At first glance, it may seem that the production of glass requires very complex combinations of chemicals obtained in a difficult way. But in reality, glass is made in a fairly simple way using very ordinary components.

Glass is an alloy of certain materials, cooled in such a way that the atoms in its structure group together in a chaotic manner. An interesting fact is that 95% of the Earth's minerals can be used in the glass production process. The most important of these are (silicon dioxide), soda, limestone, borax, boric acid, magnesium oxide and lead oxide.

It is noteworthy that the first glass was created by nature itself. About 450 million years ago, molten rock from the Earth's interior rushed to the surface and, with the help of volcanoes, pierced the earth's crust. When hot lava contained silica and quickly solidified, it formed glass that was as hard as rock. There is an entire mountain in California covered in volcanic glass.

Volcanic glass is called obsidian. This extremely hard and durable mineral is widely used in industry, and especially beautiful examples are used to make jewelry. Due to its high hardness, obsidian belongs to.

Man has been making glass since ancient times. The Egyptians knew how to make colored glass more than five thousand years ago. They covered stone products, dishes with this material in the form of glaze, and sometimes made beautiful beads and other jewelry. Perfume and ointment bottles made from glass were already used in Egypt over 3,500 years ago.

The period of the Roman Empire (1st century BC to 5th century AD) was one of the greatest periods in the history of glass. It was at this time that man mastered how to blow glass and how to give objects a certain shape and at the same time make them the right size.

Glass blowing.

The process of glass blowing is one of the oldest human skills. But since modern mechanisms have been developed and the need for glass products has increased significantly, manual glass making technology has become a rarity.

When glass is in a molten state, it can be processed in various ways. For example, it can be pressed, blown, painted or rolled. For centuries, the main method of glass processing was blowing, which helped produce a wide variety of glass products.

The glassblower collected a ball of molten glass at the end of a straw and blew into it. Using his skills, he gave the glass the desired shape and brought it to the desired thickness. He constantly heated the glass to keep it in working condition for as long as possible. Then the master finished the processing with special tools.

Many types of glass objects were created in this way. Glass can also be molded into a desired shape. Surprisingly enough, window glass used to be made by blowing a long cylinder, which was then cut and rolled to form sheets of glass. Of course, the size of these sheets was limited by the strength of the glassblower's lungs.

Today, a similar process for making glass, called handcrafting, is increasingly used in the production of special scientific equipment or expensive, magnificent glass products. Today, the manual labor of a glassblower is highly valued, and to work in this industry a person requires significant professional skills.

Manufacturing of glass bottles.

Over time, the need for glassware such as bottles became so great that every effort was made to create a glass blowing machine, which was invented in 1903.

The machine uses a vacuum to blow enough glass for one bottle. First, the neck of the bottle is formed. Then compressed air is supplied and the entire bottle is blown out.

After this, the resulting product is automatically fired and hardened, and then a slow cooling process occurs, which makes it durable. Such a machine is capable of producing more bottles in one hour of work than six manual glass blowers in a whole day.

Later, another machine was created to automatically blow out light bulbs, which allowed for wider use of electric light. The majority of all standard bottles, jars, jugs, glasses and other glass containers are machine-made.

Today, of course, there are many new ways to make glass, but this is the basic process. The raw materials for glass production arrive at the glass factory and are stored in huge tanks. The required amount of substances is measured, dosed, and then mixed in the correct proportion.

Broken glass, similar to that produced and called "glass scrap", is added to the mixtures to speed up the melting process. The resulting mixture is automatically fed into the oven. The molten glass then flows out of the furnace to cool.

It then goes through numerous processing processes, such as blowing, pressing, rolling, casting and painting - depending on the type of glass to be obtained. Thus, it is possible to produce both simple window glass and patterned glass, characterized by high decorative qualities.

* The calculations use average data for Russia

Glass is rightfully considered one of the most interesting and impressive materials used for making souvenirs. Glass is distinguished by its relatively low cost, ductility and high flexibility in processing. Glass can be used to make products of various shapes and colors, from simple tableware to real works of art that will decorate any collection. Meanwhile, the production of glass products cannot be called a simple matter. Rather, on the contrary, it is a complex process that requires the master to have extensive experience and professionalism. In addition, he must also have good artistic taste, otherwise his glass products will not be in demand. An additional advantage of glass products is that due to the specifics of the production process, which is carried out entirely manually in small enterprises (and even in large factories this process cannot be fully automated), each finished product is one of a kind and inimitable. No less popular among consumers are glass jewelry, which may not be as durable as products made from natural stone, but is very beautiful and original. The range of glass products is almost limitless. These can be glass bouquets, small vases, animal figurines, jewelry, zodiac signs, etc.

