it was a ton of fun and actually not that
| dangerous. The instructors don't let you do anything stupid.
| roel_v wrote:
| Now I wonder - what is a 'beverage sipper', and how is it
| different from a 'glass' or 'cup'?
| SuoDuanDao wrote:
| I bought a port sipper set at a thrift store once, they're
| pretty neat. Basically a glass pipe for drinks with a built-in
| straw, e.g.
| https://www.drinkstuff.com/productimg/120982_large.jpg
| SamBam wrote:
| Hmmm, seems closely related to the Spanish porron [1].
| Closely related geographically as well.
|
| The porron is supposed to be for communal drinking without
| touching lips to a shared vessel. Although as far as I've
| been able to tell is used as much for drunk people to get
| wine all over their shirts.
|
| The port sippers seem to me personally to be... a little more
| childish? Clearly it's just my cultural associations, but I
| feel like drinking through a straw is like drinking from a
| sippy cup.
|
| 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porron
| SuoDuanDao wrote:
| Interesting. The information pamphlet that came with my set
| made reference to naval banquets, so perhaps it was
| intended to prevent spills while on rough seas. Bit of
| convergent evolution with the children's sippy cup perhaps.
| nemo44x wrote:
| It's a straw as referenced later in the article.
| ffhhj wrote:
| Any articles on DIY laser lens?
| Metacelsus wrote:
| >An ordinary workbench, about 3 feet high, is satisfactory, or
| use a kitchen table. Cover the top with sheet asbestos, or
| preferably asbestos board, and at the back provide a rack for
| holding your stock of glass tubing in various sizes.
|
| Ummm . . . no thanks
| NoOneNew wrote:
| There's a wonderful old school informative video about asbestos
| on YT about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxfZSEboVM4
|
| It's hard not to yell, "No! Don't touch it!". Though, it's easy
| to see why it was flocked to. The handling is pretty simple for
| the fire proofing benefits... minus the cancer part.
| morsch wrote:
| It's hard not to watch something like that and wonder which
| of today's everyday items people in 80 years will look back
| at and yell, "No! Don't touch it!".
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| How much worse do things get when you touch it? I was under
| the impression that breathing it was what caused problems.
|
| (Funnily enough, I feel I've heard that breathing glass also
| causes problems for glassblowers...)
| petertodd wrote:
| A lot of the asbestos in the youtube video above is in
| fibrous form, like the fireproof asbestos clothing. So
| touching it would probably release some fibres into the
| air. A small amount isn't actually all that bad. But it
| adds up over time.
|
| Conversely, the asbestos in products like asbestos roof
| tiles is harmless when it's just sitting there, which is
| why it can be perfectly safe to just seal it up, or even do
| nothing at all. Of course, during demolition, you will
| release deadly asbestos fibres into the air unless
| precautions are taken.
|
| The fact that asbestos isn't immediately harmful - and can
| be used safely - is probably part of the problem: it's easy
| to ignore long term effects because it's not obviously and
| immediately toxic.
| nwatson wrote:
| For a fun dive into "competitive glass-blowing" take a look at
| Blown Away, two seasons on Netflix. One of my daughter's
| favorites.
|
| It's a good look at artists, technicians, creativity, and
| personalities.
|
| https://m.imdb.com/title/tt9908860/
| moonbug wrote:
| it's fine, but watch it with the sound off.
| dthul wrote:
| I just finished binging that show! I really liked it but would
| have wished that each episode were longer. As it stands there
| was not enough time to really show off the work, especially in
| the early episodes that had a lot of glass blowers.
| hutzlibu wrote:
| Thanks a lot, I just took a dive into it.
|
| Edit: I really like the art, but not the format of the show.
| ericmcer wrote:
| I loved Great British Bake-off because it made me want to bake.
| Blown Away totally failed to raise any interest in glass-
| blowing, you learn almost nothing about the actual practice.
| After 3 hours I still have no clue how it is done.
|
| It could be greatly improved by theming based on styles (i.e.
| making vessels, making sculptures) and discussions around why
| each pieces/techniques will be challenging. Instead it is
| literally the same shots of them rolling hot glass and putting
| fire on things for 15-20 minutes and then they judge it.
| blacksmith_tb wrote:
| Agreed, I had been watching old episodes of Forged in Fire[1]
| while on the rowing machine (and I have taken a couple of
| blacksmithing classes, so I had some sense of what the
| challenges were), but Blown Away was disappointing as it
| emphasizes the 'art' aspect much more than the 'craft' angle,
| so pieces are made with lots of techniques, in lots of forms
| (and little real explanation), so comparing them can't really
| be done in terms of function, and the aesthetic critiques
| didn't do much for me. Looks fun, though.
