This is the text/HTML version of early issues of Hot Glass Bits Glass Newsletter. Copyright claimed for all original material. Duplication without permission for other than individual personal use is prohibited.

Hot Glass Bits as a name was applied after a card was sent to people in the glassblowing glass at Junction Texas, so there is no Hot Glass Bits #1.

Hot Glass Bits #2-7 were published originally as 4x6 cards, folded to send as a 19 cent packet.

Hot Glass Bits #2 Reprint Aug 91
The show I mentioned, Hot August Nights; Hot Glass, Hot Artists, turns out to have a lot more blown glass than I expected. Most of the sculptural pieces have substantial flat polished surfaces. Several others are eccentric spun. Very few have heavy doses of color although all have some. At Kittrell/Riffkind Art Glass, Inc. in Olla Podrida in north central Dallas August 1-31. Not a large showing, 30-40 pieces; 8-10 artists (est.)

Glass Directions 91, the show of artists from or shown at a gallery in, the Dallas area, will September 13th (evening opening) to the 22nd in a corner of the Trammel Crow Center downtown next to the Art Museum. Last year only one artist had blown glass, but very good examples of etched, sagged, fused and stained glass.
Vickie took an alternative route on getting a copy of the tape: she sent a blank tape in a package I can return mail with some postage ($2.90 is needed for first class/priority mail; about $2 for parcel post. Hers is mailed.

If I continue in glass, I will have to build most of the equipment myself. I have been looking at the cost of welding equipment, etc., so the lure is still there. I tend to buy tools for the long term. I priced stainless steel tubing for pipes. The good news is that materials for a pipe seem to be about $20. The bad news is the minimum order of $150 which buys enough tubing for 10-15 pipes depending on wall thickness. Would you suggest good sources for bulk materials here in Texas? If you know of a glass show in advance or visit a show that is worth seeing, or have some other area to comment on drop me a note. 8/13/91

Hot Glass Bits #3 Sept. 91
A class in flameworking glass is being offered November 9-11 at Kittrell/Riffkind Art Glass in Olla Podrida in Dallas. The instructor is Waine Archer and the cost is $300. That Monday is a federal holiday and the class will be about 8 hours a day. According to a representative, the glass will include pyrex and soft tube working, colored rod, and equipment safety with many demos. Call 214-239-7957 8/26/91

I got the catalog sheet from Jim Moore, who made the highly praised jacks Vickie had at the class. Prices have risen from my class notes, the diamond shears from $45 to $50. The jacks I noted at $70-80 are now $85 for 8", $100 for 9" and $130 for 10 1/2". $7-10 shipping. Jim Moore, Tools for Glass, P.O.Box 30936, Seattle WA 98103 8/31/91

THE INDEPENDENT GLASSBLOWER (David Gruenig, Independent Glass Blower, % Gruenig Glass Works, Main St., W.Barnet VT 05821) is a quarterly "information exchange" newsletter costing $25/yr. Past years came out more often and are available at $25/yr. Past topics include Crystal Recipes, Eye Protection, Burner Mounts, and Stoppers for Perfume Bottles. 9/3/91 I paid for issues 18-22 (the last 4). These issues are eight pages of editorial, one of business card size ads, which include studios selling out. Issues consist of an article and useful letters with longish replies from Gruenig. Seems well targeted an working blowers. No mention of shows or exhibits. Topics (#20) Pulling Cane, Glory Hole Opener, glass formulas, cleaning blow pipes and preventing problems, saving energy. Issue #18 has a precise report on light output risks from working glass. 9/13/91

Wale Apparatus (400 Front St.,P.O.Box D, Hellertown PA 18055) has had a very good price on didymium glasses, $29.95 for clip-ons in the 4/91 price list, but it is no more, as they now cost $59.95. Wale is a source for miscellaneous items, such as grit ($4.15/lb), gloves, and polariscopes, many of which are related to tubing work. 9/9/91

Ed Hoy's International (1620 Frontenac Road, Naperville IL 60563-1762, 1-800- HOT-GLAS) has a HotLine tm catalog of supplies that includes most of the basic supplies I have seen in other catalogs along with a rich variety of glass in many forms and short and full-sized blowing tools. Some prices are clearly wrong (a video tape, Cat.No.6200 is 51.87 on page 14 and $29 on page 41) and in the flame working area the choice is between a $49.50 torch and a $729 Bethlehem Bench Burner for large Pyrex.

