What is Lampworking?....The art of glass bead making is thought have it's origins in ancient Syria, over 3000 years ago. The Romans were also fond of crafting with glass. Excavations have uncovered many examples of ancient Roman ingenuity from intricate glass beads to skilfully worked signet rings.
The history of wound glass beads or "perle a lume", begins in 14th century Murano, Italy. It was here that the art of glass working was popularized. Through Venetian trade with the east and the journeys of Marco Polo, the eastern art of glass working made it's way to Venice and then Murano.
The term "lampworking" comes from the traditional method of melting glass over an oil fuelled lamp. The glassworker was able to shape the flame to their needs by blowing into a tube which fed oxygen into the flame.
Modern lampworkers have moved far beyond the days of oil lamps. There are now a wide variety of torches available to suit the needs of the many from the budding hobbyist to the most dedicated glass masters. The majority of glass working torches are now fuelled by propane. The other requirement is a good supply of high purity tanked oxygen or a steady supply of oxygen from a concentrator to add to the mix. The ability to adjust your flame from what is know as a reduction flame (higher fuel, less oxygen) to a neutral (equal mix) or an oxidizing flame (yep, you guessed it...more oxygen) is very important.
Glass with metallic content, usually silver, gold or copper, will behave differently in various flame environments. This gives lampworkers the versatility to produce all manner of exciting and wonderful feats of chemistry to magically transform their glass work with miraculous colour changes, metallic sheens and all sorts of other fantastic effects!
Varieties of glass vary in coefficient of thermal expansion or "COE". The majority of lampworking is produced using soft glass (soda-lime base) with a COE of 104, 96 and 90. Glass doped with boron is commonly known as borosilicate glass. The boron gives the glass a higher resistance to thermal shock. Because it's less likely to crack during the creation process due to temperature fluctuations, it's commonly the choice for sculptural artists who like to work on larger pieces that are required to be in and out of the flame. Soft glass however has the benefit of a lower melting temperature and generally can be found in a greater variety of colour choices. Unfortunately, the two are not compatible with one another. The expansion and contraction of soft glass is more exaggerated than that of borosilicate, thus causing the two to crack apart as they cool and move at different rates.
With glass..... the possibilities are endless!
Torched!
Becky Morris
Corbyville, Ontario
Email: becky_torched.ca
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