for all those..

[Eben Horton]

who think they need all the best tools and fancy equipment-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ts7-nNYzkU&feature=related

[Dave Bross]

Cool! Minimal but very clever.

[David Patchen]

I love stuff like that. Amazing. You've got to make the same thing 1000 times to have moves like that.

[Franklin Sankar]

I would like to see him do that with bottle glass.
So who can guess what kind of glass he is using?
Franklin

[Eben Horton]

I think its schott crystal :)

seriously... its probably bottle glass.

[Allan Gott]

.....what a hack......3 heats..........

[Allan Gott]

its probably bottle glass.

Whaddya think Franklin??????....ever melted bottle glass that stays hot that long?????

[Eben Horton]

I have... pay close attention to how quickly that piece cools..

[R. Scott Johnson]

i love the piece of metal stuck to his right pant leg. quite the improvised bench!

[Ben David]

i love the piece of metal stuck to his right pant leg. quite the improvised bench!
I think it is attached to the chair, like a movable arm. Difficult to see.

All the local Arab shops I've visited had similar setups. Less emphasis on a separate bench, and more focus on the heated marver, which helps keep the glass workable.

Franklin - that heated marver is something worth trying if you're working bottle glass. I am trying to fit one into my furnace design.

[Dave Bross]

Mark Lauckner had an old office chair with rails built onto the arms. A VERY portable bench.

I didn't catch the fact that the marver was heated...that's a great idea for short glass.

[Franklin Sankar]

As Pete keep telling me and it is hard to listen to it because ..well its just hard. You cant make pigs out of silk or is it ...the opposite. I cant repeat his truth.
I cant believe it is bottle glass. Is it really?
By the time I am out of the furnace it allows me one action then freezes. Adding Borox eats my pot depends on how much I add. But a little helps marginally. Working hotter in the furnace makes no sense also. It is runny and you cant gather as much as with a lower temp.
He must have found some kind of formula to make the glass stay workable longer. I found that I had to work thicker and bigger but if the big piece cools it takes a long time to heat up to the temp that allows longer working time. Its a very narrow window and you have to learn when to recognise it.
So a heated marver ??? its outside the window ...maybe . What do you all think, If the glass is not red its stiff.
Good glass is heaven.

Franklin

[Eben Horton]

how hot is your furnace franklin? How close are you when you work the glass to your furnace- There is a reason he is sitting so close to it-

[Larry Cazes]

Franklin, One thing I learned from a friend.......Lately when I work I do so solo and if possible I like the bench to be one small step from the glory hole and I use a heat shield to block the bulk of the heat from hole to the bench. I am not as coordinated as some and it allows me to get back into the bench after a reheat quickly and preserve the working time of the glass. I am slowly learning that economy of motion and bench and tool setup is very important to working the glass hot and thin.

[Eben Horton]

I think it is attached to the chair, like a movable arm. Difficult to see.

All the local Arab shops I've visited had similar setups. Less emphasis on a separate bench, and more focus on the heated marver, which helps keep the glass workable.

Franklin - that heated marver is something worth trying if you're working bottle glass. I am trying to fit one into my furnace design.

have you ever asked them where they get their glass??

[Lawrence Ruskin]

heated marver or not, that's not bottle glass....

this is where glassblowing started so I am sure it's batch...

[Eben Horton]

5th paragraph down.



http://imeu.net/news/article007701.shtml

send all tokens of apology, be it beer, unwanted glass tools or fishing tackle to my studio address :)

[Ted Trower]

The piece in the video appears to be a light blue. How much change, if any, would Franklin see in the heating characteristics of his bottle glass if he were to throw in some cobalt?

[Lawrence Ruskin]

I am still not sure.

I worked way too long with C-6 to be able to tell stiff glass from soft.

And just how hot can that marver be when you can see under the first 4 inches where the ashtray is?

As well his whole arm is over it when he gathers so it can't be that hot. Not hot enough to make a difference in hang time.

It set up quickly because it's thin, and I must say well made...

[Brice Turnbull]

I think it's bottle glass, or something very similar. Look at how big his gather is. That's some stiff glass.

Also, when he opens the rim and puts in the ruffle he has a maximum of 12 seconds from the time he pulls the vase out of the furnace door until it is too rigid to move. At 13 seconds, he tips it upright and the rim does not change shape from the gravity.

So in a Western style studio, you might spend 4 seconds walking to your bench, 4 seconds sitting down and picking up your jacks, which would leave you 5 or 6 seconds of mobile glass, imagining it retains heat a little longer before it's been thinned and worked with. That's a very short glass. It might well be melted from sand in his furnace, but the charecteristics are like bottle glass.

With practice, you could do a good bit of shaping in 5 or 6 seconds, but you'd better do your thinking while the piece is in the glory-hole, and be quick with the hand actions! The real problem is that it would take dozens of repititions to learn how to do one step well; each repitition resulting in more fresh cullet. Not much room for experimenting with different shapes on different days I suppose.

I'm not advocating anyone working in a studio like that, or in a process like that, I'm just noting what I see there.

[Franklin Sankar]

My bench is close, I can get in with 3 steps and at that time I have my jacks in my hand. The test is if you can make a horse with bottle glass.

The article said household glass, not sure if that means bottles mixed with other plates drinking glasses etc. I would say you really wont collect much broken wares compared with bottles. I get my bottles from the bars. They dont like people who dont drink mixing with the customers. Not good for business so they dispatch me quickly with my free bottles.
The part where he stretches the glass , maybe if I have a big gather it would stretch like that but I cant get such a long stretch on one with my smaller gathers. He seem to get a big gather but if the furnace is very hot the glass would be runny so he must have a trick to get a big gather. He rolls on the maver for some time, that is amazing, the length of time.

