Do I really need to join a “professional” organization to be a glassworker?

The answer to this question is a resounding NO!

Although the so-called “professional” organizations make it sound like you need to be a member in order to “achieve excellence”, the truth of the matter is that many, in fact most, members of these so-called “professional” organizations achieved fame long before joining any organization.

Right now, the two main “professional” organizations are classified as charitable organizations by the IRS – classified as 501C3 non-profits. One of the main rules of a 501C3 organization is that it cannot benefit its members (the phrasing is that the members cannot profit from the activities of the organization). So, what is the point of being a member of such an organization?

As far as I can see, none at all.

A friend of mine once said “You don’t have to be a member of the ISGB in order to be a beadmaker”. Very true. Anyone can be a beadmaker. Not all beadmakers are members of the ISGB. In fact, there are some famous beadmakers who are NOT members of the ISGB.

Far more important to my mind is the local beadmaking groups. Some of them are “chapters” of the ISGB, some are not. Some may require you to join the ISGB, some may not. The local beadmaking groups are where the “rubber meets the road” and will be of far more benefit to you than a nebulous “international” organization. Your local group will most likely meet at least once a month, usually at a members studio, sometimes at a professional studio. You will get hands-on assistance with any problem you might have and more than likely 3 or more different solutions to a difficult issue you may be experiencing.

But of far more benefit is the local networking that you will do. Meeting local glassworkers and getting to know them is far more important than journeying halfway across the country (across the world for one “professional” organization) to attend a 3 day convention once a year (but you don’t have to join the organization to attend either — they’d rather you did, but you don’t have to!). The local groups will also get you in touch with good teachers and let you know when the travelling teachers will be in town.

Spend your money locally where it will do the most good — at your friendly neighborhood local glass organization.

Ventilation Basics, Part 1

The Basics of Ventilation

Greetings, fellow glassworkers!

This is the first in what will be a series of spotlight articles covering a wide variety of safety and technical topics for the glass studio. Throughout this document and those to follow, the issues discussed will adhere as closely as possible to meet and/or exceed any existing national (United States) codes (be it building codes, mechanical codes, electrical codes, recommended practice, etc.). Occasionally, a method of doing something will be pointed out as being outside the codes and if your studio is following a method like that described, you would be well advised to change your method to follow the codes.

The things that will be discussed in this series of articles will not be cheap, inexpensive quick fixes. Doing it right the first time is expensive, I won’t mislead you. But better to do it right the first time than have an accident or, heaven forbid, a death. The books and videos never tell us what the real cost of glassworking is and that’s a shame.

Ventilation Basics, Part 2

Doing the Numbers

Ok. We’ve talked about the basics, now let’s take a look at some basic design issues.

Exhaust System Design

So, where do we start? Well, let’s talk first about a couple of important numbers and calculations that have to be made first.

CFM: Cubic Feet per Minute. The amount of air that a ventilation system can move. It is based on how much air a given fan can move against a given amount of pressure.

Ventilation Basics, Part 3

The New Overhead hood design

Overhead hoods have a problem: they are non-functional over most of the width of the hood. The only part of the hood that actually functions as designed is an area about 1-2” wide surrounding the suction duct. This is fine for small torches while making small beads, but what happens when you upgrade your torch and start working with larger pieces of glass?

Insertion of large pieces of glass into the flame plume deviates it and the open duct in your hood is no longer functional. And once you start working with powders, enamels and/or fuming, the only draw area is directly in line with the duct opening.How can the standard overhead hood be made to work more efficiently for the lampworker?

Quite simply by changing the way fumes are drawn out of the hood. Instead of using one large duct opening 8” in diameter, change to a slot that runs across the width of the hood. You are now drawing fumes and dust across the entire width of the hood instead of just one fixed spot. The hood presented here has a total draw area of 60 square inches, plenty to handle an 8” duct with 50 square inches of area.

Visible Light Hazards and the Glassworker

Introduction

Most glass workers are all familiar with sodium flare, that annoying ball of yellow light that occurs when glass, most notably soft glass, is exposed to flame. As the glass molecules heat up, sodium in the glass is burned, creating a sodium flare. Didymium and ACE (Amethyst Color Enhancement, trademark of Schott Glass Technologies) filters (sold under a variety of trade names by various manufacturers) all remove sodium flare from the wearer’s vision.

Day One…

It’s Christmas Day, 2007 and I’m banging around the house with nothing much to do. I just finished several hours behind the torch, the cats are snoozing on my bed and I don’t really feel like doing much of anything right now. The house is very quiet — I took my son back to his mother this morning, so I’m left with this vast empty feeling inside me. My sweet lady is far away from me and spending Christmas day alone really, truly, sucks. But rather than drift into feelings of depression and despair, I thought that I’d funnel my energies into more positive things.

As I mentioned above, I put in some time on the torch — the first time in probably 3-4 months, if not longer. I spent the weekend with my sweet lady who strongly suggested that I start blogging — so here I am. The writings that will follow are going to be sporadic in nature, depending on what is going on in my life. Some of them will be about glass working, some will be observations about the world, some will be the occasional rant about things that really tick me off, and there will be continuing commentaries about things that I believe are wrong in the world (not that they can be fixed, but one more opinion certainly can’t hurt, right?).

I can’t promise that what you read here will be of sufficient interest to keep me bookmarked or even on an RSS feed, but you never know.I will promise to try to keep my opinions and rants thought provoking, if not eyebrow raising. I know for certain that some of them will tick more than a few people off — and in that I consider that I’ve accomplished my mission.

I’m going to allow comments on my writings, but I will not allow just a simple ‘fuck you, asshole’. If that’s all you’ve got to say, then find another blog to comment on. Feel free to vent your spleen — if you have something to say, certainly speak your mind, but at least try to use a modicum of decency in your writing.