The Glass Directions 91 show I mentioned turned out to be almost identical to last year's. One piece of blown glass, by the same artist, Judi Weilbacher. Some interesting fused/sagged figures and pieces included in stained glass assemblies. In terms of visual interest, I thought the best pieces were a pair by Ted Emrick made of hundreds of pieces of shaped, stacked window glass, with other kinds of glass included. This is the major activity of The Dallas Society of Glass Artists. Nothing at the show includes the phone, membership cost or address of the Society. 9/13/91

If you are shopping for temperature measurement, consider Grainger, which also sells Dayton blowers and other industrial supplies. Seattle Pottery Supply sells a Fluke two reading digital pyrometer for $215, single reading $165. Grainger sells the same products at $189 & $139 and has an A.W.Sperry dual point measurement for $79.95. Differences? Fluke is accurate to .1% of reading + 1.3°F, while Sperry is .3%+2°F (at 1500 degrees that is 2.8 vs 6.5°F) The Fluke is supposed to read to 2498°F, while the Sperry goes to 2000°F, but this seems moot, since the sensors listed by Grainger are only rated to 1500-1650°F max. Seattle Pottery does seem to have lower prices on the heavy duty thermocouples. Grainger has 324 local sales branches including 28 in Texas, 2639 Main St. Dallas TX 75226 214-748-4600. 2300 page catalog. 9/10/91

If Fiberfrax is useful to you, and you are thinking of making a lehr or fusing kiln, Thorpe Products, 214-638-8990, Craig, the Dallas distributor, has several hundred square feet of 2" thick, 48" wide, 4# density, 2000°F blanket at $1.44/sq.ft. (12.5 feet long, 50 sq.ft. per package.) This is not suitable for a glory hole or furnace, but has plenty of margin for other uses. I have no price comparisons other than $1.20 for 2300°F 1" 6#, $1.99 for 2" 2000°F and $1.79 for 6# 2" 1900°F from the same source and $1.125 for 1" 4# and $1.69 for 1" 6# (Kaowool with full roll discount) from Seattle Pottery. 9/25/91

If you know of any glass periodicals I would like to get names and addresses.
#3 Sent 13 card sets, 4 pages, 9/25/91, to people identified with # in DB, students, teacher, artists

Hot Glass Bits #4 Reprint Dec 91
Dedell Gas Burner & Equipment Co. (R.R.1, Box 2135, Newfane VT 05345, 802-365-4575) has venturi and blower burners. Both come in various sizes and with lots of options (cutoff valves, pilots, gauges, brackets.) The B-4 1.5" venturi model (78,400 BTU on 7" natural gas) with burner head and manual gas control valve is $138.50. The same model with a Giberson Ceramic Burner Head is $26.50 more. (Giberson heads are $90 separately from Dedell, $85 from Giberson) The P-240 blower model with 60 CMF blower (240,000 BTU from 7" gas) is $270 with manual air shutter, cast iron burner, manual control valve and Ransome atmospheric pilot. Because the burner head is so much simpler than the Ransome head, the Giberson head (with 2" to 1 1/2" reducer) is priced at $75 extra when included ($100 separately with reducer and pilot extension). A Vari-Speed motor control is $30 installed, low pressure shutoff valve is $80.25 (plus 10.75 for thermocouple), pressure gauges $45. The pilot burner is a 5,600 BTU unpressurized venturi burner for preheating and relighting after short power failures. Comparative prices: Dedell: $455 for a Giberson head blower system with safety cutoff and pilot and $314 for a Giberson head venturi unit with cutoff and pilot vs. $222 for a hand-built Gib.head blower unit with cutoff, but no pilot. 10/11/91

Penland School (Penland NC 28765) has three sessions each year, Fall and Spring Concentration with one glass class each and Summer with several. Fall C.91 is Sept.30 to Nov.22 with Peter Andress; Spring C.92 is March 16-May 8, with Dudley Giberson. $2400 each plus room & board ($1080 dorm - $2680 sgl w/bath), class fees ($?) and transportation. Giberson's course is multi-level, many techniques, with emphasis on operating a small studio and exploration of how equipment is made. 10/11/91

