Terminology

*Use and learn lampworking or glass art at your own risk- Remember that glass is sharp and flames are hot. Pay attention and work slowly. 

• Lampworking - type of glasswork where a torch or lamp is primarily used to melt the glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with tools and hand movements. It is also known as flameworking or torchworking, as the modern practice no longer uses oil-fueled lamps. Lampworking differs from glassblowing in that glassblowing uses a furnace and glory hole as the primary heat source, although torches are also used.

• Heat Source - Torches are used that burn either propane or natural gas, or in some countries butane, for the fuel gas, mixed with either air or pure oxygen as the oxidizer. Many hobbyists use MAPP gas in portable canisters for fuel. Canisters can be purchased at home improvement stores along with oxygen setups with regulators. 

• Working Surface - Graphite or Steel is used as a working surface because of agility to withstands high temperatures, low friction and resistance to sticking to molten (hot) glass.

• COE - Coefficient of Thermal Expansion. Used to describe the speed which glass contracts when melted and cooled. You cannot melt together glass with a different COE, they will contract at different speeds and cause breaks. You can use different COE when doing cold work (Stained Glass)

• Soft Glass - Soft glass is useful because it melts at lower temperatures, however it does not react well to temperature changes like borosilicate glass does. Because soft glass expands a lot more than hard glass when heated, and contracts more when cooled, along with its brittle nature, during cooling or even while working it, soft glass is more prone to cracking due to thermal shock than borosilicate. If a piece cools too quickly in one spot, such as if cold water touches a thin piece of soft glass, that part would solidify immediately, and cause a crack. 

• Annealing Glass- this is the process of cooling the molten glass slow enough to relieve the stress and avoid breakage. There are several methods ranging from flashing in the heat, using fiber blankets, cooling in vermiculite, and the method with the best results which is kiln annealing.

• Hard Glass - Hard glass or borosilicate, is more resilient. Borosilicate is just like regular glass, SiO₂, but it has a more flexible molecular structure from being doped with boron. Borosilicate glass is considered more forgiving to work with, as its lower COE makes it less apt to crack during flameworking than soda-lime glass. However, it has a narrower working temperature range than soda-lime glass, has fewer available colors, and is considerably more expensive.

TOOLS

• Glass Rod - Rods of glass that are used for lampworking, easy to heat and manipulate in smaller artwork. They can be purchased in different thicknesses for use in larger to smaller designs.

• Mandrel- Steel thin rod (different widths create different sized bead holes) used to lay hot glass around to create a bead.

• Bench Burner - A torch that is fixed to the bench which provides a stationary flame. This includes a torch head, a heat source, and a torch stand or clamp to fix the setup to your work table.

• Hand Torch - The hand torch allows for more maneuverability of the flame, commonly used on glassworking lathes where there is reduced maneuverability of the piece.

• Kiln - the kiln is used to garage and anneal the glass, protecting the piece from thermal shock and relieving thermal stress. Kilns are used for glass blowing and larger pieces.

• Marver - flat surfaces used to roll glass upon in order to shape, smooth or consolidate applied decoration, typically made of graphite or steel.

• Paddle - A graphite or metal marver attached to a handle. Also used to flatten, shape, smooth hot glass but in a hand held design.

• Reamer - A piece of graphite or brass on a handle used to enlarge holes. Sharp end is designed to make small marks, lines or holes. 

• Blowhose/Swivel Assembly - A hose, usually latex, is connected to the blowpipe via a hollow swivel, allowing the lampworker to blow into hollow glass forms while rotating them.

• Tungsten Pick - The extreme temperature resistance of tungsten makes it ideal for raking(dragging glass around on the surface), or to bore a hole through the glass.

• Shears - Steel shears (scissors) are used to cut the hot glass.

• Hot Fingers - Metal tool found in various configurations which allows the hot glass to be securely held and rotated, commonly used for finishing pieces after they have been removed from the blowpipe or pontil. This looks like an open ended wisk and will hold pieces with out reshaping them.

• Lathe - The glassworking lathe allows for precise rotation and manipulation of glass. They are especially suited for larger scale work that may be difficult or tiring to turn by hand.

BASIC TECNIQUE

• Preparing the mandrel - The beadmaker starts by dipping a mandrel, or wire (stainless steel welding wire, cut into lengths) into a release agent. Release agents are either clay based or man made, such as boron nitride.

• Heating rod and mandrel - The flameworker selects rods of glass to heat in the flame of the torch. When both glass and mandrel are sufficiently warm (release agent should turn orange when heated enough, only agent in flame will turn orange), the beadmaker starts rotating the mandrel while allowing the glass to wind upon it. Heating glass rod and mandrel slowly by waving in and out of flame will prevent any shock to glass which can cause cracks or shatters.

• Shaping the bead - Beads are shaped using a combination of heat, gravity and tools such as graphite paddles, mashers, tweezers, and picks. Pressing to create shapes and indent patterns into the glass are also used. There are special designed Presses that look like large paddle style tweezers with different textures (leaf, lines, flat) to create different looks on the glass.

• Decorating the bead - Beads can be decorated by melting stringers (very small glass rods), or fibers of glass on the surface, creating dots or lines. With a sharp pointed tool, feathers, hearts or other designs may be produced. Metal decorations of copper, silver, gold, palladium and platinum are applied as metal leaf, wire, mesh or fuming.

• Striking - If silver based colors are used (striking colors), the bead must be heated for a few moments in the torch flame or kiln to allow crystals to reform in the glass. This temperature is slightly above the stress relief point. This allows the metallic colors to come out which cannot be seen until it is heated to the correct temperature.

• Annealing - Once completed, beads should be heated to 940º-1050°F (depending on glass type), until the piece reaches its "stress relief point", held at that temp for a short time, then slowly cooled to avoid thermal shock. A piece that is not Annealed could crack or break over time with a change in temperature.

• Cold working - The cooled bead can be further decorated. Standard cold working techniques can be employed such as sandblasting, faceting and polishing. Etching the finished piece with acid leaves a matte finish.

*Terminology courtesy of wikipedia.com/lampworking