How to Spin Glass Curios

Creating glass curios takes a lot of time and skill.

Making glass is a complex process that requires understanding how to prepare the materials and heat the glass. Spinning this heated glass lets you shape it into various objects, including small glass curios. These curios can then be sold at gift shops or simply made into gifts. Only undertake this activity if you have a strong understanding of how to make and spin glass. You will also need access to the tools for preparing glass, which can be expensive.

Things You'll Need

• 5 pound bag of sand
• 5 pound bag of cullet
• Sand grinder
• Sifter
• Measuring cups
• Melting mold
• Glass heating furnace
• Spinning rod
• Glass waste receptacle
• 1 inch wide metal rods
• Vice
• Metal curio mold
• 5 gallon bucket of water

Instructions

1. Place your sand and cullet into your grinder and grind them until they are ground down to particles of the same size. Check their size regularly by turning off the grinder and grabbing a handful of the materials and feeling their size.

2. Pour your ground materials into your sifter. Turn on the sifter to let the ground materials fall through. Remove any ungrounded material from the sifter. Remove the ground up materials by removing the sifting bucket at the bottom of the machine.

3. Place your melting mold into the furnace and then turn on the furnace. Pour your ground sand and cullet into this mold and close the furnace door. Watch the temperature gauge of the furnace.

4. Wait for the furnace to reach 2,900 degrees Fahrenheit and then open the door with your stirring rod. Push your rod into the mold and pull out your ball of heated glass.

5. Pull out your glass and hold it above your waste receptacle until all brown and green scum falls off your glass. Place your metal rods in a vice and tighten the vice around them.

6. Hold the spinning rod at the very top and spin your glass against the rods to shape it to thin, cylinder shape. Always spin your rod all the way around the circumference of the object to create an even shape and groove.

7. Place your thinned glass glass into your curio mold and spin it inside the mold. Spin the rod and blow into the end to help create the curio shape you want to create. Take it out of the mold and shape it more with the metal rods if necessary.

8. Continue to shape your curio until it is the shape you want. Place your glass in a water bucket when you are finished to let it cool down. Stand back to avoid the steam.

References

• Alan MacFarlane: Glass Blowing and Spinning Crown Glass
• Glass Making Online: How to Make Glass