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How to Cheaply Get Started in Glass Blowing

Glassblowing is nothing new. In fact, the technique was known before the birth of Jesus Christ. It was invented about 50 B.C., and blown-glass soon became common throughout the Roman Empire. The technique is simple: Glass is heated into a molten blob and inflated by a small amount of air. The glass hardens as it cools. Getting started in glassblowing is easier than you might think and doesn't have to cost a lot, either.

Things You'll Need

Soda-lime glass
Butane or propane burner
Blow torch
Sharp file or a knife
Graphite cones
Two stage rotary pump
Fe52 or Ni48 wire
Syndanio board
Coffee tin
Ceramic fiber wool or vermiculite

Instructions

- 1
  Buy soda-lime glass tubes for your glassblowing as they are cheaper than most other options. This type of glass is very common as it is used to make many bottles and jars. Soda-lime glass also has a low softening temperature, which is the heat it takes to soften the glass.
- 2
  Buy new glass. Glass that has been stored away will degrade and could be difficult to use.
- 3
  Purchase 50 soda-lime glass tubes with an 8-mm diameter and a 0.8 mm wall thickness. Get the same amount of 12-mm diameter tubes with a wall thickness of 1 mm.
- 4
  Acquire a butane or propane burner for glass blowing. The soda-lime glass does not need a fancy burner, so you can save money here.
- 5
  Buy a blow torch to seal off the pumping tubes. Make sure it has a fine jet and air adjustment for intricate jobs.
- 6
  Get a sharp file or a knife for scratching tubes. Scratching is the process of making a slight cut in the glass and is the first step in the process of cutting a glass tube down to a smaller size.
- 7
  Get some graphite cones as they are handy when it comes to flaring the tube ends. You also can flatten hot glass with a cone's flat end. Graphite is heat-resistant, so there is no danger.
- 8
  Acquire a two-stage rotary pump if you want to make glass vacuum devices like light bulbs. You will need an oil diffusion pump for making thermionic valves, also known as vacuum tubes. These are electrical devices that can be used to create or amplify electrical signals, found in such things as high-power radio transmitters.
- 9
  Pick up Fe52 wire or Ni48 wire and use it for glass-to-metal seal wire. These varieties of wire are compatible with soda-lime glass. A glass-to-metal seal wire helps to make an airtight connection between the metal and glass parts in devices like vacuum tubes and light bulbs.
- 10
  Use a syndanio board as a heatproof surface to work on. This should be at least 20 inches by 14 inches.
- 11
  Use a tin coffee can filled with ceramic fiber wool as an annealing container. Alternatively, you could fill the tin with vermiculite as it is cheap and does a good job. Whichever method you choose, this tin will cool down hot glass parts.

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