Author Topic: Glassblowing - Apprenticeship?  (Read 2754 times)

Offline Viktoria

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Re: Glassblowing - Apprenticeship?
« Reply #9 on: Thursday 26 April 18 18:16 BST (UK) »
You say the firm is still in existence, could you enquire direct  about your relative. They may well have records as an apprentice could serve at least seven years before he got his indentures.
It was a big day, when he was ragged unmercifully ,dunked in water butts,greased and sooted etc.
Have a bash ,you may be lucky.
                                               Viktoria.

Thanks but Ratcliff Crown Glass is a kind of high quality glass used for glazing windows and not a company. I was trying to illustrate the high level of skill required to produce it. Google it, it's quite fascinating actually.

Your last post said the glass in question was used for window panes,I am willing to be corrected but I am curious to know how can flat panes of glass be blown?
A pipe is used in actually -blowing -glass into a hollow bubble,how then does it become a flat pane
Many thanks in advance. Viktoria.

Offline saw119

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Re: Glassblowing - Apprenticeship?
« Reply #10 on: Thursday 26 April 18 18:27 BST (UK) »
You say the firm is still in existence, could you enquire direct  about your relative. They may well have records as an apprentice could serve at least seven years before he got his indentures.
It was a big day, when he was ragged unmercifully ,dunked in water butts,greased and sooted etc.
Have a bash ,you may be lucky.
                                               Viktoria.

Thanks but Ratcliff Crown Glass is a kind of high quality glass used for glazing windows and not a company. I was trying to illustrate the high level of skill required to produce it. Google it, it's quite fascinating actually.

Your last post said the glass in question was used for window panes,I am willing to be corrected but how can flat panes of glass be blown?  Viktoria.


Please read the attached link, it will explain it much better than I can:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_glass_(window)
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Offline Viktoria

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Re: Glassblowing - Apprenticeship?
« Reply #11 on: Thursday 26 April 18 18:38 BST (UK) »
Thankyou,so the blown cylinder had to be cut and re-heated to flatten it,well I never thought of that.
I did post another reply but it has gone into the ether--or somewhere.
Viktoria.
P.S my previous two posts got mixed up[,I modified one but both were printed,one unmodified.
Thanks again.V.

Offline Maiden Stone

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Re: Glassblowing - Apprenticeship?
« Reply #12 on: Thursday 26 April 18 18:51 BST (UK) »
Do you have a person's name, either a master or a journeyman whom you can look up in apprenticeship records?
I don't know anything about the topic but the answer to your question "Is it the kind of occupation that would have required an apprenticeship?" is yes.
Edit. When searching apprenticeship records, if there's a keyword box, just put glass, don't be specific, or leave it blank if you have a name to search for.
Cowban


Offline saw119

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Re: Glassblowing - Apprenticeship?
« Reply #13 on: Thursday 26 April 18 19:12 BST (UK) »
Thankyou,so the blown cylinder had to be cut and re-heated to flatten it,well I never thought of that.
I did post another reply but it has gone into the ether--or somewhere.
Viktoria.
P.S my previous two posts got mixed up[,I modified one but both were printed,one unmodified.
Thanks again.V.

I agree that the process for the production of the window glass is quite baffling at first. I suppose that's where the skill of the glassblowers comes in.
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Offline saw119

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Re: Glassblowing - Apprenticeship?
« Reply #14 on: Thursday 26 April 18 19:14 BST (UK) »
Do you have a person's name, either a master or a journeyman whom you can look up in apprenticeship records?
I don't know anything about the topic but the answer to your question "Is it the kind of occupation that would have required an apprenticeship?" is yes.
Edit. When searching apprenticeship records, if there's a keyword box, just put glass, don't be specific, or leave it blank if you have a name to search for.

Many thanks, I'll see what apprenticeship records survive as I do have a name. Very helpful tip as well.
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Offline stanmapstone

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Re: Glassblowing - Apprenticeship?
« Reply #15 on: Thursday 26 April 18 21:39 BST (UK) »
See the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzBXU2ovfGo making crown glass.

Stan
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Offline saw119

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Re: Glassblowing - Apprenticeship?
« Reply #16 on: Friday 27 April 18 09:50 BST (UK) »
See the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzBXU2ovfGo making crown glass.

Stan

I was going to look for something like that nex, thanks. If anything this video is even more impressive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4OAd8S4J0M
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Offline Sinann

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Re: Glassblowing - Apprenticeship?
« Reply #17 on: Thursday 07 June 18 01:11 BST (UK) »
I wish I'd noticed this thread earlier. I trained in stained glass so worked a lot with hand made glasses both the cylinder and crown types, not always the easiest glass to cut.
Next to our studio in college was the glass blowers and they often needed our help, I would do that part you can see in the video where the second person puts the punty iron to the base of the piece and brings it to the glory hole, the glass blower would take over again from there.

This thread was a great trip down memory lane.

The centre of the crown glass was the cheapest pane as it was thick and uneven and had the rough punty mark in the centre but today fake versions of it are quite popular for pubs and such like.

I've watched good glass blowers try to make dinner sized glass plates and it is very very difficult, it usually collapsed at some point, making one large enough to use as window glass is highly skilled work.