Ty Brunson is traveling up to Lubbock once a week to keep blowing. I (Mike Firth) am slowly working toward melting glass. I have starting working with some tubing used for neon signs, fairly cheap, awkward to handle so far. I may put neon in some blown pieces later and I want to make some tubular pieces with water, colored water, air and maybe some fish. If you want to work with glass tubing, the soft glass used with neon/argon gases comes in one or two millimeter steps from 5 to 18 mm in clear and colors. Probably needs dual flames to work, single torch contributes to problems. 10/15/91

American Craft (American Craft Association, Box 3000, Denville NJ 07834, membership $90, student $45, bi-monthly) (formerly Craft Horizons) is a slick looking journal with a fair amount of hot glass in the issue (Oct/Nov 91, Vol.51 #5) I found in the local community college library. Editorial content suggests recent changes reflecting creation of the craft association, membership run, within the American Craft Council. Ads include galleries and Glass '92, a competition in Japan. Articles include profiles with a long one of Marvin Lipofsky, who blows into wooden molds to create undulating forms. He has blown at 25 different schools and factories and edited the Glass Art Society mag before 1980. Gallery ads show glass and a section recapping recent gallery shows with pictures has portion just for glass. Future shows are announced in a text only section, state by state. Photo quality seems excellent; you might try looking it up. 10/24/91

Theoretically, a good source for scrap glass would be broken plate glass windows. Typically, these window are four to eight feet on a side and a quarter inch or more thick. Most are cleaned up by boarding services and are replaced by glass companies. One bad point is that most services simply dump the glass in the nearest dumpster, so a glass user would have to convince someone to dump it in a metal garbage can (probably provided by the user) and bring it back, or call the user along on a clean up. Another bad point is that window glass, like bottles, is essentially fast hardening glass, so chemicals would have to be added if it is to work more easily. 11/2/91

Jay Von Koffler has been getting a lot of promotion in this area, courtesy of Kittrell/Riffkind Art Glass and his studio in Prosper Texas. He had a clip on 8 Country Reporter. Koffler is blind in one eye and color blind and blows with an audience in a dark building (lighted by the furnaces) and very very loud music. One of his themes is to make pieces he says fit a science fiction story. He does a lot of cold working and a fair amount of gluing. 12/2/91

The 1992 Junction Experience flier has arrived. Tuition prices have actually gone down a bit (fr. $116 to $95 for TX residents, now $301 for non-res.) while room & board has gone up a bit ($85 to $87.50 a week). Total cost about the same. (Junction Experience, Dept. of Art, Mail Stop 2081, Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock TX 70409-2081. [Junction is on I-10, west of Austin TX, south of Abilene, in the Hill Country. Deer and hummingbirds abound, besides glass, classes in kites, paper making and sculpture are offered.] 12/18/91

Best of the Holidays and the New Year to you all.
#4 12/18/91 sent

Hot Glass Bits #5 Reprint  January 92
 The catalog of the Summer 1992 Penland School of Crafts (Penland NC 28765 704-765-2359) arrived. Class topics (in order) are Hot Glass Smorgasbord*, Lampworking Soft Glass*, Hot Glass/Sculpture, Hot Glass-a-Rama, Basic Hot Glass, Hot Glass for Expression^, Hot Glass Vessels*, Flameworking Frontiers*, Hot Glass. [* pairs are in the same session.]
  The first and last entries are specifically for beginners. The last is one week ($490), others are two weeks ($950) except ^ which is 2 1/2 weeks ($1190). Figures given are for tuition, board (21 meals/week) and dorm room. For a two week session add amounts shown for Double ($90), Dbl W/Bath ($180), Single ($220) and Sgl w/bath ($420). Add also transportation (plus $60 round trip from Asheville if needed) and materials fee ($unknown). Other activities at the site include Book Arts, Ceramics, Drawing, Fibers, Glass, Iron, Metals, Paper, Photography, Printmaking, Surface Design, and Wood. 12/30/91

If you know of someone who might be interested in these notes or could contribute something to them, tell them or send us a name and address. If you know of a showing of glass in the Southwest, drop us a note. If you do something interesting, let us know. 1/10/92

