Glassblowing

In your house right now, there probably is some sort of glass vase with an intricate design. Haven't you ever wondered how that vase was actually made? While browsing the internet, I stumbled upon the really cool technique known as glassblowing. Simply, glassblowing is when a person inflates molten glass using a blowpipe.

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Free-Blowing

Pretty cool stuff, huh? What's even cooler is that glassblowing has been around since the middle of the 1st Century BC. Back then they started blowing glass using a technique called free-blowing and is still used today in making some of the more artistic glass products. The picture above is an example of free-blowing. The process comes down to the fact that the blower at the start would blow very small and short breaths to create an elastic layer on the inside which allows for the blower to then blow as hard as he wants to create his ideal shape.  

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Mold-Blowing

Besides free-blowing, another popular method of creating nice works of art with molten glass is mold-blowing. This method is a lot more simpler than free-blowing and is definitely a lot less work. In order to mold-blow you just stick the molten piece of glass into a mold and then blow into the windpipe and have it fill up the mold. Simple, right? Mold-blowing is very useful if you're just trying to get a specific consistent shape each time, but free-blowing allows for a lot more creativity and more intricate designs.

Image Courtesy of Hi-Tech Club

Cool how we can stumble upon really interesting things like glassblowing. I had no idea until I started looking into this the hard work and precision that goes into making these glass objects. Some of the more complex designs truly are a work of art. The people that have mastered this craft are truly amazing to watch.