books on glassworking lathes

"Mike Firth" writes:

I don't think Alan yet has a sense of the purpose of a glass lathe
compared to metal and wood working lathes. The closest comparison in metal
working is spin welding, if you have ever seen one of those, and that is not
very close.

I'm sure I have a lot of misconceptions, but I think I do understand
the purpose of a glass lathe. What I'm less sure of are its capabilities
and that is one reason I asked for books.

Actually, I haven't heard of spin welding. I guess I should think of it
as something like using a glass lathe, except instead of melting glass,
one melts metal.

I had some hand glassworking lessons. I never got the knack of keeping
the two halves rotating at the same rate. One of these days I'll follow
the suggestion in Strong's book, Procedures in Experimental Physics,
and take two pieces of tubing joined by a tube of heavy metal cloth and see
if I can learn to rotate the two tubes, one in each hand, so that the
cloth doesn't get twisted up. One additional problem is that I recently
developed a kind of cyst in my left hand. I don't know how much it would
cost to have it removed, but the doctor charged almost $400 just to examine
my hand. He said there is a 20 percent chance that it will go away by itself
and only a one percent chance that it is malignant. I can't close my left
hand and I can't completely straighten my index finger when the hand is
open flat, but I can still do most of the things I'm used to doing, so
I've been betting on it going away by itself. One motion that is a lot
harder to do under the circumstances is the twisting motion that I would
have to perform if I were holding a thin tube in my hand and trying to do
glass blowing. I can do it, but it is easy to get my hand into positions
where it is very uncomfortable. So if there are mechanical ways to compensate
for this hopefully temporary disability, I'm interested in knowing about them.

Maybe I can learn to do it with my feet...
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.

My Father had to learn how to turn glass without the use of his index
finger. One of the most devastating injuries you can do with glass is to run
it through you hand cutting a tendon. When he did this he didn't have
insurance. They stitched the cut, but he didn't have the surgery to reattach
the tendon. To this day he can't flex that finger. Where there's a will
there's a way.

Good luck,

Randy Hansen
SC Glass Tech
Scam Diego, Comi-fornia






"Allan Adler" wrote in message
...
"Mike Firth" writes:

I don't think Alan yet has a sense of the purpose of a glass lathe
compared to metal and wood working lathes. The closest comparison in
metal
working is spin welding, if you have ever seen one of those, and that is
not
very close.

I'm sure I have a lot of misconceptions, but I think I do understand
the purpose of a glass lathe. What I'm less sure of are its capabilities
and that is one reason I asked for books.

Actually, I haven't heard of spin welding. I guess I should think of it
as something like using a glass lathe, except instead of melting glass,
one melts metal.

I had some hand glassworking lessons. I never got the knack of keeping
the two halves rotating at the same rate. One of these days I'll follow
the suggestion in Strong's book, Procedures in Experimental Physics,
and take two pieces of tubing joined by a tube of heavy metal cloth and
see
if I can learn to rotate the two tubes, one in each hand, so that the
cloth doesn't get twisted up. One additional problem is that I recently
developed a kind of cyst in my left hand. I don't know how much it would
cost to have it removed, but the doctor charged almost $400 just to
examine
my hand. He said there is a 20 percent chance that it will go away by
itself
and only a one percent chance that it is malignant. I can't close my left
hand and I can't completely straighten my index finger when the hand is
open flat, but I can still do most of the things I'm used to doing, so
I've been betting on it going away by itself. One motion that is a lot
harder to do under the circumstances is the twisting motion that I would
have to perform if I were holding a thin tube in my hand and trying to do
glass blowing. I can do it, but it is easy to get my hand into positions
where it is very uncomfortable. So if there are mechanical ways to
compensate
for this hopefully temporary disability, I'm interested in knowing about
them.

Maybe I can learn to do it with my feet...
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions
and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near
Boston.

A glass lathe is a fancy welding jig.

That's an excellent analogy Mike!

Randy Hansen
SC Glass Tech
Scam Diego, Com-fornia

In this thread, a glass lathe has been perceptively described as a fancy
jig for glass working. Are there any other standard kinds of jigs for
glass work?
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.

"Allan Adler" wrote in message
...

In this thread, a glass lathe has been perceptively described as a fancy
jig for glass working. Are there any other standard kinds of jigs for
glass work?
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions
and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near
Boston.

I'm curious.

Do you actually DO anything with glass? Or do you just ask highly technical
questions for no apparent purpose?

writes:

I'm curious.
Do you actually DO anything with glass? Or do you just ask highly technical
questions for no apparent purpose?

I've taken some glass working lessons in the past and it is something
I would like to do again. I like to plan things like that very carefully
for safety reasons and for reasons of limited space and money. I believe
that the most important part of any experiment or any construction project
is the thought that goes into it. Also, as I mentioned earlier in this
thread, I have a cyst in my hand and that limits what I can do with
my hands. As Randy pointed out, one can in principle still do glass work
with damaged hands, but I think it would also be advantageous to know what
kinds of jigs and fixtures one can use. I read a book on the design of jigs
and fixtures for metal work and have no reason offhand not to expect that
there are similar devices for glass work, especially since a glass lathe
has been described as a fancy jig.