|
| 1: https://www.history.com/shows/forged-in-fire
| polygotdomain wrote:
| I don't disagree that Blown Away doesn't go into the
| techniques or that doing so wouldn't have made it a stronger
| show, but I still would recommend it if someone is interested
| in blowing glass.
|
| My wife and I got into the show about a month ago, breezed
| through both seasons, and really enjoyed it. While I'd love
| to know more about the techniques (and my wife and I have
| talked about taking classes once things get back to normal),
| I literally have practically zero reference for how to blow
| glass, so to get into any techniques the show would really
| have to get into a Glass 101 type explanations, which I think
| would have dragged the format that they chose (30min slot,
| 22m of content) down a bit too much.
|
| The other side is that while the technique is certainly
| interesting, it very much was an artistic show, not a
| technique show. There were some pieces that were better
| artistically that were "judged" to be better than more
| technically proficient pieces. That's just a choice the show
| decided to make.
| shaftway wrote:
| That's a shame. It's kind of a fascinating art that I think
| is very similar to chess, in that you have to be thinking a
| dozen moves ahead. I took a series of classes that exposed me
| to the basics, so I understand the tools and techniques that
| they are using and some of the why, but I still have trouble
| seeing the end result and explaining the why of any
| particular step.
|
| I think all of these shows suffer from this same problem. It
| shows people performing their art in a very superficial way.
| I would absolutely watch a show where after each episode each
| of the contestants made a 15 minute YouTube video walking
| through their video segments explaining what they were doing
| and why in deep detail.
| [deleted]
| HeyLaughingBoy wrote:
| The one exception to this flaw I remember was a restoration
| show on History channel. I don't remember the name... some
| guy named Rick that liked sleeveless shirts working in the
| desert.
|
| Anyway, for at least the first two seasons it was great:
| there was a lot of discussion on how to restore a piece,
| what it originally looked like, where problems might occur,
| how to find or make replacement parts, etc., and then
| showing the actual work in detail. My wife and I both
| thought it was great.
|
| Then it had the fate of all such reality shows about
| actually _making things_ : not enough drama. So the
| manufactured drama and "excitement" started and at that
| point it went downhill rapidly.
| toast0 wrote:
| I did a glass blowing thing for a corporate off-site in Half
| Moon Bay. A skilled artisan helps you make a glass pumpkin,
| takes a few hours, lots of fun.
|
| The experience is kind of on rails, the artisan/instructor
| will keep you on track so it's pretty hard to mess up, but
| also make it feel like you're doing the work. Everyone ended
| up with a nice pumpkin.
| violetgarden wrote:
| I love watching shows like this! The Great Pottery Throw Down
| was good too on HBO Max. I love watching creative people work.
| I find they have a lot more freedom to their process than I do.
| I'd probably logic myself out of 10 ways to do something, but
| creatives seem to have an easier time of "I'm gonna try it and
| see what happens." Even when they don't get a result they
| expect, they might find it lovely anyways and just go with it.
| hutzlibu wrote:
| "Even when they don't get a result they expect, they might
| find it lovely anyways and just go with it."
|
| That happens to me in game design, too ... and other areas of
| computer art, or just UI.
|
| But yeah, not what you can do while implementing buisness
| logic.
| joubert wrote:
| Same here. You may also like "The Big Flower Fight" on
| Netflix.
| shagie wrote:
| Also a good read - History of Glassblowing, Who Was First? By W.
| Joe Wheeler ( https://asgs-glass.org/history-of-glassblowing-who-
| was-first... )
|
| I know of him through his work at the Chemistry Department at UW
| Madison.
|
| An article on his son retiring in 2016 -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17240776
|
| And then an article on his granddaughter (3rd generation glass
| blower) https://kjzz.org/content/535871/asu-third-generation-
| scienti...
|
| ... And for a bonus, a RPAN stream of a glassblower -
| https://www.reddit.com/rpan/r/TheArtistStudio/gf518v
| smurda wrote:
| The book every glassblower uses is "Advanced Glassworking
| Techniques". The book is written entirely by hand, so it looks
| like you're reading someone's private sketchbook. I've never read
| a more aesthetically pleasing book.
|
| http://www.glassmtn.com/press/blowing.htm
| dan-robertson wrote:
| Another example of printed handwritten books are the Wainwright
| guides which were not typeset because the author didn't trust
| the typesetter to not make mistakes.
| happimess wrote:
| The Ashley Book of Knots is also a beautifully hand-written
| book.