Manual production of glass products

The technological process of manufacturing glass products in small glass-blowing workshops involves the use of exclusively manual labor. On the one hand, this significantly complicates production and increases the cost of the product, and on the other hand, it increases the value of such a glass souvenir in the eyes of buyers. In a simplified way, the process of “manual” manufacturing can be represented as follows: first, the master heats the workpiece, which is called a glass shot, and then, using a special tool, gives it one shape or another. This procedure is not only labor-intensive, but also dangerous. It can sometimes take several hours to make one complex product.

Before starting work, it is necessary to clear the workplace of dust and debris so that foreign particles do not get into the glass. Then a glass dart (glass dart) of the required shades, length and thickness is laid out on the work table in front of the master. Glass darts are sticks made of colored glass up to 40 cm long and with a diameter of three to six mm. A special burner is used to melt the glass shot. First, the master heats two glass rods to a plastic state, and then makes a part of the future figurine from this mass, giving the workpiece the required shape during the process. Other parts (eg paws, heads, tails) are made from glass rods of different thicknesses and/or colors. The same technology is used: first the glass is heated on a burner, and then small parts are attached to the base body. At the last stage, the figurine is given its final appearance by gluing ears, eyes, clothes, noses and other elements to it. Finally, the finished figurine is left to cool completely, and then checked for defects. To do this, the master or inspector simply carefully examines the product under the light. If no defect is detected, the figurine is packed and sent to the warehouse. If any mistakes were made during the work, then small cracks are clearly visible inside the figurine. Such a product is considered defective and sent for processing. Depending on the qualifications and experience of the craftsman, as well as the complexity of the figurine, its production can take from twenty minutes to several hours. Using a similar scheme, small workshops produce other souvenir and gift products, such as vases and Christmas tree decorations, but in this case the glass is inflated to create a cavity inside the product.

Glassblowing workshop: premises and equipment

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So, the amount of starting capital for opening your own production of glass products directly depends on the planned production volumes. Experts say that it is better to start such production with a glass-blowing workshop with at least fifteen jobs. First of all, you will need a suitable premises. It should be spacious and comfortable enough for work. The recommended area should not be less than 50 square meters. meters, and the ceiling height is at least 3-3.5 meters. It is best to cover the workshop floor with linoleum or vinyl chloride tiles. With a soft floor covering, there is a lower risk that a glass piece falling on the floor will break into small fragments. The arrangement of furniture and equipment in a glassblowing workshop is subject to special requirements related to the specifics of production, which must be taken into account when choosing a room. For example, work tables are positioned in such a way that light falls on the work surface of the craftsmen from behind or from the side, and the distance between burners at work stations should not be less than 125 cm.

In addition to the workroom, you will also need several utility rooms, which may be of a smaller area, the main thing is that they are isolated from the main one. In one of these rooms, grinding, sharpening and drilling machines are installed, as well as a machine for cutting tubes and workpieces, in another - compressors, and in the third - fume hoods (calibration work will be carried out here). Please note: windows and doors in all rooms, including work and utility rooms, must open outward. In addition to the equipment, shelving is installed in the workroom where workpieces, tools and finished products will be stored, as well as special vertical racks for storing glass shot. You can make such racks and racks yourself.

Gas, oxygen and air are supplied to each workplace. In most cases, glassblowing workshops use gas from the city network, which has excess pressure, or propane gas in cylinders. In the latter case, all gas cylinders are placed outside the building where the workshop is located, in a metal booth that is locked. From the cylinders, gas is supplied through a reducer through pipes to the glass-blowing workshop. Oxygen from the cylinders is also supplied to the workroom through high-pressure metal tubes to the distribution board, which must be placed on one of the walls of the workshop. From the distribution board, oxygen is supplied through a reducer to each work table. Gas, air, oxygen are supplied to the burners through the corresponding branches on the line through high-pressure rubber hoses. As a rule, these hoses are secured under the tabletops and lead out through holes or cutouts in the table top near the burner. All gas and oxygen supply must be approved by Gosgortekhnadzor. The pipelines supplying gas, air and oxygen to the table are mounted on the wall and painted in different colors (red, yellow, green).

