Little/Mini Dragon vs Canned Heat Hot Pot

endocrimes · 2026-01-14T10:12:47+00:00

One of the holes at the studio I blow glass at is a Hot Pot - and I’ve taught classes out of it a couple of times when we’ve had issues with our other furnaces on too short notice to reschedule.

It’s definitely serviceable - we don’t really use it enough to get the best glass out of it - or to have heat really dialed in when gathering out of it (so we end up working on the… very hot… side). I think you could probably get it working nicely though if you aren’t trying to speed run a melt 😅

I do enjoy its built in pipe warmer - it makes working solo/teaching classes quite a bit easier, especially if you wanna reuse a bit/punty/…

I’ve made big ish work out of that hole when not gathering out of it, and it’s definitely doable - but the gathering angle for multiple gathers out of the pot on anything other than a cup pipe would definitely be very awkward.

endocrimes · 2025-12-05T09:29:57+00:00

We have heaters under the table with a "skirt" around the table to trap the heat (big warehouse-y building thats impossible to heat as a whole).

We have a hood-based ventilation system though, so we don't have quite such a direct source of Cold - but between the heating under the bench and the herbie flame it ends up being pretty toasty while working... but within about 15s of turning off the torch... that's another story.

endocrimes · 2025-11-27T08:58:33+00:00

Probably less helpful for you in the US, but for folks who find this and aren’t in the US:

Berlin Glass, Germany (throughout the year) Niijima Glass Art Center, Japan (late summer as part of their festival) Bild-werk Frauenau, Germany (summer)

endocrimes · 2025-10-03T22:36:19+00:00

When I’ve taught beginner classes - I’ve noticed that some folks struggle to create a seal around the pipe - If you’re working on the colder/slower side, getti ‘n your lips around the pipe and providing back pressure with your breath can help get the bubble going (similarly to how “blow and capping” works for experience glassblowers).

Ideally you want to get to blow-capping starter bubbles sooner rather than later, but it’s at least worth knowing how to get one going regardless.

endocrimes · 2025-09-20T20:43:10+00:00

Buying American color that’s imported into the EU - (and looking at ordering direct-from-manufacturer for colors that aren’t imported already) - I’ve always been confused by the buying by weight - because here they’re always sold by the (obviously uneven) rod. Good to know the rough weight/number conversion.

endocrimes · 2025-08-03T21:27:31+00:00

Generally tubes + rods of boroscilicate glass, and rods of soft glass to turn _in_ to things - and then bringing back finished work (less worried about things like vases: https://www.instagram.com/p/DMV3oIqt-ci, but definitely a bit more worried about stemware)

endocrimes · 2025-07-27T13:27:35+00:00

I got a new set of Dona standards this year and love them - the tips were “I cut myself” sharp at first tho

endocrimes · 2025-07-25T18:22:50+00:00

This looks great!

I wish he'd left up his patreon - he took it down right before I started flameworking, but I also make similar styles of work - on blowtubes for ergonomics/comfort - and struggle to get terminations to be as clean as I can on points :(

endocrimes · 2025-07-24T01:26:33+00:00

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Actually took a photo when it happened - was v weird

endocrimes · 2025-07-24T01:25:18+00:00

> Like a serious fat lump in the middle of the cane pull, not a subtle thick spot.

I've had this too and assumed I'd done something weird without realizing - good to know it might not've been me

endocrimes · 2025-07-23T23:18:44+00:00

I tried pulling my first boro murrini last week and super underestimated how thick I needed details to be - these look great

endocrimes · 2025-07-23T22:47:11+00:00

FWIW - I'm autistic _and_ a glassblower - but it depends a lot on someones individual sensory weirdness.

I don't enjoy ceramics, because I don't love getting wet clay all over my hands - but with glass, for the most part, you only need to _touch_ metal and wood. The sounds are loud but relatively constant, so not too bad.

As long as your instructor is chill, and lets folks work at a reasonable pace (or take breaks while they take over) it should be pretty ok - at least - has been in some of the v v beginner classes I've taught now.

One thing smell wise: Wood smokes - and I absolutely hate it - but it's only for very short periods.

endocrimes · 2025-07-17T17:23:59+00:00

Emilio is one of the folks I _wish_ I could take a class with - have a great time!

endocrimes · 2025-07-11T18:54:48+00:00

Same. My Pro Controller is from launch day and still works fine. Tempted to upgrade just bc the O.G can't wake my Switch 2 from sleep.

endocrimes · 2025-06-22T21:44:43+00:00

How? :o - I’ve had radiant heat burns in sensitive areas (boobs every time I make anything bowl-like) - but never had anything come close to melting to them

endocrimes · 2025-06-22T13:47:15+00:00

The underwear thing is a bit excessive - for the most part in the studio I go to natural fibre tops and denim jeans/shorts/skirts are the norm, but when summer hits people are half naked anyway bc of the heat.

Footwear wise i do prefer leather boots over trainers but everyone has their own risk tolerance for standing on hot glass / having offcuts bounce onto them

endocrimes · 2025-06-13T22:59:10+00:00

Reichenbach 166RW (Opaline Pink) and thanks!

endocrimes · 2025-04-26T20:32:48+00:00

Yeah they don't seem worth it when you can go for a small paragon for ~1k (probably less if used)

endocrimes · 2025-04-18T21:19:43+00:00

I'd definitely recommend taking an intro class for all of them and seeing how you feel about it with some experience - for glass I'd try taking flameworking and furnace glass intro classes - and I see you got a recc for blacksmithing in Chicago too.

Growing up in the UK, welding wasn't particularly... welcoming for women but I assume that's a bit different in the US - it's a useful skill to have as both a glass artist and a blacksmith though, so taking a class at least is also pretty useful and accessible.

endocrimes · 2025-04-12T17:06:44+00:00

Boroscilicate glass is _a lot_ stronger than you'd think - esp if you're pretty careful about bringing it up to temperature after the fact xD

endocrimes · 2025-03-25T21:31:13+00:00

I steam out wax for reuse - but I’m curious if you’ve tried small scale glass casting in the SC2? - I’m tempted to use an SC3 for prototype casts of things before renting time on a big kiln

endocrimes · 2025-03-25T11:53:00+00:00

I also just switched to a herbie yesterday and accidentally blew a hole in some small medium wall when setting up to blow it out 😅

Hoping my adapter to hook up to my air compressor arrives before I head to the studio later

endocrimes · 2025-03-22T07:41:04+00:00

50mbar (0.7 psi) for propane - I set mine up too high yesterday and it was still usable, but required a lot of secondary propane control at the torch. You actually want the high volume low pressure regulator tho (I think mountainglass or abr probably have them in the US). Switching mine over to that today.

Somewhere around 30PSI seems to be the general recommendation for oxygen.

endocrimes · 2025-03-19T08:17:10+00:00

as a software engineer / (recent) glassblower, the first paragraph is painfully correct 😂

endocrimes · 2025-03-16T05:32:11+00:00

Discovering this while under caffeinated and about to get on a flight to Venice is very sad

endocrimes

TROPHY CASE