Then when he cracks it off, how many flashes did you see? He put on the wrap and reheated the neck for some time but not much flashing going on there. If it is bottle he has the timing spot on, I am surprised the bottom did not start to crack. Maybe that is the trick, forget the bottom it has to come off next.????

I tried cobolt and copper in the bottle and they worked well. Green bottles and brown bottles also. The brown seem to get hot quicker.
What about the furnace. Invested pot??? then he can add borox like crazy. Or maybe he makes his own pot.
Did you notice a box he used the do something it was at eye level and he rolled the piece in it. What????

Franklin

[Dan Ellis]

Franklin, That looks like a vertical marver. Maybe something like an "L" marver use often in lampworking. It sorta looks like it has a short side (on the right side) and bottom piece, picture a box with a bottom and two sides but the top and the other two sides are cut off.

If you pause the video and look at it full screen you may be able to see it better.

[Ben David]

5th paragraph down.

http://imeu.net/news/article007701.shtml

send all tokens of apology, be it beer, unwanted glass tools or fishing tackle to my studio address :)

Best to take most of the historical stuff in that article with a grain of salt, as well. Hebron was likely never more than a satellite of Damascus - a known center for glass and enamelled metalwork. That's why inlaid metal is called "Damascene ware".

It's also unlikely that the Crusaders could have taught the Arabs of the time anything about glass or ceramics! Venice gained its fame largely by learning Arab enamel, glaze, and metalwork techniques, not the other way around.

Yes Franklin, the Hebron stuff is recycled glass, heavily colored. I'd say 90 percent of the tourist stuff I've seen is relatively thick-walled and in solid colors - mostly cobalt blue or turquoise. They make "evil eye" beads using either torch or murrine techniques, and some of the stuff is later decorated with enamel. But no fancy coloring in the hot work stage. Maybe the melt is conditioned with potash from the nearby Dead Sea?

And yes, they make bongs - or more precisely, hookah/water-pipes with brass fittings. At least they used to.

[Franklin Sankar]

The glass looked easier to work with so I am not surprised that they add something to it.
Thanks Ben, I dont understand much (except from the Bible) about whats happening in your part of the world and was tempted to ask you to spy( not intended to offend) on them for me but you came through, thanks for the info. I can put my bottle glass to sleep once more. I tried pulling cane also but it was splitting and useless. Can you...how can I put it nicely...find out anymore?
Franklin

[Jay Holden]

i love the piece of metal stuck to his right pant leg. quite the improvised bench!


If you look more closely you'll see that it's a pair of large tweezers.
Jay.

[Ben David]

The glass looked easier to work with so I am not surprised that they add something to it.

Whatever they are adding cannot be very expensive.
I had hoped this post would be more encouraging to you... they are putting out some nice stuff based on recycled glass and a low-tech setup.

Thanks Ben, I don't understand much (except from the Bible) about whats happening in your part of the world

Not much has changed since then!
And nobody understands what's going on, so don't waste your time trying...

Can you...how can I put it nicely...find out anymore?

If you mean "any more" information - there's not much, these operations are very basic. You'll see the same 2 basic setups if you Google "Hebron glass" or "Arab glass":

- the tunnel or hummock furnace, as shown in the link above. These can have several pots/tanks inside, several work stations, and the far end from the burner can open into a lehr-type annealing bay.

- a smaller "fount" style, freestanding furnace.

In both cases there is usually no dedicated glory hole, the worker does not use a separate bench, and there are several small stone/metal marvers built in to the furnace.

This is how the potash glasses of this area have always been worked, and these techniques hold some keys to effective work with modern recycled container glass. European bench-based techniques grew out of just one place and time in the history of glass. Everyone wants to make a Venetian goblet, but as a Jewish sage said, "Who is wise? He who learns from every person."

Regarding the glass they use - the general environment is not just "third world" - it is oppressive and lawless. No free international trade without a lot of bribery and connections. I would think it impossible to batch glass locally in an economical way. I believe it when they say they are using waste glass - that also explains the type of work they are making.

My guess is not much plate glass around, due to slowed construction. Are they melting with borax? Lots of potash/soda flux? Don't know. They may very well be adding lead - it's cheap and there's no government regulation.

They can probably import potash from the Jordanian Dead Sea works, and minerals used in the ceramics industry from elsewhere in the Arab world or Asia (trade with Israel can get you killed as a "collaborator"). Maybe there is an Asian source for borax, too. But they are not using anything exotic, and it can't possibly be easier for them than it is for you or I. Which leads to...

...If you mean "any more" as in "can an Israeli or foreigner visit safely any more" - I would not risk it. Take a look at those Google results - almost all those posting photos of the Hebron hot shops are on officially sanctioned "fact-finding" tours, or passing through with other "handlers".

I did not know enough about the process to ask better questions when I did visit these workshops. Now I regret it. I think there may be a few Arab glassblowers still working in the Galilee area.

[Franklin Sankar]

Thanks Ben, it seems that my hormones are acting up again thanks to Hebron.
Franklin

[Eben Horton]

and now for something completely different :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DVSaanSlAI

[Tom Fuhrman]

There is a lot of borax available from companies in Turkey. They export a lot of borax to China for their glass industry. They also have some other chemicals and minerals available as well. This could be their source.

[Dave Bross]

Here's a good one, answers some of the questions:

http://www.palestinetoday.org/gallery/Hebron-Glass