The hot shop is properly operational at last!
I came in early this morning to assist Mia with blowing. The furnace is hot and full of lovely treacly glass so we gave it a proper work out.
Mia has had new pipes made and they work really well and she has got some beautiful new jacks from Moore in Seattle. It was only as we were going along though, that we could really gauge what little things were still missing from the new hot shop and now have a fresh wish list that includes, among many other things, some smaller blocks and a pipe warmer!
Despite this we were going along quite well until we tried to make cane. It was then that our lack of a pipe cooler became evident as Mia grasped the pipe in the wrong place and burnt her hand! This was just at the moment that we had joined the clear and coloured glass together and were just about to start pulling. We still ended up pulling - just not in anything like the direction we were supposed to, the result of which is that Mia now has some very thick and strangely shaped turquoise glass that looks nothing like cane. This unfortunately brought our morning of blowing to a close, but the good news is that after half an hour of keeping her hand in iced water it looks like she has not burnt it badly and should get away with it. During the break next week Mia, Lisa and I are all hoping to get in to the hot shop for a full day to really get into the swing of blowing again and hopefully Mia will have got Eric to make a pipe cooler by then!
Mia Heating up the bubble in the glory hole
Going for a reheat after it has been blown
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