The workshop premises must be equipped with exhaust and supply ventilation. An umbrella connected to an exhaust ventilation duct must be installed above each table to remove smoke and combustion products. Centrifugal fans can be used as supply ventilation. It is not necessary, but it is highly advisable to install air conditioners in your workshop, which will help maintain a comfortable air temperature during the hot season.

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In addition to daylight, the workshop will also need to be equipped with fluorescent lamps. For certain types of work, you can use special table lamps with a reflector.

In one of the utility rooms, compressors of sufficient power are installed, which will help ensure excess air pressure at the burner. For a uniform supply of air, a receiver or a strong sealed container or, as a last resort, an empty steel cylinder is used. In the latter case, you need to drill two threaded holes in the cylinder, into which short pipelines are then screwed. A pressure gauge and a spring safety valve of the PSK type are mounted at one (upper) outlet.

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When working with oxygen, the system through which air is supplied to the workplace must be equipped with oil filters.

Metal tables for muffle furnaces are installed in the room adjacent to the workshop. Sheet asbestos must be placed on the metal surface of the table, on which, in turn, muffle furnaces with different furnace space capacities are placed (the best option is with automatic temperature control). This equipment is used for firing finished products. Above the table where the muffle furnaces are located, a marble shield with magnetic starters for each furnace is installed. If the layout does not provide for an adjacent room, then the stoves can be installed in the workshop.

In the room for mechanical processing of glass there are several grinding machines (four furnaces are enough for the above-mentioned footage), a glass cutting machine with a corundum or diamond disk, and a tabletop drilling machine for drilling holes in glass. In addition, it is necessary to have a sharpening machine with a vertical corundum wheel for sharpening tools.

In the calibration room, in addition to fume hoods, all the utensils and reagents needed for marking are stored. According to the requirements, both in the workers and in the utility rooms of the workshop there must be fire-fighting equipment, a box with sand and a dustpan, foam and carbon dioxide fire extinguishers. In addition, do not forget to purchase a first aid kit for the workshop with dressings and medications to provide first aid to injured workers.

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To organize such a workshop, you will need from 3 million rubles. Payback periods range from 1.5 years. An additional source of income (in addition to selling glass products) can be conducting excursions, master classes and courses for those who want to learn the basics of working with glass.

Industrial production of glass products

Medium and large enterprises for the production of glass products carry out a full production cycle. The manufacturing process here begins with the preparation of a charge - a mixture of various materials selected in accordance with the type of glass being produced, which is subjected to careful processing. At the next stage, the glass is boiled. This is a very important operation, on which the quality of the finished product largely depends. Glass melting is carried out in special glass furnaces with a gradual increase in temperature from 700° to 1450 – 1480 °C. After boiling, the glass mass is cooled slightly, and then products are produced or formed from it using various methods. There are several basic molding methods, including blow molding, compression molding, compression molding and centrifugal casting. Blowing can be carried out by mechanized, vacuum blowing, manual (in molds) and free methods. Separate equipment is used for each of these methods. To produce simple souvenir products, such enterprises use the first two methods. Manual blowing into molds, which is done using a glass blowing tube, is a much more labor-intensive and expensive process, so this method is used here to make complex products. Free blowing (the so-called gutnaya or guten technique) is the free molding of a product (without using a mold). In this case, a glass ball is placed on the tip of the tube, which is then inflated through the tube into a ball with continuous rotation and constant adjustment of the ball with wooden blocks. The resulting workpiece is removed from the tube and placed on an iron rod for further processing. The nature of processing depends on what is planned to be obtained as a result. The master can open the upper part or roll out the lower part of the workpiece to obtain one or another shape. The distinctive features of blown products include small thickness of the product walls, more complex and varied shapes than with other production methods, and high transparency. Centrifugal casting occurs under the influence of centrifugal forces. The press blowing process is carried out in two stages. First, the product is molded in molds, and then it is given its final shape under the influence of hot air. Such products have thicker walls, are not so transparent, but are often decorated with relief patterns.

