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I have been in a closely related field for about 20 years, borosilicate flame working of glass for artistic purposes. There is a huge amount of interest in this

I have been in a closely related field for about 20 years, borosilicate flame working of glass for artistic purposes. There is a huge amount of interest in this type of glassblowing right now, but it is centered around artistic cannabis accessories. There will be no problem finding people with glass skill and a desire to do flameworked glass. It is the other skills mentioned in the article, such as familiarity with chemistry, higher math and lab work, plus the desire to have a 9-to-5 job with an institution that is difficult to come by. Many people who choose to become artistic glassblowers do not have any sort of higher technical education, or would not mesh well with a university job in some other way, such as, being enthusiastic about tattoos and vaping cannabis extracts all day. Besides that, many glassblowers can imagine the benefits of a regular job that involves glassblowing, especially as they get older and the healthcare benefits grow more useful. The volatility of the artistic/functional glass market plays a role, too. Currently it's experiencing a downturn, despite the cannabis market booming, and many people are seeking other incomes. It would be interesting to hear whether Salem has seen an increase in applications or inquiries. What I didn't see an article is a mention of one reason this is happening. Mass production, primarily in China, and outsourcing, primarily to India, has removed the need to have an in-house glassblower and made it not a good choice financially, because a lot of the items they used to make can now be replaced more cheaply then they can be produced by hand. I have a cousin who worked for a petroleum company for over 40 years as a scientific glassblower. He recently scaled down his business from hundreds of items and now only makes one especially profitable item.

