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OUT OF THE BOTTLE
(Getting into Glass)
by: Bobby Castillo November, 1996
Introduction:
Glass was formed by nature from silica sand (buhangin), lime (apog) and ash (abo) it has been
around us for millions of years. Man has made glass for thousands of years and has use glass
extensively for decorative, scientific, practical daily use items, and art. We can hardly go through
a day without touching, using and seeing, and looking through or at articles made of glass (remember
your contact lenses, eye glasses, television screens, watches, cellphones, beer and softdrink bottles,
condiment bottles, etc.)
Glass is amazingly sturdy, friendly and fun to work with, yields a lot of surprises yet at time frustrate
endlessly. It can be used to record history (fossils), it can be made to sing (chimes), transmit light (optic
fibers), hold solid and liquids (vessels) and many other things already being done in the world and others
yet to be imagined.
It is the author's contention that working on glass for the Filipino artist is within reach and has been
withinreach in the Philippines for over a century. Most of the materials for glass art and most of the
techniques are availableand have been available to the Filipino artist. This article is an attempt to address
this lack of information and provide clues and pathways to allow a greater number of Filipino artists to work
with glass.
Please keep an open mind, solutions to glass working related problems like materials sourcing and
techniques may not come from the glass industry at all, aside from this, glass blowing and lampworking
as industries are growing, the bottle making companies are already in existence, plate glass is also being
imported, and with the opening upof markets within the Asian region it is entirely possible that your glass,
tools and other needs may be met by bringing in the raw materials from abroad or the situation eventually
allows the entry of more glass manufacturers.
An artist can derive part, if not import very useful techniques, materials and systems from such
disparate fields such as:
1. Ceramics (kilns, glazes, molds, refractory materials)
2. Metalworking (acid handling, molds and dies)
3. Lapidary, marble and stone (diamond saws, grinders and buffers)
4. Jewelry making (fastening systems, electroplating, wire handling)
5. Woodworking (pattern cutting, jigs, turned wood grinding heads)
6. Dentistry (polishing agents, chemicals)
7. Culinary arts (cooking, baking, techniques)
8. Electronics and semiconductors (adhesives)
9. Fishing industry (wire, hooks, swivels and such…)
10. Ship repair (sandblasting)
11. Graphic Arts (image transfers, silk screening)
12. Others
General Handling Characteristics:
The size and degree of complexity of your art piece will determine the raw materials you need, the
tools, equipment and supplies you will use, and the studio space requirements as well as the utilities
that go along with these.
Reasonable safety precautions and practices along with easily accessible safety gear provide for safe
handling of glasses, minor cuts are just about inevitable and have to be accepted if you intend to work
with a larger volume.
Glass is heavy, but it is also sturdy and tough, it is inert to most chemicals; generally scratch resistant
to abrasion from items that can easily mar and scratch acrylic plastic. Glass does break but allows itself to
be cut easily just by scoring. It can cut badly but these same edges and surfaces can be beveled and
polished beautifully, splinters and dust can get into your eyes and your lungs but these dust become enamel
and frit material.
The preparation of your work area must be organized to provide for basic functions no matter how small
your space is. Where you pick-up and put down your work piece will determine its eventual outcome and
your safety.
You have to provide for:
1. Raw glass material storage
2. Working area
- Dry and clean area
- Wet area
- Firing area
3. Finished item storage
4. Storage for tools
5. Storage for other materials
6. Garbage for disposal
7. Other areas should be identified if you need to handle pints and sandblasting
Materials Sourcing:
After you have figured or decided to work in glass you will have to plan how to acquire the basic raw
material and handle it.
An offhand list of feasible material sources are as follows:
1. Plate glass: glass supply stores, manufacturer
2. Bottle glass: junk shops and manufacturers
3. Borosilicate glass: scientific supply shops
4. Light bulbs and fluorescents tubes: light bulb manufacturers and importers.
There are varying degrees of ease or difficulty in getting from the above sources and th artist must
assume that the supply of the material could fluctuate. Addresses are available in the yellow pages.
Tools and equipment and other supplies other than the above will be discussed in the techniques where
they will be applied so that you can project your needs.