After molding, regardless of the method used, glass products undergo a firing procedure - kept in ovens at a temperature of 530-580 ° C and slowly cooled. This allows you to significantly increase the thermal and mechanical stability of the material. Then the finished products are processed (the tops that were adjacent to the blowing tube are cut off, the edges, bottom and neck are smoothed using grinding) and decorated with paints and various elements. There are a wide variety of options for decorating glass products. Thus, methods of decorating hot glass (that is, before the finished product cools or even during its production) include tint, satin glass, iridescence, crackle, sulfide glass, decoration with glass thread, colored embankment. Natvet is a decoration made of colored glass that is applied to the surface of colorless glass. Satin glass is a combination of milky and colored glass using complex shapes with ridges and recesses of varying sizes. The sulfide glass technique involves producing marble-like and opalescent strips of different color shades. Colored embankment is multi-colored sagging on the background of colorless or colored glass. Iridescence refers to the hot treatment of glass products with vapors of tin or silver salts with the addition of strontium compounds, which form a thin iridescent film on the surface of the material. Crackle decoration involves the formation of thin cracks in colorless or colored glass melt, creating the effect of an antique item (artificial aging). When decorating with glass thread, the finest colored threads and stripes are placed on the surface of the glass melt or inside it in the form of a pattern of arbitrary shape, parallel stripes, spirals, etc.

Finished products are decorated by mechanical methods (for example, engraving), painting, metal films, luster paints, chemical methods (etching), etc. Engraving is a matte pattern with a large number of small contour details, which is applied using copper disks of various diameters and abrasive mass. When etching, the pattern is applied using mixtures of hydrofluoric and sulfuric acid solutions, which dissolve the glass. There are several types of etching: simple, pantograph and deep. In the first case, glass products are coated with mastic containing wax or paraffin, then a pattern is applied using special equipment equipped with needles, and then an etching mixture is applied for 15-20 minutes, after which it is washed off with water. This is done mainly for patterns with rings, zigzags and spirals. With pantograph etching, more complex patterns can be made, and thick glass products can be decorated with deep ones. Glass products can also be painted using brushes and a stencil with special silicate paints, followed by firing at a temperature of 550 °C. To create gold ornaments, the metal film decoration technique is used. It consists of applying liquid (twelve percent) or powder gold to clear and colored glass over a frosted and etched relief surface. In this case, gold is applied with a thin brush, then the product is dried and fired to secure the ornament. Glass can also be coated with luster paints and then fired to obtain a shiny metallic film on its surface. Patterned carvings are often applied to glass using grinding wheels followed by polishing, or moldings - liquid glass in the form of droplets and then blowing it to form the desired shape.

There are certain requirements for the quality of glass art products. It must comply with approved reference samples and the requirements of regulatory and technical documentation. Such products are sorted depending on their appearance, the degree of defects allowed and physical and mechanical properties. In this case, defects in glass melt, production and decoration processing are taken into account. When assessing quality, specialists take into account the type, size, location of the defect and the size of the product itself. Depending on the raw materials used, the type of product and its purpose, glass art products are sorted into grades, the number of which is regulated by standards, and are marked with stickers indicating the manufacturer, trademark, and standard number.

Since glass is a very fragile material, products made from it are carefully packaged in cardboard boxes with preliminary wrapping in soft paper or foam cases. Special requirements are also imposed on the transportation of such products. It is carried out in boxes filled with shavings and other soft materials, with warning notices. But such products do not require special storage conditions in warehouses. It is enough for the room to be dry and closed. Don't make the racks too high. When placing products, consider their weight: heavy products are placed on the lower shelves, and light ones are placed higher.

To organize such production, special expensive equipment will be required: an automated line with a raw material supply channel, “scissors” for cutting molten glass, an automatic press for several molds, a hydraulic press station, a molding machine with an air cooling system, a system for extracting the pressed product from the molding machine, an oven annealing with ejector, paint application unit, drying unit (for drying paint on products), glass crushing and washing equipment, blowing equipment, etc.

