Introducing Glassblowing Tools
Aperçu des sections
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A tool in the form of a rectangular wooden paddle with a handle. Battledores are mainly used to smooth or form the bottoms of vessels and other objects.
It can also be used by the assistant to protect the glassmaker from the heat when blowing large pieces.
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A tool made from a block of wood hollowed out to form a hemispherical recess. After it has been dipped in water to reduce charring and to create a “cushion” of steam, the block is used to form the gather into a oblong sphere before it is inflated.
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Long metal tubes at the end of which a quantity of molten glass is collected and through which air is passed to expand and shape it. An iron or steel pipe, usually four to five feet long, for blowing glass. Long metal tubes at the end of which a quantity of molten glass is collected and through which air is passed to expand and shape it. Refractory steel tube, usually 145 cm long (4.75 feets) , used to blow glass. The metal tubes are shaped so that on one side they have a nozzle of a shape suitable for holding it in the mouth and on the other side they have a wider shape (called a Mors) to allow the hot glass to be annealed.
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Round wooden or metal containers holding water. They are filled with water to cool wooden tools after use. Moulds, canes and hot glass are sometimes placed in them, today more often in metal or plastic. It is also used to capture, hold or transport liquids or solids. Pipe buckets used to place the blowpipe after this operation.
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A tool consisting of two rectangular pieces of wood joined at one end by a leather hinge. There is an aperture in one of the pieces of wood, and this holds the stem of a goblet or wineglass while it is being made. The clapper is used to squeeze a blob of glass in order to form the foot. Brown wood, probably apple or pear wood, leather; handmade.
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The protractor is the most basic geometric instrument after the rule for drawing shapes or for measurements. In glassmaking, the compass is used to check the dimensions of a glass piece against a template.
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Duckbill shears: special scissors with short blades and curved blunt tips used primarily for trimming the lips of vessels. Diamond shear: jaw-like scissors designed to cut hot glass or grip blowpipes, punties, or other hot objects.
Diamond shear: jaw-like scissors designed with two parts, one to cut hot glass and an other to grip blowpipes, punties, or other hot object.
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Jacks consist of two metal blades joined by a spring-like handle. The distance between the arms is controlled by the glassworker, who uses jacks for a variety of purposes while shaping the parison (for example, to form the mouths of open vessels). Depending on the angle at which the blades are held, jacks can be used to: shape the vessel as it is being inflated, create a constriction to help separate the glass from the blowpipe, or flare the opening of a vessel. The glassworker controls the distance between the blades to change the shape of the glass as it is rotating.
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Hard, flat surfaces of stone, wood, or metal on which a mass of molten glass gathered on the end of a blowpipe or pontil is rolled and shaped in glassmaking.
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A pallet is a wooden board with a handle, used to flatten the glass and re-centre the piece when reworking with a puntil, particularly the base or foot of a container. A palette becomes burned from being used against hot glass. Sometimes a glassmaker's assistant protects the glassmaker from excess radiant heat by using the pallet as a shield.
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A tool consisting of a square or rectangular piece of wood or metal and a handle. It is used to flatten the bases of vessels.
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A tool made of two pieces of metal with blunt concave jaws that are arranged like the blades of scissors, used for gripping and pulling things.
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Bucket where you put the pipes after using them.
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A punty, is an iron rod in function of diameter they used to hold glass vessels, gather glass or shape soft glass. Punty or pontil is an essential tool for glass blowing which helps the practitioner to hold the workpiece in place while working on its design. A punty is an iron rod used to hold or shape soft glass. After you have blown and shaped the glass vessel according to its requirements, in the first part of working, you will need to attach a punty to that vessel’s bottom portion. It will hold the vessel as you finish your work on the top area for example to open the neck of the vase. Because of its attachment at the bottom, you may often see a ring-like scar under your vases or bottles made of glass.
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A tool used as a puffer to further inflate a vessel after it has been removed from the blowpipe and is attached to the pontil. It consists of a curved metal tube attached to a conical nozzle. The glassblower reheats the vessel, inserts the nozzle into its mouth so that the aperture is blocked, and then inflates the vessel by blowing through the tube.
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Equipment and their spatial configuration setup at the glass workshop at CERFAV.
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A glassworker’s tool used for decorating objects by pinching the glass while it is hot. Tweezers are a pair of metal squeezing tools with pointed tips. The tool is used to grasp and stretch glass.
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A flexible block of sorts made entirely of wet newspaper. It can be used to shape hot glass directly with the hand and offers a better feeling of contact and control with the hot material. It is folded in a special and effective way to prevent it from deteriorating too quickly. Recycled newsprint is often used.
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