Working solo to Make a goblet

[Franklin Sankar]

Bill G is my hero for working solo . Is there any one who works solo making a goblet but with a different method to Bill.
Franklin

[Art Freas]

Not goblet but we have a person that rents time at our shop that does incalmo and paperweight incalmo vases solo. Amazing to watch.

[Pete VanderLaan]

Working solo is all I've ever done, more out of necessity than anything else. That includes stemware.

With a garage, I know of very intricate work done solo. Otherwise , timing is really critical.

I just like it because I can always find my tools where I left them.

[Franklin Sankar]

Thanks for the replies. So it seems that the difference is in the use of a garage.
The timing part is key for sure but recognizing the heat in the glass is not easy.
I need to keep it going and not shut down for such long periods.
Franklin

[Shawn Everette]

A garage is certainly helpful with multi piece work, but a will finds a way. Watching Toso with a killer gaffer and every assistant at the beckoning was a complete contrast to Bill alone with a hot box at his feet. Good glass helps too...

[Eben Horton]

A small color box that has a top loading door is far more useful than a garage if you are blowing solo.

[Franklin Sankar]

Ok how about this. Can you share a link illustrate your technique?
Franklin

[Pete VanderLaan]

Originally Posted by Eben Horton

A small color box that has a top loading door is far more useful than a garage if you are blowing solo.

****
The other tool I've seen used was a wire hot box that had no top or bottom. You can hang up a piece and have the wire kiln surround the gathered glass at about 1150F and it keeps it ready while you work on some other part.

There must be Youtubes of these things. It's no state secret. We might be keeping it from Trinidad though.

Oh... and yes to that "good glass"

[Art Freas]

"A small color box that has a top loading door is far more useful than a garage if you are blowing solo."

Very true, thats what we have in our shop. Our solo blower puts the granny next to it. When he picks up for incalmo he puts the blow pipe in the granny, picks up the cup with a punty and then takes them both back to the hole.

[Tom Fuhrman]

when I was at Penland in 91 there was a guy there that I think his name was Judd Gerrard that was making air twist stemmed goblets solo , took him about 15 minutes and every move was precise. I'm not sure whatever happened to him. I had one of his goblets for a long time but may have gotten lost in a move.

[Franklin Sankar]

Bill said making the neck is the most important thing in making the piece.
That is so true.
Franklin

[Eben Horton]

Originally Posted by Franklin Sankar

Bill said making the neck is the most important thing in making the piece.
That is so true.
Franklin

I disagree. Not loosing the heat from your gather is the most important thing in goblet making. The jack line is important but you can still make a good goblet if your jack line is sub par.

Not so if you have to reheat a million times

[Greg Vriethoff]

Originally Posted by Eben Horton

I disagree. Not loosing the heat from your gather is the most important thing in goblet making. The jack line is important but you can still make a good goblet if your jack line is sub par.

Not so if you have to reheat a million times

That's as far as I've ever gotten with a multi-part goblet. Get the foot open all nice and everything is straight, but I still let the moile get ice-cold. Never had a good transfer.

So I would have to agree that temperature is more important.

Everything we do in glass boils-down to temperature and time.

[Pete VanderLaan]

It also depends on the goblet you're making. Straight ahead goblets can be made in about seven minutes. If you want dragons flying out of cupids ass, it takes more time.
I really disliked making things that people were afraid to handle. Inevitably those things wound up high up and pushed back on shelves where they couldn't be damaged. When I was selling through Neiman Marcus, that was a frequent problem. The staff was terrified about damaging the work and they hated cleaning it. The buyers loved it. Onnce the work went in the direction of massive solid stuff, those problems went away.

Our house tender in NM managed to break the bulk of our stemware collection. Maria solved her own problems. My simple stems have lasted decades. The stems we sold in the Santa Fe gallery were usually thin but well executed. Chuck Savoie's stems did quite well though, an exception. The ones from Guy Corrie sold well . I never liked them since the lips were finished on a belt sander and that left a crunchy sort of feel in your mouth. I often felt the urge to bite them

[Ted Trower]

Originally Posted by Art Freas

Our solo blower puts the granny next to it. When he picks up for incalmo he puts the blow pipe in the granny, picks up the cup with a punty and then takes them both back to the hole.

Sorry Art, but what's a "granny"

[Jordan Kube]

Pipe hanger

[Franklin Sankar]

No hanging, I leave it on the bench and it does not sag if any at all. Does that mean not enough heat.?
Franklin

[Franklin Sankar]

Granny. Old lady who is well respected. You don’t want to mess with her. She has a stick. Maybe that is what I need. One stick on my back and I will do it perfectly.
Franklin

[Shawn Everette]

Depends on your glass and what you're trying to do, but in many cases yes. Pretty much any studio I've worked in had a pipe hanger, doesn't need to be anything fancy.

[Art Freas]

Could not find a picture on line. Will take one next time I am down at the shop.

[Greg Vriethoff]

Originally Posted by Franklin Sankar

No hanging, I leave it on the bench and it does not sag if any at all. Does that mean not enough heat.?
Franklin

Technically, yes.

One of the "rules" my first glassblowing instructor (and subsequent ones as well) taught me is that the glass should always be moving. If your connections (jack line or punty) "freeze" it means the glass is too cold, and you're now going to have to put heat back into it before you try to crack it off (refer to Eben's comments above).

This is more challenging when blowing solo, and I have seen many people (myself included) get away with transfers that are far too cold. This is especially important when trying to work thinner. Thicker glass will "tolerate" more abuse at the bench, but will most often exact its revenge in the annealer.

Bill works very fast. If you watch his movements closely you will see that he does not leave the glass unattended for long. This is one of the downsides of the edited videos from CMOG. They are good for educating civilians, but if you can't watch someone working real-time you're going to miss a lot of important stuff.

Keep it hot and keep it turning is the mantra.

[Pete VanderLaan]

I count in my head from the beginning to the end. I know where I should be at any time. I don't talk at all. I don't hum, nothing.

[Rich Samuel]

Does Pilchuck still ban pipe hangers in the name of teamwork only? Post-COVID, probably not a wise policy.

[Shawn Everette]

The last time I was on the pad about 12 years ago, I was probably 2 sheets to the wind doing a end of session solo challenge making a cowboy hat with only a modified copper pipe for a tool. I can't say as I remember seeing a pipe hanger, but it sure would have come in handy. Can't say as I remember much about the rest of the night either, and I might be better off for it.

[Eben Horton]

Back to goblets ..

Footed vases are a good warm up for making solo goblets. Look at English and Swedish ones for inspiration, as those styles of glass making are far more friendly to make and sell