The cost of such equipment is several tens of millions of rubles. The exact price depends on the configuration (determined by the product range and planned production volumes), as well as the manufacturer (the most popular is Chinese equipment due to the price-quality ratio). To accommodate the line, a large production area will be required - at least 1000 square meters. meters. The annealing furnace and drying chamber should be located in a separate room, which, meanwhile, communicates with the workshop. In addition, we need space for a finished product packaging workshop and a separate room for a warehouse. To work in such a production facility, you will need at least 5-7 people plus a foreman-technologist and a supervisor per shift. Most enterprises operate in two or three shifts (with maximum load). Payback periods range from 2.5 years.

Manufacturers of glass souvenir and gift products sell their products through wholesale companies, various retail chains, individual stores (including online stores, although in this case special individual packaging is required for safe transportation), retail outlets and even markets. In general, this product is in consistently high demand, although some seasonal influences are noted. Thus, most orders occur during the pre-holiday periods (before the New Year, March 8). In the summer months, manufacturers of glass souvenirs do not complain about a drop in sales volumes, their “geography” simply shifts. During this period, souvenirs are most actively sold in the south of the country. Many companies even produce special collections with a marine theme for the holiday season.

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Today we will talk about how to make glass yourself at home with your own hands. We will also consider methods and technologies for independent production of glass and glass products, namely furnaces, devices and tools for melting glass

In factories and chemical laboratories, glass is produced from a charge - a thoroughly mixed dry mixture of powdered salts, oxides and other compounds. When heated in ovens to very high temperatures, often above 1500°C, salts decompose into oxides, which, interacting with each other, form silicates, borates, phosphates and other compounds that are stable at high temperatures. Together they make up glass.

We will prepare so-called fusible glasses, for which a laboratory electric furnace with a heating temperature of up to 1000°C is sufficient. You will also need crucibles, crucible tongs (so as not to get burned) and a small flat plate, steel or cast iron. First we will weld the glass, and then we will find a use for it.

Mix with a spatula on a sheet of paper 10 g of sodium tetraborate (borax), 20 g of lead oxide and 1.5 g of cobalt oxide, sifted through a sieve. This is our batch. Pour it into a small crucible and compact it with a spatula so that you get a cone with the top in the center of the crucible. The compacted charge should occupy no more than three-quarters of the volume in the crucible, then the glass will not spill.

Using tongs, place the crucible in an electric furnace (crucible or muffle), heated to 800-900 °C, and wait until the charge melts. This is judged by the release of bubbles: as soon as it stops, the glass is ready. Remove the crucible from the furnace with tongs and immediately pour the molten glass onto a clean steel or cast iron plate. Cooling on the stove, the glass forms a blue-violet ingot.

To obtain glasses of other colors, replace cobalt oxide with other coloring oxides. Iron(III) oxide (1-1.5 g) will color the glass brown, copper(II) oxide (0.5-1 g) - green, a mixture of 0.3 g of copper oxide with 1 g of cobalt oxide and 1 g iron (III) oxide—black. If you take only boric acid and lead oxide, the glass will remain colorless and transparent. Experiment yourself with other oxides, for example, chromium, manganese, nickel, tin.

Grind the glass with a pestle in a porcelain mortar. To avoid injury from the fragments, be sure to wrap your hand in a towel and cover the mortar and pestle with a clean rag.

Pour fine glass powder onto thick glass, add a little water and grind until creamy with a chime - a glass or porcelain disk with a handle. Instead of a chime, you can take a small flat-bottomed mortar or a polished piece of granite - this is what the old masters did when they ground paints. The resulting mass is called slip. We will apply it to the surface of aluminum in much the same way as they do when making jewelry.

Clean the aluminum surface with sandpaper and degrease by boiling in a soda solution. On a clean surface, draw the outline of the design with a scalpel or needle. Using a regular brush, cover the surface with slip, dry it over a flame, and then heat it in the same flame until the glass is fused to the metal. You will get enamel.

If the icon is small, it can be covered with a layer of glass and heated entirely in a flame. If the product is larger (say, a sign with an inscription), then you need to divide it into sections and apply glass to them one by one. To make the enamel color more intense, reapply the glass. In this way, you can obtain not only decorations, but also reliable enamel coatings to protect aluminum parts in all kinds of devices and models. Since in this case the enamel bears an additional load, it is advisable to cover the metal surface with a dense oxide film after degreasing and washing; To do this, it is enough to hold the part for 5-10 minutes in an oven with a temperature just below 600°C.

