Zircar

[Kenny Pieper]

Originally Posted by Pete VanderLaan

Jeez Kenny, it's gorgeous. I intend to track Dave in the book. Include Ed Skeels, Dave, and Brian Blanthorn. Giants in the fringe really.

Hug your Henry doll tonight

Well I was serious. Doug at Sunspot Studios told me Strontium is what makes his glow in the dark glass work.

[Eben Horton]

Mmmmmmm glowblets ….

[Tom Fuhrman]

Originally Posted by Kenny Pieper

Well I was serious. Doug at Sunspot Studios told me Strontium is what makes his glow in the dark glass work.

that's right, strontium aluminate is what you need. I investigated that rabbit hole about 20 years ago. That's what they also use in kids shoes to may them glow.

[Pete VanderLaan]

Hayden Wilson had the glow bar color rod sales as I recall.

[Kenny Pieper]

Originally Posted by Pete VanderLaan

Hayden Wilson had the glow bar color rod sales as I recall.

Well no not quite his dad David Wilson, also a glass blower, many years ago came up with a bunch of glow in the dark stuff. It was all based on uranium I think. It was some sort of concentrate frit that could be added to clear if I remember correctly. Or a powder to be added to pieces.

I still have a big can of uranium. I at one time I was using it for a silver glass that would help with the color to luster the inside of piece.

This stuff from Doug is quite amazing. It is not quite like a duro but it holds up pretty well with making twisting cane. And when the lights go out what a surprise!

[Pete VanderLaan]

Thanks for the correction Kenny.

[Eben Horton]

David Wilson gave a demo at Penland when i was taking a class there in 1995. He made a big female torso and I was standing about 10 feet away from him with my arms folded across my chest talking to someone. He whacked off the ball at the bottom of the legs with a very violent WHACK and instead of hitting it down, he hit it from the underside. That ball went up into the air, and it must have gone close to the ceiling because about 3 or 5 seconds later, it landed perfectly inside my elbow and burned me pretty bad. I always caution people who whack in an upward angle and tell them the cautionary tale

[Tom Fuhrman]

That story doesn't surprise me for David. When I was at Penland in 1991 he was roaming all over the hot shop barefooted all the time. It drove Paul Stankard who was there at the time crazy. He offered some of his concoctions at numerous GAS conferences.

[Pete VanderLaan]

I'd rather do neon

[Kenny Pieper]

Originally Posted by Pete VanderLaan

I'd rather do neon

Well David does that also. Some traditional tubing but more often gassing up pieces he has blown and then electrifying them. Taught many classes at Penland about neon and gassing.
These days he spends more of his time installing solar systems. One of those guys that can do so many things...

[Jon Myers]

Originally Posted by James Burts

Thanks for pointing out a few things that I omitted.

The representative was expecting that this would be a unit with 2 separate elements (essentially one for the left side of the unit, one for the right). Each element would be likely 220v 19A, so the entire heater would draw 38A of 220v.

I asked the representative about whether they would have an existing mold that would be of somewhat similar dimensions. He reported back that he walked through their stock of existing molds and did not find anything that would work. I can certainly ask about smaller dimensions than the 11"d 40 pound pot that our conversation revolved around.

He did state that he was designing with a 2mm Kanthal APM wire in mind. According to charts I found on-line, that 2mm should be roughly a 12g wire. I can certainly ask about a thicker gauge wire. I'd be all for it, if it will mean a heater with greater longevity.

--James--

John Curtis used to make a little color furnace out of a 15 lb pot that was grooved on the outside so an element wire could be wound around it. It was packed in blanket and put in a bucket. It plugged into a 110v outlet and got to 2300. You could touch the outside. I don’t really remember where the thermocouple was placed but there was one somewhere.

[Michael Ahlefeldt-Laurvig]

So the idea of a grooved pot for elements around it seems like an excellent idea for a tiny color pot. Would it be feasible for your pot makers, Pete?
Could you 3d print a pot?

[Jordan Kube]

3d printing pots is really a non starter for a production setting, in my mind. It's totally possible, you just wouldn't want to do it.

[Pete VanderLaan]

I have trouble imagining pulling a pot from a mold which is what we do now with the small ones , without tearing up the grooving. I can imagine routing a groove in a green pot if it was straight walled. I can also imagine a short life for the pot. Extra time makes it more expensive.
I still have a conditioning chamber in the barn loft that went on the bottom of a fused silica pot that directly received glass from the furnace above. It had an entire set of grooves for elements and was to allow the glass to switch valence before going out through the platinum tube. Since it's made of fused silica, it's a one shot deal and I simply never did anything with it.