Every couple of months we get this question. Here's our latest reply:
While some books are very good about telling you how to blow glass, and while you probably could eventually learn the craft by reading and experimenting on your own, you'll shorten the learning curve considerably (and save LOTS of money) by taking a class from someone who's been blowing glass for quite a while.
If you're good at scrounging used materials and already have metal-working tools (welder, drill press, grinders, etc.) you could probably build the basic furnace shown in Frank Kulasiewicz book "GLASSBLOWING" and put together a basic set of tools for a couple thousand dollars or so. Then the real costs begin...
We have friends who have small pot furnaces that cost $1000 a month in gas just to keep them running. And you also have the cost of buying glass batch or cullet so you can have something to blow.
Until you have at least some glassblowing skills, it's probably a better use of your money to take a class and then rent blowing time from an established glassblowing studio. Maybe you can find a hotshop that will let you clean pipes, or wash cullet in exchange for letting you watch and learn. They might even be willing to trade lessons or blowing time for your labors.
We do recommend Kulasiewicz's book (as well as Ed Schmid's BEGINNING GLASSBLOWING), but think you should seriously consider taking a class... Or at least talking to a working glassblower about what is really involved in building and maintaining your own furnace.
Good luck!
John R. Cumbow (jjjroy)
www.FledglingStudio.com
Out-of-print and hard-to-find books and
information for glass artists and collectors
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