Of course, it is more convenient to apply slip to a large part not with a brush, but with a spray bottle or simply by watering (but the layer should be thin). Dry the part in an oven at 50-60°C, and then transfer it to an electric oven heated to 700-800°C.

You can also make painted plates for mosaic work from fusible glass. Cover pieces of broken porcelain (they will always be given to you at a china shop) with a thin layer of slip, dry at room temperature or in an oven and fuse the glass onto the plates, keeping them in an electric oven at a temperature not lower than 700°C.

Having mastered working with glass, you can help your colleagues from the biology club: they often make stuffed animals, and stuffed animals need different-colored eyes...

In a steel plate about 1.5 cm thick, drill several recesses of different sizes with a conical or spherical bottom. In the same way as before, fuse the different colored glasses. The gamma is probably enough, but to change the intensity, slightly increase or decrease the content of the coloring additive.

Place a small drop of brightly colored molten glass into the recess of the steel plate, then pour in the iris-colored glass. The drop will enter the main mass, but will not mix with it - this way both the pupil and the iris will be reproduced. Cool items slowly, avoiding sudden temperature changes. To do this, remove the hardened but still hot “eyes” from the mold with heated tweezers, place them in loose asbestos and cool them to room temperature. .

Of course, fusible glass can also be used in other applications. But wouldn't it be better if you look for them yourself?

And to complete the experiments with glass, using the same electric furnace, we will try to turn ordinary glass into colored glass. A natural question: is it possible to make sunglasses this way? It is possible, but it is unlikely that you will succeed the first time, because the process is capricious and requires some skills. Therefore, take up glasses only after you have practiced on pieces of glass and made sure that the result meets your expectations.

The base paint for glass will be rosin. You previously prepared driers for oil paints from resinates, acid salts that make up rosin. Let us turn again to resinates, because they are capable of forming a thin, even film on glass and serving as carriers of coloring matter,

Dissolve pieces of rosin in a solution of caustic soda with a concentration of about 20%, stirring and remembering, of course, caution until the liquid turns dark yellow. After filtering, add a little solution of ferric chloride FeCl3 or other ferric salt. Keep in mind that the concentration of the solution should be small, salt cannot be taken in excess - the precipitate of iron hydroxide that forms in this case will interfere with us. If the salt concentration is low, then a red precipitate of iron resinate is formed - this is where it is needed.

Filter the red precipitate and dry it in air, and then dissolve it until saturated in pure gasoline (not automobile gasoline, but solvent gasoline); it would be even better to take hexane or petroleum ether. Using a brush or spray paint a thin layer of glass on the surface, let it dry and place in an oven heated to approximately 600°C for 5-10 minutes.

But rosin is an organic substance, and it cannot withstand this temperature! That's right, but that's exactly what you need - let the organic base burn out. Then a thin film of iron oxide will remain on the glass, well adhered to the surface. And although the oxide is generally opaque, in such a thin layer it transmits some of the light rays, i.e., it can serve as a light filter.
Perhaps the light-protective layer will seem too dark to you or, on the contrary, too light. In this case, vary the experimental conditions - slightly increase or decrease the concentration of the rosin solution, change the firing time and temperature. If you are not satisfied with the color in which the glass is painted, replace the ferric chloride with the chloride of another metal, but certainly one whose oxide is brightly colored, for example, copper or cobalt chloride.

And when the technology is carefully developed on pieces of glass, it is possible to transform ordinary glasses into sunglasses without much risk. Just remember to remove the glass from the frame - the plastic frame will not withstand heating in the oven in the same way as the rosin base...
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To make glass, sand must be melted. You've probably walked on hot sand on a sunny day, so you guess that to do this it needs to be heated to very high temperatures. An ice cube melts at a temperature of about 0 C. Sand begins to melt at a temperature of at least 1710 C, which is almost seven times higher than the maximum temperature of our usual oven.
Heating any substance to such a temperature requires a lot of energy, and therefore money. For this reason, when producing glass for everyday needs, glassmakers add a substance to the sand that helps the sand melt at lower temperatures - about 815 C. This substance is usually soda ash.
However, if you use only a mixture of sand and soda ash when melting, you can get an amazing type of glass - glass that dissolves in water (frankly, not the best choice for glasses).

