Good to be here

I go by Ox, just made my account.
This forums perfect for my interests, I just got into the hobby of knife-making and love to build shit - So this should help me a ton, and hopefully I can share some things with others as well.
I also work with glass (stained glass, flameworking, glass blowing, etc.)
Anyways it's good to be here and look forward to speaking with everyone.

Welcome Aboard Ox mate

Welcome Ox!...ever thought about making a completely glass knife...is it possible to make one out of any glass like material to where it would be usable? We have a post on here about an obsidian surgical grade scalpel, and also one on a synthetic sapphire knife. Just wondering if you know if this could be done with any thing easily found?

Never even crossed my mind. Well, borosilicate glass (pyrex) would be the type you would need. If you annealed it properly (kiln...not flame annealing) it would be a pretty solid piece but if you dropped it, it always has that chance to break. Borosilicate glass can be bought pretty cheap by the pound online depending on the size of the tubes you get, any other type of glass though would be too soft. But Id say it's possible, just a bit on the fragile side. Definitely useable though. ...Might have to try that sometime soon.

I've seen some really nice glass swords. Just for display but they look nice.
I'd like a glass dagger. Dosen't need to be sharp, just look cool.

Welcome Ox!! I'd love to see some pics of the stuff you make.

Sinza

Hey thanks for the info...What does it take training wise and money wise to get an up and running shop for glass making/blowing/shaping/whatever?

Something like this?



Easy, the blade itself would take around 10 minutes to do. The handle in that picture might have taken around 40 minutes to 2 hours to make but a simpler handle could be done in 30 minutes or so, then just fuse them together. Im building a new glass studio onto the back of my house, not sure when it will be done but I can't work on any glass until it is...I used to work at an old space I was renting out but it was getting too costly. And glass can't be done just anywhere because of ventilation and you need a safe spot for the gas and oxygen tanks. So hopefully I'll have it built within the next month or two and I can start making things again.

Wow that is a sweet blade...think you could start a thread of your work so we don't get this area off topic though...I would love to see your work and Im sure the others would as well.

To wartorn,
well it depends what exactly you want to do...I do it all, because I like working with glass but some only like certain things. As far as stained glass goes, you can get all the tools needed for around $200.00 or less, then all you need to get is the glass which can be anywhere from $5.00 to $50.00 for a 10x10inch slab...depends on the quality and brand (It all looks good though) and also solder/flux and copper foil when you run out. That stuffs cheap though.
Now if you want to do flameworking and glass blowing, that can get expensive and tricky. There's the big glass blowers that use a huge furnace and factory to work, then there's torches you can buy, unless your mass producing then a torch is fine, unless you have $250,000.00+.

So torches, there is 2 types
- Pre-mix and -Surface Mix. Surface mix torches are for soft glass (making beads, marbles, etc.) Pre-Mix torches are for hard glass (glass sculptures, pipes, jewelry, whatever).
And some torches can do both but you need to buy certain tips which can be over $100.00 each.
Pre-mix= when the gas and oxygen mix before it comes out of the torch as a flame. // Surface mix= when the gas and oxygen mix right as they exit the torch as a flame.
I have the National 8m Torch with a pre-mix head. I doubt I'll ever do anything with soft glass but you never know, so for now I just have the pre-mix tip. After a torch, you need 2 regulators and some tubing which sometimes come with the torch.
The tubing is to hook the torch to an oxygen tank and gas tank. And the 2 regulators are of course to monitor the pressure on each. The gas tanks you can just buy at your local store for around $20.00 and they last a good while, for the oxygen tank what I did was go to a construction company and ask if they would let me rent a tank, most have no problem with it. I pay $20.00 a year to keep the tank and to refill it is like $12.00. And the oxygen lasts pretty long like the gas. THEN you need glass and tools, tools are all up to you, some prefer buying them others just use household items to shape the glass, like tweezers, butter knifes, etc. One thing you will need though is a graphite pad to put the glass on. And like I said above you can get glass by the pound fairly cheap. I always get a 1 lb. mix of all size tubes (solid tubes) for $15.00 and that's the pyrex (hard glass). Soft glass is cheaper. There is also hollow glass tubes and solid tubes, hollow is if you want to make vases and stuff, you blow into the tube and it expands, solid is more for making figurines and all.
And you have your choice of color, colored glass is more expensive, but it adds a nice touch to things.
Now that you have everything, you need a workspace.
DO NOT turn that torch on and start melting glass unless you have a very well ventilated area with good air flow. The particles the glass puts off when melted are highly dangerous so this hobby is out of the question without good ventilation. Another thing I forgot to mention was safety glasses, you need them. If you look directly at the flame you'll go blind. You can get a decent pair for $40.00.
The skill for doing glass-work, it's tough at first. But once you get the hang of it you can make things in 5 minutes. "Glassblowing by Homer Hoyt" is a great book to get started with...it tells you EVERYTHING. He writes the book as if the reader has no knowledge whatsoever of glass working. Safety, set-up, how to, techniques, all you need to know. And the glass tubes, if you start getting bigger and bigger ones, you'll need a bigger torch head so the flame is bigger. Once you finish making something you need to anneal it asap...it can be done by flame annealing it in your torch or by a kiln, kilns are the best way but flame annealing works too if you know how. I forced myself to learn flame annealing because I couldn't afford a kiln at the time.
Annealing is just to take stress out of the glass so it doesnt break or crack. If you dont anneal it right away it has a high chance to just break. So the sooner annealed the better. Well I just wrote a book, hopefully everything I just said gave you somewhat of a picture on what you need. When I started, I spent roughly $800.00 on all the stuff I needed to start. It's an expensive hobby and a hell of a gamble if your not even sure your going to like it.
It isnt a very popular hobby but if you have someone in your area that does it maybe try asking them if you can see how they do it.
But if you ever have any questions feel free to ask bud.
A great site for supplies is
www.sundanceglass.com

Great info...My mom does glass bowls and stained glass, but she takes the projects to a professional to kiln. Im not really that interested in bowls but making my own windows for my house or ornaments or vases would be ok, mostly I want to make weapons for display although a knife I could use out of glass would be an interesting showpiece.

Making your own windows would be lead came, basically stained glass only without using copper foil, you use a little different of a technique since it would be fairly big you need it to be sturdy and strong. And for making objects from glass that would be flameworking so you would need the torch and all that bullshit.
Whatever you end up doing if you do take any of it up I wish you luck. It can get frustrating, just keep at it.

It will be a while...I got another 9 months left on my military contract and im probably going to extend for another 6 months after that. My orders just cleared to go back to afghanistan and then im going to try and do a cross deck transfer to the unit relieving us for the 6 month extension so a total of 14-15 months in paradise

Im really just lining up hobbies to keep me busy when I get out, until I decide what to do with my life...One goal is to learn to forge a blade, another is get certified in welding since I know how but cant legally do it, and glass work is another would which sounds interesting.

Ah gotchya, besto' luck in wherever you go.

Hey Ox, Sorry I'm late, as usual, welcome to the forums!

Ox wrote:

Ah gotchya, besto' luck in wherever you go.

Thanks man, I really appreciate it..It could be a few months off yet but I still appreciate it, a lot.