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I've been looking forward to this group being created,
for hopefully someone can point me to a source for information. I'm interested in making hollow (blown?) glass Christmas ornaments -
my hobby is carving wooden Christmas ornaments (mostly Santa
figures). I understand from what little I have been able to find
out about these glass ornaments is that a multi-piece 'mold' is
carved out of wood (black alder), and that the glass is 'blown'
into the mold making a hollow figure. When cooled, the inside is
usually coated with some kind of silver compound... [If the mold used can not be wood, can poly resin or RTV silicone
molds be used (I have some experience in making these)],
or must they be of some type of pot metal? Other questions that I have besides the molding technique are: - What is the 'silver compound' used to coat the inside?
Where can I obtain some in 'hobby' quantities? (Is this the same material used to coat glass to make
mirrors?) - What types of paints are used on the exterior? They
seem to be some type of translucent 'stain' that
works with the silver interior to produce a reflective
finish. - Although I would prefer to mold from my own designs,
does someone produce 'commercial' molds? - What would be a good source for supplies - materials,
tools etc? |
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-The best place to start is to buy the book 'Glassblowing - an introduction
to solid and blown glass sculpturing' by Homer Hoyt. It a wonderful book
on doing small scale glass blowing and lampworking, with a really good
instructional sequence to build skill in lampworking. If you are interested
in Christmas ornaments this would be a great book to start with. It even
has instructions on silvering for a mirror coating on the inside
of the ornament. His company also sells a wide variety of glassworking
equipment and supplies, so ask for a catalog. |
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