To prevent the glass from dissolving, you need to add a third substance. Glassmakers add crushed limestone to sand and soda (you've probably seen this beautiful white stone).

The glass commonly used to make windows, mirrors, glasses, bottles and light bulbs is called soda-lime silicate glass. This glass is very durable, and when molten it is easy to shape into the desired shape. In addition to sand, soda ash and limestone, this mixture (experts call it “mixture”) contains some magnesium oxide, aluminum oxide, boric acid, as well as substances that prevent the formation of air bubbles in this mixture.

All these ingredients are combined and the mixture is placed in a giant furnace (the largest of these furnaces can hold almost 1,110,000 kg of liquid glass).

The high heat of the oven heats the mixture until it begins to melt and changes from a solid to a viscous liquid. Liquid glass continues to be heated at high temperatures until all the bubbles and veins disappear from it, since the thing made from it must be absolutely transparent. When the glass mass becomes homogeneous and clean, reduce the heat and wait until the glass turns into a viscous viscous mass - like hot iris. The glass is then poured from the furnace into a casting machine where it is poured into molds and shaped.
However, when producing hollow objects such as bottles, the glass must be blown out like a balloon. Previously, glass blowing could be seen during fairs and carnivals, but now this process is often shown on TV. You've probably seen glassblowers blowing hot glass at the end of a tube to create amazing shapes. But glass can also be blown using machines. The basic principle of glassblowing is to blow into a glass drop until an air bubble forms in the middle, which becomes a cavity in the finished piece.

After the glass is given the required shape, a new danger awaits it - it can crack when cooled to room temperature. To avoid this, craftsmen try to control the cooling process by subjecting the hardening glass to heat treatment. The last stage of processing is removing excess glass droplets from the handles of cups or polishing plates using special chemicals that make them perfectly smooth.

Scientists are still debating whether glass should be considered a solid or a very viscous (syrup-like) liquid. Because the glass in the windows of older houses is thicker at the bottom and thinner at the top, some claim that the glass drips over time. However, it can be argued that previously window glass was not made perfectly straight and people simply inserted them into the frames with the thicker edge down. Even glassware from the times of Ancient Rome does not show any signs of “fluidity”. Thus, the example of old window glass will not help resolve the question of whether glass is actually a highly viscous liquid.

Composition (raw materials) for making glass at home:
Quartz sand;
Soda Ash;
Thalamit;
Limestone;
Nepheline syenite;
Sodium sulfate.

How glass is made at home (production process)

Typically, scrap glass (broken glass) plus the above components are used as ingredients.

1) The constituent elements of the future glass enter the furnace, where it all melts at a temperature of 1500 degrees, forming a homogeneous liquid mass.

2) Liquid glass enters a homogenizer (an apparatus for creating stable mixtures), where it is mixed to a mass with a uniform temperature.

3) The hot mass is allowed to settle for several hours.

This is how glass is made!

A strongman in a circus inflates a hot water bottle, a dad inflates balloons for a child's birthday, an alcoholic blows vodka, and a baby just blows his pants. But there are people who decided to devote their lives to making very beautiful products from the most fragile material - glass. These are glass blowers. Most likely, this profession cannot do without a bit of magic. How else can you explain the fact that real works of art can be made from a handful of nondescript sand? Want to know how it's done?

Pantry glass

In the Tavastia region, in the Finnish town of Riihimaki, there is one place - an old glass factory.

One of its premises today houses a glassblowing workshop and a gallery for artists Maria Hepo-aho and Kari Alakoski. Maria and Kari are well-known and recognized glass artists in Finland. They produce everything from jewelry to vases and tableware.

Anyone can come into the workshop and touch the magic of glass, make beads for themselves and buy their favorite products and souvenirs. And most importantly, Masha is from Russia, and you will have absolutely no translation difficulties. :)

The spacious workshop has several work stations. For example, here Masha makes glass birds, looking at a book about the birds of Finland.

It's hard to imagine until you see how these colored glass rods turn into owls, cockerels, storks and sparrows. Masha studied this craft at the university for 6 years!

You won’t find any kind of intricate crafts here: balls, beads, vases, glasses, decanters, candlesticks - all this is then sold to shops and glass exhibitions.