I've been particularly interested in literature on glassworking and I
would much rather read it than bother people on this group for technical
information. I've read Strong's book, Procedures in Experimental Physics
and that constitutes most of my reading about glass work.

It is reasonable to ask why I happen to have started asking a lot of
questions at this time. I'm not actually building something but I am
trying to understand in detail how a particular thing is built, namely
the Balmer series spectrum tube described the shop drawings for the
Apparatus Drawing Project by Marcley. I think that even with my low
levels of glassworking skills, I can probably make most of it, since
in the past I managed to make a sealed, evacuated tube with naphthalene
in it. What I don't have any experience or guidance with is making metal
to glass seals and attaching electrodes to such a tube. I also have no
experience with annealing.

At the moment, the only place I have to do any work is a tiny apartment
and I don't think it would be safe to do any work in it. I would be glad
to know of glass working clubs that provide space for people to work and
opportunities to learn more about glass working. For my purposes, the
best thing would be the website of an umbrella organization for people
interested in glass working and which has information about local clubs
that will enable one to find the nearest club in one's geographic area.
The American Go Assocation has such a facility, for example, for Go clubs.

I'm aware of some specialized programs in glass working. For example,
at Salem Community College in New Jersey, they have a Glass Center offering
a specialized program in glass work that apparently addresses many of the
questions I've asked about unsuccessfully here. For example, whereas I asked
in an earlier thread about shop drawings for glass work and gotten cursory
answers, Salem CC has an entire course devoted to reading such shop drawings.
They also have a course devoted to the glass lathe. I haven't been able to get
much information about their program, and in any case I have no way of
getting to Salem Community College or of paying for their program, but
I think it is likely that they use books. I've been unable to determine
from their bookstore's website what books or other literature they might
be using and I haven't gotten any replies to my email requesting information
about them.

To make a long answer to 's question short, there are
other alternatives besides those has listed. In my case,
I am trying to learn and to plan using the limited opportunities and resources
available to me.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.

"Allan Adler" wrote in message
...
writes:

I'm curious.
Do you actually DO anything with glass? Or do you just ask highly
technical
questions for no apparent purpose?

I believe that the most important part of any experiment or any
construction project
is the thought that goes into it.

Oh..

Gonna study it right into submission, eh?

All the book-learnin' in the world doesn't replace hands on experience.

writes:

Gonna study it right into submission, eh?

I'm managing with what I have at the moment.

All the book-learnin' in the world doesn't replace hands on experience.

No one said it does. That doesn't mean it doesn't serve a purpose.

I'm not here to argue about the merits of reading and planning. If anyone
knows the answers to my various questions and feels like sharing them, I'll
be glad to learn from them.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.

Well, this thread has been pretty well beaten to death, but if it's technical
skills you want from a book, the best I've seen is (uh-oh, my brain went blank,
and the book isn't readily at hand - I'll try anyway) Glassworking by Hammesfahr
and Stong. It's probably out of print, but I've had really good luck searching for
books on Amazon; they give numerous links for used books of the desired title.

Get a torch and play as you read. A Minor torch works well for getting down the
basic coordination, if that's where you're coming from.

Depending on what you need in the way of electrodes, neon electrodes are easily
obtained in several diameters, and even incorporate an evacuation/fill tube. In
the US the electrodes are in lead glass, but I believe that Europe uses
borosilicate for their neon construction.

Hope you get a chance to play.

Joe

Joe writes:

Well, this thread has been pretty well beaten to death, but if it's
technical skills you want from a book, the best I've seen is (uh-oh,
my brain went blank, and the book isn't readily at hand - I'll try anyway)
Glassworking by Hammesfahr and Stong.

I read a book by Hammesfahr about 20 years ago, published by W.H.Freeman
in San Francisco. At that time, it was a lot harder to search for used
books and I eventually gave up. Thanks for reminding me of this book
(if it is the same one) or pointing it out (if it isn't). I didn't read
it that carefully and it would probably be good to reread it now.

Get a torch and play as you read. A Minor torch works well for getting
down the basic coordination, if that's where you're coming from.

What do you mean by a "Minor torch"? Do you just mean a propane tank
or mapp gas tank with a torch attachment?

It really wouldn't be safe to use my apartment for this and I'm not
sure my lease would allow it. There is no yard to use. So, I'm not
sure I can provide myself a place to work. Best would be a club of
some kind that would provide such logistical supports.

When I'm better educated in this craft, I might have more sense about
what kinds of risks are reasonable. Right now, I think I need more
responsible people taking an interest in any glass working activities
I do before I try actually doing anything. Reading is a lot safer in
the absence of that.

Depending on what you need in the way of electrodes, neon electrodes
are easily obtained in several diameters, and even incorporate an
evacuation/fill tube. In the US the electrodes are in lead glass,
but I believe that Europe uses borosilicate for their neon construction.

That's good to know. I'll start looking into what is available.

Actually, there are probably places that make customized neon signs.
Maybe I should talk to them about this construction problem.

Hope you get a chance to play.

Thanks, me too.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.