Penland (addr.above) has announced a program for full training of crafts people in ceramics, glass, or metals in a one or two year program. In addition to studio work, the program will include drawing and design, business practices, history of crafts and other supportive subjects. Each year will involve three two-month sections - fall, winter, spring - with beginners taking two years and intermediates or advanced possibly taking one. All students will be scholarship as in current Concentrations (which I had not noticed before - MF) with work study. Information is from Penland Line Winter 1992, a newsletter 1/16/92

The New York Experimental Glass Workshop (647 Fulton Street, Brooklyn NY 11217, 718-625-3685) offers weekly classes which are probably impossible for non-residents. But they have a magazine (GLASS, $28/yr, quarterly) and workshops including Lampworking (MTW 6-9:30 $225 call for dates); Neon: A Beginner's Weekend ($215, 8 people, Feb 15-16;Mar 21-22;May 2-3); Glassblowing: A Beginner's Weekend ($275, 6 people, Feb 15-16;May 2-3) Weekly classes run 12 weeks from early February, cost $380-$530 (glassblowing is highest and multiple sections are offered.) Topics include Neon, Blowing, Casting, Cold-working, History. Dale Chiluly, Glass Master, will demo Feb. 9-11. 1/22/92

If you are getting these cards and don't want to, let me know. 1/26/92

KILN - I decided that if I was going to work toward blowing, I would need a lehr (kiln), grinder, glory hole and furnace, in that order, perhaps taking two years. Without the lehr, the other equipment is unusable. With proper choices, the lehr could be used as a kiln for sagging, etc. I decided that I would build a rather small, efficient lehr, as big as possible with one roll of Fibrefrax (50 square feet.) Since my in-laws run a commercial air conditioning business, I planned to bend up a box while visiting. Actually the box got bent by my brother-in-law rather than me (11/25/91). The box holds 6" thick insulation. I got nichrome [actually higher temp Kanthal A-1 MF] wire (and ceramic bits, $33.50 from Joppa Glassworks for 110 volt operation. To check temperature, rather than getting a measuring tool only, I decided to get a converter that would let me use a digital volt meter to read temperature ($55). By using the converter, I can use my computer experience to control the heat at voltages like 1.2 instead of like 0.012 which should be more convenient and less error prone. Commercial controllers cost $500-1000 and I hoping to do okay for a lot less and better for less. I will ask about cost of equivalent sheet metal from a commercial firm.

Since the second item on my list was a grinder, I have been looking for parts and sources. One source from a book was Labidabrade, Inc. (8 E. Eagle Road, Havertown PA 19083) which sells from a Covington catalog that includes Labidabrade products! The line seems to include everything for stone and glass working, including saws and diamond wheels. Besides an assembled unit, parts and kits are available. Prices seem a bit high: the replacement for a coffee can dripper is $50. A complete two speed 16" unit is $1198 plus 110 pounds shipping and 1% packing charge. A partial kit (pan, bearings, shaft, lap wheel, pulleys, belt; no motor, no frame, no drip can) is $401 single speed, $472 dual. The arbor shaft with 2 bearings is $90 (similar bearings are under $15 from Grainger), the 16" lap plate is $206, 12"$163 (plates are threaded 1" in center, flat one side, tapered other.) 1/28/92

I am looking for comments (pro and con) on books, mags, journals, etc, to add to my bibliography on glass. 1/28/92
#5 Started 12/12/91 sent 1/28/92

Hot Glass Bits #6 Reprint March 92
  I found a pretty good book in a local library that is apparently not now in print. It is The Complete Book of Creative Glass Art by Polly Rothenberg [1974, Crown Publishers.] It has 500 photographs. A fine introduction to most aspects of doing things with glass; the parts I know are dead accurate. Includes sample projects. Main topics include Leaded stained glass, Bonded glass (epoxy), Fired glass, Painting glass, Glass jewelry, Blown Glass, Glass Sculpture & Architectural Art. Recommended for looking into other glass areas. 2/5/92

  Pilchuck Glass School (107 S.Main St., #324, Seattle WA 98104-2580 until May 15) has its Summer 92 catalog out, starting its 31st year. Sessions start May 24 and are 2 1/2 weeks each. Sessions are $1775 dorm (2050 cottage) for glass blowing - $1575 for colder activities. There are 5 topics per session, at least one blowing each session, others including casting, neon, stained glass, mixed-media, cold working and lamp working. Glass blowing is supported by two 1,600 pound continuous melt furnaces, six glory holes, five work stations and 11 annealers. All fees must be paid by May 1. 2/18/92

