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GLASS Where did glass come from? The history of glass. Glassware dates back at least 6,000 years, and Egyptians produced and used glass some 3,000 years ago. Some early Egyptian glass can still be found in museums today. Egyptians are credited with the invention of the blowpipe that Romans subsequently adopted and blew glass not only for the table and decorative use, but for windows and glass tiles for their floors. Glassware was not introduced to the western market until the early 19th century since most people, until then, could not afford it. Pewter and wood were used for drinking ware. Glass is composed primarily of sand, potash and other ingredients. First the ingredients are melted in tanks. This mixture is called the batch. In that first melting, all ingredients melt together in temperatures ranging from 1000 to 2000 degrees. Another melting process then takes place in which most of the gas and air bubbles escape. Each melting process takes about 12 hours. Hand-made glass In hand-made glass, the glassmaker inserts the iron blowpipe into the furnace opening and takes a gob of molten material on the end of his iron blowpipe, and shapes the glass by spinning the pipe, blowing the entire time. This is called offhand forming and will result in a bubble or gob. In another technique for producing hand-made stemware, molten glass on the end of the blowpipe is inserted into a mold and then blown in the mold to form the bowl of the stem. The master craftsperson then receives the pipe from the blower who has formed the bowl at the end. The craftsperson casts a small amount of molten glass on the bowl, and with stem shears, which resemble giant tweezers, pulls the stem into the desired form. Another gob of glass is then added to form the foot that is formed into a flat disc. To produce bowls or vases or other hollow items, the blower produces a large bubble at the end of the blowpipe. The master craftsperson takes the pipe, and keeping the glass in motion by rolling the pipe on his bench, shears and cuts the glass with special tools to begin the hollow piece. Machine-made glass There are also methods of producing glassware totally with machines. Here, molten glass gobs are injected into specially treated moulds to produce the bowls, vases or stemware. After the glassware is slowly cooled, it moves to the next process, which is the removal of the caps where the piece was broken off the original blowpipe. This is usually done on a machine that makes a cut with a diamond blade. The area cut by the blade is heated with a flame, causing the cap to snap off. In another method, the sharp uneven edges are ground off and the rims are polished with either special tools or acid polish. In the burn-off process, a bead of glass is formed around the rim. After the caps are taken off, the pieces are ready for quality inspection. Cut Crystal Decoration In cut crystal, the decoration is either done by hand or machine. If by hand, a worker must mark the glass with a crayoned design to guide the cutter to make the appropriate designs with a rough course grit wheel. Fine cutting then follows giving a smooth finish, but the cut remains with a matte grey finish. An acid polish removes the silky matte finish of the cut, causing its brilliance. The manufacture of glassware can be expensive due to the amounts of heat required to melt raw materials, and, in the case of hand-made glassware, it is very labour intensive, adding to the costs. The more hand operations, the more artistic skill required, and therefore the more expensive the product. What are the different types of drinkware that Your Habitat sells, & what are they used for?
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