Introduction to Flame-Working: The Aftermath — Anchorage MakerSpace
If you missed this weekend’s skill-building, flame-working, glass-melting class-of-a-lifetime, we’ve got some good news for you.
We sat down with John Vinson to explore how the classes went: from fixing cracks to the world’s best teacher (hint: it’s not who you think), we dug up all the secrets to flame-working—built from a database of 20+ years of experience, books read, and mentors watched.
In this four-hour class, John provided his expert knowledge to his students and exposed safety and best practice orientations. The agenda included a live demonstration and two hours of hands-on working to practice skill-building exercises including pulling, cutting, and attaching a punty.
As with all Anchorage MakerSpace classes, Intro to Flame-Working started with safety, as “it is of utmost importance.” John stated to the class.
“Many people think that you burn yourself a lot while blowing glass, but cutting yourself is actually a lot more common.”
There are two basic forms of glass you could use with flame-working, but the most versatile and malleable for beginners to work with is borosilicate glass.
Armed with the safety knowledge of using strikers—not lighters—and wearing the correct protective gear for their eyes, arms, and feet, it was time to set up the flames for work.
“Lighters are table grenades in a glassworking studio.”
“An easy way to remember setting up your torch is POOP.” John says, alluding to the ease of remembering the acronym and the proper procedure . “Propane, then Oxygen. When you’re ready to turn it off, Oxygen, then Propane.” Surely enough, John started the torch using POOP, and began his live demonstrations.
This introductory class was designed for orienting students to the properties of glasswork. Realistically, in a 4-hour class, students won’t be able to master any designs. The goal of an orientation is to get to know the medium and the basic skills to build on.
The four skills John focused on building included constricting, gathering, fusing, and cutting.
“Constricting begins by heating the glass,” John instructs as he works the piece of glass in a spinning motion. “Once you get the glass hot enough, you can take it out of the flame and pull it against your torch base. Once you do it enough, you’ll eventually have a handle that is easier to rotate.”
Pulling a rod is an integral part to being able to move skills up in glasswork, and acts as an effective tool for designs such as mushrooms.
However, cutting is much more straight-forward to new glassworkers: all it requires is getting the glass hot enough to separate.
This can be done in one of two ways: students can thin out the glass so much that it breaks apart in the flame on its own, or heat the glass up enough to pedal the two ends like a bicycle so that they essentially twist apart.
Either way, the separation is obvious when its’ been accomplished.
“There is no wrong way to blow glass. Whatever works, works.”
The last skill John taught the class was attaching a punty. There are two ways to attach a punty, thus, two skills: a hot punty and a cold punty.
A hot punty fuses two pieces of glass together via, of course, heat. The heat creates smooth transitions used for handles, rods, or any other creative attachments students can think of.
A cold punty is similar to a hot punty, just not as hot; with any glass attachment, heat is going to be necessary. The difference that separates a cold punty is the type of attachment: cold punties don’t fuse, they tack. A cold punty’s purpose isn’t to add onto the final piece—it simply aids in the development of the piece.
“Luckily, even if something cracks while developing your punties and pieces, you can melt it back together.” John advised the class. “Simply slow the flame down, and [you can] fuse it all back together.”
Certainly, there’s much more to glasswork than can be covered in a four-hour class—no human teacher will be able to teach everything in a day.
“Experience is the world’s best teacher.”
If you are considering setting up a home studio or interested in glass in any fashion, a foundational class is the perfect starting point for any beginner questions or concerns. As a partner of Anchorage MakerSpace, members can access John’s 20+ years of experience in the industry and the tools he uses 24/7.
To find out more about John, follow him on Instagram. To find out more about Maker Memberships, click here.
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