  Sodium silicate (water glass) is available at drug stores, for no good reason I can determine, since it is used as viscosity control in clay slip, as a high temperature glue for car gaskets and a risky repair for car water system leaks. It costs $3.65 for 15 ounces at Tom Thumb Page in Dallas. It is a clear thick liquid that in other uses can be diluted with water. As a cement it is used straight. It is used to glue ceramic fiber insulation for lehrs and glory holes. Trinity Ceramic Supply (9016 Diplomacy Row, Dallas 75247, 214-631-0540) charges $4.35 a gallon (vs 8.75 at Seattle Pottery with a lot more shipping to Texas) (Trinity: 19.25/5 gal). 2/19/92

Trinity Ceramic (above) is also a good source for kiln wash ($1/lb, $5/10#) and whiting ($1/lb, $7/10#) and other supplies. Brass wire mesh for make your own sieves is $6.25 (#40) to $9 (#80) a square foot. (And if you are fighting roaches, boric acid is $1.35 a pound). Informative catalog. 2/19/92

G.A.S. (Glass Art Society, 1305 4th Ave, Suite 711, Seattle WA 98101-2401) announces their annual GAS Conference, this time in Mexico City, May 14-17 with pre and post conference activities. Cost until March 26 is $150 (Individual) plus membership ($30 minimum) (students $65/$10.) Hotel rooms are $90/55/35 a day depending on distance from the conference site. There is a preconference (May 8-13, $150) workshops in glass blowing by Lino Taglipietra from Italy and cast glass. G.A.S. is a bit odd to be a member of. There is an annual journal covering the conference (I still haven't got mine from last year), the conference, a membership directory and a few notes. Nothing about members, what they are doing or where they are doing it. However, when I got the directory and did some checking, virtually everybody who teaches glass working at Penland, Pilchuck, etc., was listed, as were many of the artists advertised by gallaries in 'American Craft' 2/20/92

The Glass Art Association of Canada (G.A.A.C. 1440 Old Bridge St., Granville Island, Vancouver BC, V6H 3S6, CANADA 604-681-6730) will hold their conference, "Sometimes the Magic Works", May 28-31 Thur-Sun) Cost until March 14 (higher later) is $US90 plus membership $US27 (student $70/27.) A preconference tour, on the 27th, of Pilchuck is $US22. A limited number of university rooms at $29 are available. Demos, exhibits, lectures, discussion panels. Listed presenters (over 25) are about 50-50 men-women, one-fourth USA, with Angela van der Burght and Jan-Willem van Zijst from Belgium. 2/21/92

Assembled my kiln/lehr and have fooled around with it. My first thermocouple has teflon insulation only rated to 500°F (others on order: A.R.T.Studio Clay has lowest price ($8.50) per Spruce Pine Glass & cross checking). With 40 volts (therefore about 4 amps on 10.5 ohm coil, 160 watts) applied, temperature settled at 590°F. 2/18/92 Well, I managed to burn out the terminals for my lehr long before I got up to full voltage (at 65 volts.) I was working my way up cautiously after finding that the straight leads were getting hot (265°F.) Following the suggestion of Dudley Gibberson, I will use brass bolts on an asbestos-like panel instead of screws in wood. 2/21/92 The kiln/lehr, with bolts, seems to be working, perhaps overly well. I have built a triac manual control. At just under 100 volts, the indicated inside temperature got up to 1500°F before I shut down. In testing with a Variac, I sagged some glass, still with sharp edges, at lower temperatures and voltages (up to 75 volts.) The outside got quite warm and I shall have to mount it clear of wood. 2/28/92

Orton cones can be ordered in packages of 10 from Seattle Pottery Supply, (35 S.Hanford, 93134) ironically at a lower price than for a box of 25 (1.25 for 10, $3.75 for box of 25). Seattle also is a source for thermocouple wire ($8.50) not listed by Grainger or A.R.T. 3/3/92
#6 Started 2/5/92 Sent 3/7/92