|
| https://www.amazon.com/Ashley-Book-Knots-
| Clifford-W/dp/03850...
| Stratoscope wrote:
| And Forrest Mims' Engineers' Notebooks and Mini-Notebooks.
|
| https://hackaday.com/2017/01/18/forrest-mims-radio-shack-
| and...
|
| http://www.zpag.net/Electroniques/Kit/The%20Forrest%20Mims%2.
| ..
|
| The handwritten part starts on page 5 (page 14 of the PDF).
| HarryHirsch wrote:
| And Kathleen Lonsdale's space group tables:
| https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/kathleen-lonsdales-
| cr...
| person_of_color wrote:
| Enjoy your silicosis
| bluedino wrote:
| Modern glassblowing:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oETDTbzFJss&list=WL&index=3&...
| kens wrote:
| A few years ago, we did a team-building trip to a glass blowing
| place in San Francisco (Public Glass?) and it was a lot of fun to
| make some glassware. I recommend it if you have the chance. We
| got to do hands-on stuff, although of course the instructors were
| doing the skilled work. The class gave me a lot more appreciation
| for how glass objects are created.
| dang wrote:
| Past related thread:
|
| _You Can Learn Glass Blowing (1938)_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15834149 - Dec 2017 (25
| comments)
| intrasight wrote:
| My daughter took a scientific glass blowing course in college.
| She loved it and they loved her. Teacher basically said "I need
| to retire. Do you want to take over?"
| dysrend wrote:
| I watched a piece a couple years ago about a super talented
| glass blower that was working for a university. Something
| something dying breed and he was the last of his kind. It's
| actually a pretty interesting career opportunity because of all
| the intersections it has with materials, science, design, and
| art. I can hardly believe there was a vacuum there, I'd jump to
| do it if I had the opportunity to actually learn the trade.
| intrasight wrote:
| My daughter is a scientist and an artists - which I believe
| is why she excelled with glass blowing.
| shagie wrote:
| On the dying breed aspect -
| https://kjzz.org/content/535871/asu-third-generation-
| scienti...
|
| > "Laboratory glassware is extremely expensive - and we drop
| stuff from time to time," said Dempster.
|
| > Dempster estimated the glass shop charges 1/10 to 1/20 of
| what companies would, with a much faster turnaround.
|
| > Nevertheless, scientific glassblowing is a dying art.
|
| > "It's slowly been dwindling. Like, lately, if people
| retire, they kind of shut down the shop and start
| outsourcing. But us glassblowers are trying to change that,"
| said Roeger.
|
| > Roeger is working to reestablish the apprenticeship program
| in which she learned her skills.
|
| > "The apprenticeship program is a four-year, full-time,
| hands-on training with a master glassblower, and it really
| does take that much to be able to produce glassware that
| customers can use."
|
| > For now, she's glad to see more women entering a
| historically male-dominated field.
| intrasight wrote:
| Nice. My understanding is the laboratory machine shops have
| the same continuity issue.
| robocat wrote:
| Off topic, but this documentary on the glass blowing renaissance
| for bongs is really good:
| https://archive.org/details/DegenerateArt
|
| It's also on YouTube (but I can't work out how to canonicalise
| YouTube video urls).
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| The blog stopped updating in 2013. (I'm happy it still exists
| though.)
|
| Man, I love that "Age of DIY" that "Modern Mechanix" and other
| publications of that era reflected.
|
| I remember when I was a boy discovering volumes of the book "The
| Boy Mechanic" (yeah, that title: they were published around 1900
| though) on the bookshelf of a friend's home. I was captivated.
|
| I think the articles had just enough diagrams, photos,
| description to give you a nudge in the right direction without
| overwhelming you with exact part-lists, dimensional plans, etc.
| That vagueness might have even left the door open for
| experimentation (accidental or intentional) so that you arrive at
| your own design...
|
| At some point the "Popular Mechanics" became almost a front for
| some entrepreneur selling plans on ... converting a VW to an
| airplane in your garage, but that was okay too.
|
| Later I discovered the two volumes of "The Way Things Work" (not
| DIY at all, but in a similar spirit, I suppose).
|
| I love those old publications, miss the spirit of those days.
| mhb wrote:
| When I first heard that glass blowers called the _unwanted top of
| a blown object_ the _moil_ [1], I laughed and laughed.
|
| Why:
|
| _A mohel ... is a Jew trained in the practice of brit milah, the
| "covenant of circumcision."_[2]
|
| [1] https://www.cmog.org/glass-dictionary/moil
|
| [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohel
| johnhenry wrote:
| Wouldn't that make the glass blower the Mohel?
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