I count myself lucky!

[iTiC]

I dont think its illegal in NSW to sell a bong or a pipe. I see plenty of tobacconists with the cheap blue Alliminum hash pipe and spare cones with down stems.

Adult stores can offer a lot more...

I got several nice glass bongs they arent really that good to smoke out of but they look pretty.

[jmNQ]

qld illegal , nsw legal for tobacco use.

 

Nice pics aussie. Love the alien theme love that dabber and dish.

 

Sorry to hear theyre going to shut down the green side of your biz but like you say lucky you still have a craft to sell.

 

I hang out mainly on Gcity forums usually but i came here to see if i could find an aussie glassworker / blower to have a chat with.

 

Due to my 29 year old back packing it in on me and preventing me from continuing my career as an interstate freight relocator im about to undergo a bit of a lifestyle change.

So im forced to think of something i want to do to pay my bills and glass being my only real passion after driving trucks here i am.

 

My interest started with paperweights and eventually branched out to high end bongs and bubblers and everything inbetween!

So my question to you is where would i begin to look to learn?

I have a full time job also and im assuming the setup would be rather expensive but due to my limitations i have a lot of spare time so it would be a bit of an investment to both my skills and my sanity!

What kind of cash would i be looking at for a basic to midline setup? torches tools kiln lathe ect.

 

Sorry to bomb you with questions but i learned one thing early in life its that if you dont ask youll never learn.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Peace Jm

[aussie made glass]

hi Jm,

sorry for the delay, I'm so snowed under with work atm I hardly know my a hole from my b hole.

You can get a basic set up for probably around $500 to make boro work. That would be a minor burner from nortel, regs, hoses and some tools. You'd need tweezers, a couple of graphite paddles, a reamer, a bowl push if you're going to make dry pipes, marble mold if you're going to make marbles. The Nortel Minors are remarkably versatile and will allow you to make some smaller work such as dry pipes, slides, pendants, smaller sculptural work, marbles, small bottles etc

You will need a kiln as well, eventually, for annealing, but fiberblanket is ok for smaller work. You can flame anneal and slip the glass in the fiber blanket and, while not ideal, it'll do the job reasonably well.

I use a kiln which I'd bought from a porelain doll maker for $700 as my main kiln, it's about 30cmx30cmx30cm inside. These kilns pop up on ebay fairly regularly.

Of course, you can get as expensive as you want with a torch, anywhere from $150 to $5000 and up. A $5000 torch, however, will melt your face off and is not really practical.

Companies which make and sell torches are

Nortel

Bethlehem

Herbert Arnold (Zenit)

GTT

there are others, but those are probably the most used

 

www.talkglass.com is a good place to start researching and getting some ideas of what you can make, there's a whole wealth of info on there, I suggest spending some time to look around and read up on torches, techniques and some simple things to do.

 

I have a broken back as well (since I was 18), so I feel your pain. Lampworking is a good thing to do, because you're not going to be doing much heavy lifting and it allows you to sit on a chair or stand and vary the way you work. The other great thing about it is that it will keep you interested. Just when you have mastered on technique, there's the next technique waiting to be explored. It's a never ending learning process, especially if you have the imagination.

 

Hope that helps

cheers

Aussie

[iTiC]

Aussie made glass, here is a vid with a slide in it that looks like it was made by you.

You asked if i came across anything like that to post it.

This was made my Vertigo glass, and that looks liek an iSlide to me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LXEUrxncEU&feature=related

[Frank Reynolds]

Aussie made glass, here is a vid with a slide in it that looks like it was made by you.

You asked if i came across anything like that to post it.

This was made my Vertigo glass, and that looks liek an iSlide to me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LXEUrxncEU&feature=related

 

Hey mate heard of Salt before, big glass artist in the states into the eye thing as well. Don't think aussiemadeglass is one and the same

Edited December 11, 2011 by buegeman

[aussie made glass]

yeah, it's not me. Salt's name is Luken Sheafe and he's from Austin, Texas. His style involves a lot of, what he calls, "carving". He uses a lot of powdered glass in his work and gets a lot of undercuts with his technique, which, personally, is not a good thing to do with this sort of glass, which can become prone to cracking, as evidenced in some of his pieces. Until I saw one of these pieces, with cracks in the danger spots, I used to wonder how he got away with it, but of course he doesn't always get away with it. Don't get me wrong, I like his work a lot, but imho there is room for improvement (as there is in my work ... always).

[iTiC]

There are a few eye ball things getting around youtube atm, this is one. You asked if I came acoss any to give you the link. It looks like your influence there on this slide.

imo

[headband]

Hey aussie made glass those are really some beautiful pieces you are truly gifted in your field. I know you said you sell almost exclusively to the US and I was just wondering If you have a website or something? I live in Sydney but from the US and I would love to get a piece sent to my sister for a birthday present. Im really interested in the hornet piece from your 1st post ( I doubt yo still have it though) anyway let me know when you get the chance Thanks and nice work!

[Frank Reynolds]

Hey aussie made glass those are really some beautiful pieces you are truly gifted in your field. I know you said you sell almost exclusively to the US and I was just wondering If you have a website or something? I live in Sydney but from the US and I would love to get a piece sent to my sister for a birthday present. Im really interested in the hornet piece from your 1st post ( I doubt yo still have it though) anyway let me know when you get the chance Thanks and nice work!

 

hey mate,

 

been to his work shop recently, he only has one natural recirculating bubbler and an inline ash catcher left, as far as I can remember, oh and some nice slides.

 

Not too sure, if he will jump back into the saddle straight away with orders, as he was saying he still needs to check out the new laws, and see if they still apply to international customers.

 

But best to leave him a personal message on this site.

 

Hope this helped a bit mate

[headband]

It does I appreciate it Cheers!