Glass and Glass Manufacture

by Percival Marson

A gatherer puts the metal into the parrison mould into which it is sucked by moving the left-hand lever. Through this operation the head of the bottle is formed and finished. By reversing the lever, air enters the parrison, thus blowing the same out to the height of the parrison mould. The parrison mould is now opened and the parrison hanging in the head-mould held by the tongues is placed under the blowing cylinder above the open finishing mould. Now the latter is closed, and by moving the lever, the bottle is blown and finished. Whilst this last operation is being effected by a boy, the table is revolved and the previously finished bottle is taken out and another parrison is made ready to be handled in the described way. This machine produces 200 bottles per hour.

The Glass Blower’s Tools. The glass maker’s chief tool is the blow-iron. This is a tube of iron 1/2 to 1-1/4 in. wide and about 4 to 5 ft. long, one end of which is shaped or drawn in so as to be convenient for holding to the lips, and the other end is slightly thickened into a pear-shaped form, on which the hot metal is gathered.

In making crystal tableware the workman manipulates the glass he has gathered on this blow-iron by marvering it on a marver. This is a heavy slab of iron with a polished face about 1 ft. by 1 ft. 6 in., and 1 in. thick, supported on a low table. Sometimes this marver may be a block of wood with hollows of definite forms, in which the workman rotates the hot glass he has gathered to regulate the form and thickness of the metal to suit his work before beginning to blow it out into a hollow bulb.

The pontil is a solid rod of iron of similar length and thickness to the blow-iron. By gathering a little wad of hot glass on the pontil and sticking it against the end of the bulb attached to the blow-iron, the workman can detach the bulb from the blow-iron and hold it by the pontil to which it has been transferred, and which enables him to work on the other end or opening in the bulb which is exposed in detaching it from the blow-iron.

GLASS WORKER’S CHAIR

After re-heating the glass, he may shear it with his scissors or shears, open it out with his pucellas, crimple it with his tongs, measure and caliper it, or shape it to a template.

Whilst he is doing such operations he sits in a glass worker’s chair. This chair has two long extending arms, which are slightly inclined, and along which he rolls his blow-iron or pontil, with the glass article attached, working upon the rotating form, turning the iron with one hand, whilst he uses his tools with the other hand, to shape or cut the glass to its requisite form whilst it is hot, soft, and malleable.

The shears are like an ordinary pair of scissors, and are used for cutting the hot glass, or shearing off the tops of bowls and wines to their proper height.

The pucellas is a steel, spring-handled tool in the form of tongs, which the workman uses to widen, extend, or reduce the open forms of glass by bringing pressure upon the grips of the tool whilst applying it to the hot glass.