Hot Glass Bits #7 Reprint May 92
 Virtually the day I sent off #6, I had minor problems with two of the places I mentioned there. Seattle Pottery sent packages only containing 5 Orton cones for the lowest temperatures (10 for next higher.) I asked for a fix. [And got it 4/8/92] Trinity jumped some of their very low prices, e.g. Parting compound went from $2.35 for one pound to $3.50 and #1 Pottery Plaster went from $2.50 for 5# and $3 for 10# to a per pound pricing that makes either 5# or 10# cost $7.50 3/9/92

The G.A.S. operation in Mexico City is being rearranged, according to mailings from them, so some of the dates of demos and places of meetings are slightly different. 4/8/92

The New Orleans School of GlassWorks (727 Magazine St. New Orleans LA 70130) has an exhibit through April 30th (sorry) of Curtiss R. Brock. They kicked the show off with demos and by casting in glass the hands of little kids doing American [deaf] Sign Language. 4/8/92

At my request, GlaStar (20721 Marilla St., Chatsworth CA 91311, 800-423-5635) sent me information about their products for cold working glass. If you have the remotest interest in grinding, sandblasting, etc., ask for the product line information. Since GlaStar seems to sell most sizes and varieties of products, they offer considerable advice on the trade offs of various choices in tool size, grit material, etc. 4/11/92

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (PO Box 518 Deere Isle ME 04627 207-348-2306) is offering four glass sessions this summer along with sessions labeled Clay, Foundry, Metals, Wood, Surface Design, Wood. Glass sessions are 6/7-6/19 "form, color and the joy of blowing glass" with Sonja Blomdahl for all levels; 6/21-7/3 "Enhance skills and eliminate bad habits while having more fun than any glassblower should be legally entitled to" with Fritz Dreisbach for people with basic glassblowing skills; 7/5-7/24 Venetian teamworking with emphasis on form rather than color with Dante Marioni and Lino Tagliapietra for experienced glass workers, slides required; 8/3-9/5 Glass in architecture. Cost of either of the first two (2 week) sessions would be up to $890 for tuition, dorm room w/board and shop fee plus transportation. (A quad with bath would add $205; four other room arrangements are available. Grad credit tuition adds $309.) Deere Isle is 250 miles north of Boston and electric blankets are offered for rent to students! Applications due now, acceptance possible up to day class starts. 4/15/92

I got the NFPA 86 Ovens & Furnaces 1990 Edition (for $20 + 4.15 shipping, National Fire Protection Asso. Box 9143, Quincy MA 02169 1-800-344-3555) which contains usual definitions and rules for building O&F. I have barely begun to look through it (seems useful), but the catalog of NFPA came along, and if you thought movie video tapes were expensive at $90 or so for two hours, these are 19 to 22 minute training tapes costing $549.50! 4/22/92

I went by Kittrell-Riffkind Art Glass (Olla Podrita, Dallas) and came home to a card announcing "The North Carolina Collection an exhibit of Contemporary Glass Art" thru May 20th. Some of the pieces shown on the card were already in place. Judy Weilbacher is now doing rounded clear pyramids with three bubbles with transparent colored walls (she had layers before.) Other artists are Gary Beecham, Jeffrey Todd, Shane Fero, Robert Stephan, Richard Eckerd, Lewis Woodruff, John Littleton, Robert Levin, William Bernstein, David Wilson, Stan Floate, Joel Van Arsdale, Sally Rogers, Kate Vogel, and Yaffa Sikorsky-Todd. Also on display were gossamer handblown globes for Christmas ornaments. 4/24/92

A public television show Frame of Mind includes films by students and independents. The debut show here (5/2/92) includes one by Jay Rydman made in 1987 on Dale Chihuly showing him working, talking about his team approach and showing several samples of his work. I taped it. You might look for it locally.

Whether I blow glass this summer depends a lot on finding the money and knowing I have it some time fairly soon. This spring has not been a great income time for me. Let me know if you are going some place. 5/6/92

Bullseye Glass Co. (3722 SE 21st Ave.,Portland OR 97202, 503-232-8887) has started a newsletter, The Bullseye Bulletin, which has people and product info, meeting schedules mostly related to casting and fusing. 5/7/92

#7 Started 3/9/92 Pages 20-22 w/23 or 24 printed 5/10/92