
The art of scientific glass blowing (2018) - brudgers
https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/WvQF4SIAAFNX_7Uf
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jacobevelyn
I had the opportunity to take a scientific glassblowing course as an
undergraduate. It was one of my favorite college experiences, period. The
focus and precision, combined with the fact that I was working with my hands,
meant hours could fly by without me noticing. (Even when I burned myself all
the time.)

And the instructor (who had been making custom lab equipment for the
university's chemistry department for around 25 years) displayed such a high
level of skill in his work it was mesmerizing. Outside the lab was a display
case with some of the most complex glassware he'd made in his time there. I
can't find a photo online but many of the pieces were like looking at the most
complicated car engine you can imagine... but all out of glass.

For our final project we made Hero's engines[1], and had something like six
weeks to do it. Whenever we had a question about any part of it, the
instructor would make the entire project from scratch in maybe three minutes
right in front of us, and every part of it was perfect every single time.

Sometimes I wonder if that should've been my career.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile)

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js2
Was this a purely hands on course? How was it graded?

I guess I’m curios how much glass blowing knowledge is recorded in books vs
how much is simply passed on directly from person to person.

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msds
Almost none of the important stuff. I own most of the books on scientific
glassblowing, and they're pretty much all outdated and primarily occupied with
information about apparatus design. If you're interested in calculations for
distillation columns, designs for multi-stage mercury vapor diffusion pumps,
and formulas for silvering glass, the books are great. Otherwise, not so much.

The rest of the knowledge seems to be passed person-to-person, mostly in
informal settings. There's a decent program at Salem community college, but
it's just too short to become a fully-capable scientific glassblower. That
takes about 10 years of full time apprenticeship, which is why the field is
dying out.

I've (briefly) studied with some extremely talented glassblowers (Sally
Prasch, ...), and I found that helpful, but also most of the learning came
from staying up to 1AM trying to replicate something that took them 5 minutes
to demonstrate...

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js2
> it's just too short to become a fully-capable scientific glassblower. That
> takes about 10 years of full time apprenticeship, which is why the field is
> dying out.

What a shame to lose collective knowledge. Is there no demand for it any more?
What’s being used in labs now if not hand blown glass?

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msds
The shift away from each institution having a full-time glassblower doesn't
mean that there isn't a lot of science being done in hand-blown glass. There
are still lots of companies that can produce fancy glassware, and the Chinese
glass industry has flourished. For 99% of science, off-the-shelf stuff is
totally adequate.

However, the capacity for repairing and modifying glassware is going away. It
used to be the case that your average chemist could go walk down the hall and
talk to a glassblower about designing crazy custom apparatus - not so much
anymore. Even when an institution does have a glassblower, they tend to be
nearing retirement age, and hiring someone who has the broad talent required
is very hard...

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yumashka
Photographer, painter, bouncer (!) :), glassblower. I think she is cool. :)

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tim333
The university of Leicester has a nice video of her
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AOeMkhou04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AOeMkhou04)

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js2
Sorta related, Claude Paillard making vacuum tubes by hand is fascinating if
you've never seen it:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Msxwn3hmFlI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Msxwn3hmFlI)

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dekhn
This is something I'd really like to do when I retire. I live near several
major universities and have lots of chemistry and lab experience, and I love
glass. I even bought some at home and made things (just flint glass, it's easy
to work with) and was amazed how straightforward it is to build all sorts of
cool apparatus. it definitely takes skill and thought to make more advanced
things.

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Steve44
The Royal Institution in London has some lovely glass objects in its basement
museum. Many are originals, made onsite, and as used by scientists such as
Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday.

[https://www.rigb.org/visit-us/faraday-museum](https://www.rigb.org/visit-
us/faraday-museum)

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mothsonasloth
Great article and cool posters and glass art in the workshop.

For the Emperor!

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w8vY7ER
This type of precision in glass making is so cool to see mid-process, great
link!