Thousands of colors and shades, shapes and shadows!

Ice styling, designer finds, glasses-candlesticks - you name it!

There is even an old cash register, which Masha found with difficulty and bought. This is the First Lady of the workshop. It still works great, and instead of ringing silver in the cash drawer there are modern euros.

But one thing attracts attention more than the rest. How did bubbles appear in this glass mortar? Laser technology? Magic?

Masters reveal secrets

It didn’t take much convincing - Maria herself offered to make the same mortar with magic bubbles before our eyes. As prosaic as it may seem, everything in our world begins with dust. Masha scooped out a handful of glass raw materials from the bag, which they buy in Sweden. These balls will then end up in the oven, where 1200 degrees Celsius will turn them into a thick, viscous mass.

It is this mass that Kari is now wrapping around the end of a long metal tube.

This little piece of light will have to go through fire, water and copper pipes on the way to its final and perfect state.

First of all, the glass needs to be shaped and the surface of the workpiece must be slightly cooled. Technology has not changed much since glass blowing began in Finland (almost later than anyone else in Europe). To do this, Kari uses special wooden spoons soaked in water, in which he constantly rotates the workpiece. Wet wood allows you to very smoothly lower the temperature of the glass mass, preventing it from cracking.

At the same time, Kari shapes the future mortar using metal tongs, making a thinning at her throat. All this time he rolls the tube with the workpiece on a special chair - the main workplace of the glass blower. If this is not done, the viscous workpiece will flow down under its own weight.

At the right moment, Masha joins the process.

With the help of such a mechanism, more like a medieval instrument of torture, the workpiece is clamped and corrugations are created on its surface.

This is what our piece of glass looks like now. Doesn't it look a lot like a glowing light bulb? This corrugation is the whole secret of the magic bubbles.

Now Kari is heating the workpiece again in the oven, which is called the Glory Hole. After this, he again collects fresh glass melt in the first furnace, wrapping the workpiece with a second layer of glass.

Then Masha begins to play the main role. Using old wet newspapers folded in several layers, she again cools the workpiece to the desired temperature and viscosity. Wet paper absorbs heat very well and smoothly, preventing the workpiece from cracking. Layer by layer the paper burns, taking away excess heat and giving the desired shape to the future mortar.

The second layer of glass seals the pits of the first layer, and Kari inflates the workpiece from the inside.

This is how bubbles are created.

After this, it’s time to work on the neck of the mortar. To do this, you need to change the place where the workpiece is attached to the tool. To do this, Kari takes a second tube, wraps a small piece of glass around it and glues it to the bottom of the mortar. When the mass sets, you can remove the first tube by breaking it off from the throat.

Masha cuts off everything unnecessary with scissors, forming the future neck of the mortar.

Kari smoothly expands it with tongs...

...and we get an almost finished mortar.

A few final touches...

And the mortar is ready! But not really...

After breaking off the tube from the bottom, sharp pieces of glass remain on the surface, which must be smoothed with a special burner.

And even after this, the process does not end - the mortar will need to rest for a day in the third oven, where 500 degrees Celsius will remove all internal stress from it. This must be done so that the mortar does not one day shatter into pieces even from a weak blow. This process is called tempering, as in metallurgy.

This mortar will be sold to lovers of all things elegant and handmade for 30 euros. You can grind seasonings in it, prepare medicines, or simply decorate a room with it.

Let there be color!

Do you want to know how these colored vases are made?

The highlight of the process is the addition of pieces of colored glass at the initial stage.

During the blowing process, it dissolves in a thin layer inside the main mass, giving the product a unique color.

But what will happen if you do not smoothly cool the workpiece with wet newspapers, but abruptly place it completely in a bucket of water. The surface is covered with small cracks, which create a texture pleasant to the touch.

Masha and Kari are gods of glass in their workshop. They can even take a photo as a souvenir. Over the years, they have accumulated hundreds of different techniques that are beyond the reach of many of their competitors in Finland.

For a small fee, they are ready to give you a tour, a master class, and even give you the opportunity to blow something yourself. They are often approached by people who would like to turn their artistic ideas into reality - to make an exclusive set of dishes, decorations, corporate souvenirs and much more.