I am curious about becoming a glass blower. I pretty much know nothing about it. Im not really an artist all together. But glass just seems like it would be fun to work with. And I just like looking at the glowing red glass when people do it. My questions for you. -How did you get into it? -How much money does it take to start up? -Is there places people can go to just start learning? Are there good bong making classes or anything? -Do you make much money?(i know its not all about money, but I would still like to know if I could make a decent living if i was good) -Overall, what is it that made you want to become a glassblower, and how did you do it? Im at a point in my life where idk what to do, Glass blowing sounds really really fun, especially because I enjoy physical work, but not backbreaking min wage work. Basically I like to work hard, but only when the task is worth working hard for. Bongs make me happy, so I specifically want to blow glass on glass bongs. With different types of cool diffusers and whatnot. If anyone in here can help me out a little that would be sick.
go read smileygent's thread and pm him, i had the same exact questions a couple weeks ago and he answered all of them for me. i found out recently that a lot of people from one of my local headshops are amateur glass blowers. i would go ask the owners where they buy their spoons. Most headshops buy them from local blowers as opposed to online.
-How did you get into it? Just liked tubes and liked art though why not. I have to say when i first started it was nothing like i thought is was and honestly just didn't like it, then after a few weeks i got better and better and then it got really fun, i started to figure it all out and im still figuring it out today. -How much money does it take to start up? Lots 1000$ and up -Is there places people can go to just start learning? Are there good bong making classes or anything? talkglass.com, search locally lampworking or glassblowing -Do you make much money?(i know its not all about money, but I would still like to know if I could make a decent living if i was good) I wouldn't say i make that much money, its very hard to actually sell all your work and get good money for it. And when your starting out it takes 2-5 months before you start making anything sellable and you can only sell stuff if its been annealed in a kiln, my 9"x9"x9" kiln was 900$, the costs add up really fast -Overall, what is it that made you want to become a glassblower, and how did you do it? I liked art, i researched ALOT, a couple months worth at least reading about glassblowing online then i took the plunge and got a torch. You can definitely make money but i cant say that i have made that much money, it takes a fare amount of money and time before you start making $$$ Heres a quick price list Torch- 200$+ kiln - 600$+ regulators - 150$+ Tanks - 250$+ Tools - 300$+ Glass - depends but shippings not cheap so you have to make it worth your while Ventilation - 200$+ and lots of odds and ends.
Wow, this kinda makes me want to start this as a serious hobby. I always thought the tools would be like 20k lol. Hmm thanks for the reply man I really really might just be a glass blower one day now!
Oooh well if you want to make tubes like toro or illadelph i left out a huge purchase, a lathe. A glass lathe is very hard to find, you cant buy new because they are ridiculously expensive. Some 100,000k + brand new, i know ROOR's lathe is 100k. Used ones are around 8k-20k depending on the size Heres an example
yea i just read this To start a glass blowing studio, you'll need some serious equipment, plus a serious amount of energy. Just for the major equipment, you'll need: A melting furnace @ $ 12 k - $ 30 k A glory hole @ $ 5 k - $ 10 k An annealer @ $ 5 k - $ 12 k A bench @ $ 1.5 k A marver @ $ 1 - $ 2 k That's $ 24,500 - $ 55,500 for the major equipment. That doesn't include delivery charges, installation charges (you're going to need a fork lift or two), plus upgrades to your garage's ventilation electric and gas supply. Depending on where you are and what condition your garage is in, that will be between 20% and 200% of the cost of the equipment. In addition to these, you'll need a bunch of blowpipes and puntys, shears, molds and tools. These will cost about $ 100 - $ 200 each. Let's add another $ 5,000 for this. Glass will set you back about $ 0.40 per pound of clear, more for colors. Keeping all those furnaces hot will cost you a few bucks per hour. To get started, you might want to try lampworking first. You need a good torch and a few tools, plus an annealer. You can probably get this set up for $ 5,000 to $ 10,000. I changed my mind..... FML lol... i cant do anything
No one "Glass blows" tubes, that is for big sculptures A melting furnace @ $ 12 k - $ 30 k Dont need one and they are much less you can get a boro furnace for less than 2k. Again no one needs one and glass is 4$ a pound A glory hole @ $ 5 k - $ 10 k Again useless for what you want An annealer @ $ 5 k - $ 12 k again mine was 900$ and my big kiln was free A bench @ $ 1.5 k who spends 1.5k on a bench? A marver @ $ 1 - $ 2 k A 2k MARVER!!! mabe if you try to buy a HUGE piece It dosnt seem like you know how to do much research because you dont want to "glass blow" you want to lamp work. And thats for opening a glassblowing studio, no one jumps into buying a whole studio ammount of equipment before they have even tried it. again talkglass.com is what you need
Yea well, Im sorry I should have specified that I specifically want to make glass on glass bongs lol. Really I know nothing like I said. I havent done enough research and I apologize for looking so stupid. My dream is to make affordable glass on glass bongs that are custom. I really get upset at the way a ROOR or a PHX or any of the good glass always costs a ridiculous amount of money. They splash a few lines of color and the price goes up 500-1000.... I never really looked into how they were made, didnt think it was such a different process. Fucking capitalism lol. I just want the world to be fair
You don't have to get that deep into it for your first torch. I bought a starter kit ( Natty 3A torch, all the tools needed to make pipes and whatnot and regulators/hoses for 185 to my door. I'd go with a beginner torch for your first. That plus $80 worth of glass and a couple other things and I should be good to go.
Hey man, I've been reading and researching lathing boro for a long time now. However I am no artist and would prefer to machine as I have machined metal in the past. A small lathe seems like an ideal solution to making small boro accessories. Check out this guide to building a lathe for under $500, its not complete so please no one ask me for any more info but if you are smart enough to operate a lathe it should be pretty straight forward. Granted this lathe is limited but to fund my initial expense I am going try to start producing GonG accessories on a lathe like domes, male to male adapters, extraction tubes, simple things like that. Do you have any site online you would recommend for purchasing raw boro tubing and GonG joints? http://pw2.netcom.com/~sjnoll/glasslathe.html
I have considered building a lathe many times but in the end its not practical, its very expensive for the parts and that lathe is much to small to do anything practical, good luck though. mountain glass art.com or somthing like that