Glass working Techniques:
For convenience the author has divided glass workin techniques into two general categories these are
coldworking and hotworking techniques. Coldworking generally meaning using no heat higher than an
arbitrarily set 150oC ( o F)
Coldworking Techniques:
1. Gluing
- Considerations
a. Type of bond needed
* Temporary
* Permanent
b. Conditions (hot, cold)
c. Cost
d. Availability
- Glass to glass
- Glass to other materials or onto glass
2. Painting: Adhesion to consider - back or front faces, or both, lighting, background
- Paint
* to mark only
* to decorate
- Transparent
- Translucent
- Opaque
- Gold leafing
- Glazes
3. Cutting by Scoring - basically done using diamond or carbide rollers or even files
- Pattern cuts
- Repetitive using pantographs and templates
- Scoring machines
- mechanical and computer aided for straight cuts
- File scoring
- Bottle and glass rods
4. Cutting by Sawing
- Circular saw
- Band saw
- Scroll saw
- Diamond file
- Abrasive stones
- Waterjet
- Thermal shock
5. Chip, Break, Frit (Thermal Fracture)
- Dropping and/or heating them cooling fast
- Pliers - breaking off edges
- Hammer - hammering
6. Roughing, Smoothening
- Grinding stone - synthetic abrasives
- Cast iron plus sand
- Sand paper
- Rubber wheels
- Draw and erase - shading
7. Polishing - polishing agents are normally
- Cilium oxide and red iron oxide
- Wood, leather, felt wheels
8. Engraving
- Hand scratching using diamond tips, motor driven engraver, copper wheel, diamond wheels
9. Sand Blasting
- Abrasive sand - silicon carbide, drawness oxide different grits, compressed air mixes and drives out
the abrasive towards the area to be blasted
- Siphon - air creates vacuum and draws sand
- Shape, cut, hole
- Gravity feed
- Pressure
- Air brush
- On site
10.Resists
- Tape
- Wax
- Photo emulsion
11. Hole Making
- Drills - diamond, tungsten, steel
12. Acid etching and frosting
13. Acid polishing
14. Gold and Electroplating rims
15. Tumbling - mimics the action of wave on glass pieces by rolling them against each other, abrasives are
added to speed-up the abrading action, sharp edges are removed by chipping off and abrasion
16. Lathe work
17. Accessorizing
18. Mirrorizing
19. Glue chipping
20. Packaging "Wood "Cloths " Buffers
21. Displaying
22. Delivery
The techniques taken up have undergone years of use by the author, while some were tried perfunctorily
just to explore the dimensions of the material and usefulness of the technique.
Hotworking Techniques:
1. Raw Glass Stock - preparation of glass by formulas
- Casting and molding
- Trailing
- Blowing
- Sheets
- Rods
- Cullets
2. Slumping
3. Fuse + Fuse and Slump
4. Enamelling
5. Lamp Working - different material
6. Glass Blowing
7. Annealing
8. Tempering
Molds, Fasterners, Holders
1. Metals
- Sheets, molds, wires, screens
2. Clamps
3. Refractory fibers and brick
4. Organics
- Leaves, woods, ropes
5. Rocks
6. Ceramics and Earths
Combination - Developed since August 25, 1996
1. Honeycombing
- Objectives: creates holes and tunnels instead of straight holes only
2. Bubble Image
- Objectives: makes a crystal ball so you can gaze and see the image
3. Empanada
- Objectives: layer separations and textures
4. Fossilizing
- Objectives: create earth archives
5. Wires, tubes, rods
- Objectives: attachments
6. Stone captures
Combination with other substrates
1. Stones
2. Wood
3. Rubber
4. Metal
5. Ceramics
6. Plastics
- Acrylic, resins
7. Glass
- Formulations
- Age
- Over-all size
8. Paints
Physical and Environmental Concerns
1. Temperature (while working cold working + abrasion (posporo) heaters)
2. Humidity or moisture (use as beverage ware)
3. Sunlight (UV glue and glass aging)
4. Vibration and impact
5. Poisons
NOTE: This article was written before the artist found out in 1997 that there actually exists a whole
community of glass artist in the world - the Glass Art Society. The article has been posted as it
had been written to sort of have a nostalgic background to go back to the face of the rapidly
advancing availability of all sorts of things and techniques for glass art and retain the flavor of
adventure indiscovering glass. |
