Glass Blowing Equipment: The tools used

As we know, glass blowing involves shaping molten glass, by blowing, and so the first and most important piece of equipment required by a glass blower is a blowpipe. This pipe is dipped into the molten glass, which accumulates on the tip of the pipe in a sort of bulb. You can't start blowing right away because, well, it's liquid! So you want to make sure that it stays liquid enough to shape, but at the same time it should not lose its shape on its own (which is what would normally happen with any molten/liquid substance).

This is achieved by rolling the molten glass bulb at the end of the pipe, on a thick steel called a marver. What the marver does is to make the exterior of the glass bulb cool enough to hold whatever shape it is given, while the interior remains hot enough to be moulded easily. The marver is flat and smooth so that the molten glass does not stick to it while rolling.

A 'bubble' is then blown into the glass, giving it a basic shape. If a large complicated piece is to be made, more bubbles may be added onto the first one.

The art of course involves creating different shapes, many of which can't be 'blown' as such. This kind of detail is obtained by pulling or pinching the glass using a set of tweezers designed specifically for the purpose. The artist can get flats in the glass with the help of specially made wooden or graphite paddles.

To further modify the shape of the glass, artists use 'jacks'. Cuts in the glass are obtained with the help of straight shears. And if you need to remove a whole section of the glass, you'll need diamond shears. After all this is done and you have a roughly completed piece of the required size, the top part of the piece is finished using what is called a 'punty'.

This done, you are the proud creator of a brilliant piece of blown glass!