Lampworking, aka Glassblowing, is a type of glass work that I’ve always wanted to learn, but unfortunately they no longer offer classes here at Penn State. It’s a profession that’s not easy to get into, but a science that’s intricate in it’s design. It uses a torch to melt cylindrical rods of glass using specific tools, skillful hand movements, and gravity–> blowing.
My goal for utilizing the topic of glassblowing for my passion posts is to get a better background into the art so that maybe I could have a better chance of taking it up later on in my life. So to start, I will begin with the basics…
Lampworkers use metal (graphite/steel) shapers, flat surfaces for rolling, molds, and glass. They also use borosilicate “hard” glass or soda-lime “soft” glass.Borosilicate is used for making lamp work beads, glass jewelry, semiconductors, cookware, and much more due to its durability and it’s tendency to only melt at extremely high temperatures.
It is made from a combination of boron and silicate (and also sodium oxide, potassium oxide, and calcium oxide.) It is very durable due to its resistance to thermal shock. Meaning that the melting point is at a very high temperature and has very low coefficients of thermal expansion. Which also means that when it is cooled, if ends up breaking, it does not shatter, does not easily get stress fractures, is less dense, and does not melt or morph in heat. Borosilicate is used for jewelry, marbles, sculpting, glass mirrors, tobacco pipes, optical lenses, medical tools, and much more. It is completely versatile!
