Glass and Glass Manufacture

by Percival Marson

It is always advisable for the glass manufacturer to make his pots and prepare his clay, as he then knows exactly what he is using, and he is not dependent upon outside firms for his pots as he has them ready at hand when needed. The conveyance of pots from one district to another by rail or road is always accompanied by considerable risk, as the vibrations are given they in such journeys often cause mischief. As they are very heavy and fragile, their loading and unloading into the wagons is often attended with a mishap. As often as not, latent strains are caused, which only develop when the pot is put in the furnace.

Annealing and Setting the Pots in the Furnace. The pots, when made and dried, being of raw clay have to be carefully annealed before they can be introduced into the hot furnace. In doing this, the pot is removed from the drying rooms and placed within a small auxiliary furnace called a pot arch, which is constructed purposely to anneal them and get them hot before placing them in the glassmaking furnace. The pot is moved by picking it up on a long three-pronged iron trolley, made purposely to lift and move them about. The pot is set within the pot arch, resting upon two or three rows of fire-bricks, which allows the trolley to be removed and brought away, leaving the pot in a raised position in the pot arch. The doors of the pot arch are then closed and sealed with a stiff clay paste or mortar, and slow fires started which gradually heat the pot, until at the end of a week it is got to a white heat, and the pot is ready to be removed and set within the furnace for melting the glass.

At a convenient time, arrangements are made for setting the pot. All other work about the glass house has to cease, as all hands are required to help in the strenuous and arduous work. The old pot in the furnace, which has done work for several months, has to be withdrawn from the furnace and the new pot from the pot arch has to take its place. We see gangs of men here and there. Some are pulling down the wall of bricks from the front of the old pot, making an opening in readiness to remove it. Another gang of men advance with long, heavy, strong iron crowbars, sharpened at the points, with which by heavy blows and levering they endeavour to loosen the old pot from the floor of the siege, to which it has become firmly cemented by the heat and any leakage of glass which may have taken place. Eventually, by their combined exertions, they succeed in loosening the pot, and then, levering it up, they place the low iron pot trolley under it and drag it out of the furnace, whence it is taken away and thrown aside.

The old pot having been removed from the furnace, the glowing heat radiates more intensely than ever into the faces of the men at work, who endure it in relays whilst they work clearing away the old bricks and preparing the siege for the new setting. When this is done, a gang of men open the pot arch doors, and, placing the iron trolley under the new pot, convey it to the opening in the glass furnace from which the old pot has been removed. Facing the terrific heat, they struggle to push the new pot into its place in the furnace, with the aid of crowbars, and working in relays, in turn face the heat till at last it is got into position. Naturally, everything has to be done in a hurry, so that the new pot may not be chilled before it is got into the furnace by being exposed too long to the outside air. The whole work proves very exhausting to the men, as there is little protection from the heat. After the pot is set in its place, the trolley is brought away and the wall of bricks rebuilt up in front of the pot to protect it, clay being daubed over the exterior of the brick wall to prevent any inrushes of air, which would cause the pot to crack by finding a way through the joints in the brickwork.

The furnace, during these operations, is driven and worked to its full capacity, so as to allow for the very considerable loss of heat which takes place whilst the opening is being made and the pots removed.

The above is a description of the usual method of pot setting. In more modern and up-to-date works a travelling chain screen is used. This screen is like a curtain of loose chains, which is adjusted to hang in front of the open arch of the furnace and protects the workmen from the fierce heat. At the same time it permits the workmen to see and carry out the work of pot setting with greater ease and convenience. In using this screen arrangement whilst setting, the pot is pushed through the chain screen, which closes upon it after it has passed through. The workmen are thus enabled to get closer to their work by manipulating the crowbars through the screen as the heat is not radiated full upon them.

The newly set pot is allowed to stand empty in the furnace for a day or two to regain heat before it is filled with batch. It is first glazed on the inside by a workman taking a gathering of glass from another pot and plastering or covering the inside all round with the hot metal, which flows down and glazes the surface of the pot, giving it a certain amount of protection from the attack of the raw batch materials which are to be introduced later.

The founder, or glass melter, now takes charge of the pot, and he brings up the mixture of batch and cullet and shovels it into the empty pot until it is filled well above the mouth or level of the opening. The heat of the furnace melts the batch, and after several hours it becomes liquid and shrinks in volume so that probably only two-thirds of the height or capacity of the pot is occupied. The pot is then again filled with more batch materials until it is full of molten metal up to the level of the mouth of the pot.

The furnace is kept going at its full heat until the founder, drawing a small portion of the glass on the end of an iron rod, examines it and finds that it is melted clear and free from seeds or bubbles of gas. When clear, the metal is “plain,” and at this stage is in a very liquid, fluid, and watery state, too liquid to be easily gathered. It is, therefore, allowed to cool off by removing the stopper down and leaving the mouth of the pot open, until the glass becomes more viscid, or of a stiffer nature. The glass is then skimmed by dragging off any scum present on the surface, which is due to undecomposed salts that may have risen during the melting.

The metal is now ready for the glass blowers to begin work. Upon looking into the pot, the ring will now be noticed floating on the surface of the glass. This ring keeps back from its interior any further scum that may arise whilst work is in progress. The glass blower always gathers from within this ring, where the metal is cleanest; and from time to time the metal within the ring is skimmed in order to keep that portion in the best condition. When the greater part of the metal within the pot has been gathered or worked out, the heat of the furnace is raised again and fresh batch materials filled and the process repeated.