2muchcoffeeman 8y ago
From the article, it sounds like this guy was creating custom glassware. Can you just call up a manufacturer in China or India and get them to create a handful of specialised glassware?
- code_duck 8y ago
  That's exactly the problem they're facing. Since the market for low end work has been removed, new glassblowers are not able to build careers, businesses, experience, or skills needed to start doing advanced work, and positions have been eliminated. Without entry-level work, you don't get a new generation of medium and advanced workers. Repair of specialized equipment is a big deal, too. In many cases it takes as much skill as fabricating an apparatus in the first place. Like the article says, it helps a lot if the glassblower understands the scientific process and works closely with the researcher. I think researchers work around this by finding ways to use or combine standard equipment. A scientist doing truly novel work, though, will benefit from or require customized glassware. My belief is that this will be solved by 3-D printing or automation in some way.
  - itronitron 8y ago
    neon glass-blowing may also be a path into scientific glassblowing, it is a bit more science-y than the art stuff as it involves sensitive vacuum equipment and very high voltages.
  - HarryHirsch 8y ago
    3D printing? Have you even seen a glassblower? If you are in the NE US the Corning Museum in Elmira is recommended. Otherwise one can just look at the Chemglass or Ace Glass catalog and consider that everything in there was made from glass tubing with the aid of nothing more than a torch and a lathe. No pressed glass, no forms are involved.
    - code_duck 8y ago
      I have 20 years of professional experience fabricating borosilicate with a torch in the exact fashion of scientific glass, and I have taken several classes at Corning and am familiar with the museum. I am quite familiar with precisely how all of that apparatus is constructed. The most recent 3-D printing with glass I have read about creates a piece of fused silica, which is even harder to fabricate and more useful in lab work. They print it from a silica infused polymer, and then each section is fused with the laser, and the polymer burns away, leaving quartz. Seems quite workable to me. This was covered in an article published recently. edit: one article that gives a good overview: https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=15114 https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=15114 a more consumery article: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/you-can-now-3d-print-glass-180962951/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/you-can-now-3d-pri...
      - thereisnospork 8y ago
        Do you know if anyone has gotten that or a similar process to a commercialy viable level? Truly 3d customizable glassware is something I'd definitely be wanting to order at some point in the future.
        namibj 8y ago
- christoph 8y ago
  Completely off topic... but are you the same 2mcm from another orange coloured forum back in the day?
- janekm 8y ago
  There is a huge difference between walking down the hall and saying "hey, I need another one of those retorts but we need to increase the helium flow 20%. Please charge to account 0123.", vs having to find a reputable manufacturer in another country, writing a precise and concrete specification that doesn't depend on domain knowledge or knowledge of institutional history, obtaining quotes that your finance department will accept, getting all the international payments sorted, and having your research delayed 2 months while waiting for all that to get sorted out. More likely the University will outsource to a local company that in turn handles the communication with an overseas factory.
tzahola 8y ago
>being enthusiastic about tattoos and vaping cannabis extracts all day How ableist! Some people can’t choose whether they smoke cannabis or not. They need it like diabetics need insulin.
- angersock 8y ago
  HN comment of the year here. In case of edit: >being enthusiastic about tattoos and vaping cannabis extracts all day How ableist! Some people can’t choose whether they smoke cannabis or not. They need it like diabetics need insulin.
- code_duck 8y ago
  I agree. I've been severely ill with celiac for a very long time and at this point, cannabis is the only medication that helps me feel decent enough to get out of bed and be functional at all. In the functional glass industry, we don't discriminate against cannabis usage... somewhat the opposite. If you don't smoke and especially dab, you will have a hard time fitting in, and more limited social and business opportunities. At the same time, many people in the community look down on excessive alcohol usage. Smoking throughout the day is considered perfectly normal, or beneficial, and nobody would consider looking down on it or encouraging less consumption of cannabis.
  - ghettoimp 8y ago
    > If you don't smoke and especially dab, you will have a hard time fitting in, and more limited social and business opportunities. FWIW, this strikes me as quite distasteful. It sounds like cannabis is helpful to you, and that's great. But other folks should be able to make their own decisions.
    - code_duck 8y ago
      I'm not dictating this, just describing it. It's the same situation as with most business groups and alcohol, or golf and so forth. Social conformity and activities common build bonds between people, which helps in business. It's just notable that cannabis is beyond accepted in this subculture, in contrast to many other professional environments (and we are professionals - this is an intense job that requires much dedication).
dpeck 8y ago
My impression is that university work would mesh well with artistic types, all the people I know there are easy going, rarely work a full day, and unless they’re looking for advancement are happy to be reasonably well paid with a lot of job security and low stress. Lab work and higher math may be a problem, but I’ve read many times today’s best botanists and agricultural students go into cannabis so the worlds may not be as incompatible as one would think.
- pm90 8y ago
  Agreed. Most universities are also much less restrictive in their drug policy enforcement (as compared to corporations). As long as you get shit done and don't get into serious trouble, a University job is as stable and easygoing as one can get.
  - dhimes 8y ago
    Depends on who your supervisor is. Some labs suck.
adrianratnapala 8y ago
>... being enthusiastic about tattoos and vaping cannabis extracts all day. :) Since obviously such behaviour is totally unheard of in universities.
- chii 8y ago
  you're thinking of yester-decade's university...today's university is about profits and increases in tuition fees and beaurocracy and administration and conformism.
- code_duck 8y ago
  For students, definitely not going to stand out. For full time faculty, I'm not sure. I mean, I'm honestly not sure since most of my experience there is observing my father work at a business school as I grew up and I didn't attend college myself.
saryant 8y ago
> would not mesh well with a university job in some other way, such as, being enthusiastic about tattoos and vaping cannabis extracts all day. My experience from dating someone at Caltech is that this would not, in any possible way, be an issue.
- code_duck 8y ago
  I think it varies with region. Cannabis use is much more accepted in California and the PNW than the East Coast, Midwest or South.

2muchcoffeeman 8y ago

From the article, it sounds like this guy was creating custom glassware. Can you just call up a manufacturer in China or India and get them to create a handful of specialised glassware?

code_duck 8y ago
That's exactly the problem they're facing. Since the market for low end work has been removed, new glassblowers are not able to build careers, businesses, experience, or skills needed to start doing advanced work, and positions have been eliminated. Without entry-level work, you don't get a new generation of medium and advanced workers. Repair of specialized equipment is a big deal, too. In many cases it takes as much skill as fabricating an apparatus in the first place. Like the article says, it helps a lot if the glassblower understands the scientific process and works closely with the researcher. I think researchers work around this by finding ways to use or combine standard equipment. A scientist doing truly novel work, though, will benefit from or require customized glassware. My belief is that this will be solved by 3-D printing or automation in some way.
- itronitron 8y ago
  neon glass-blowing may also be a path into scientific glassblowing, it is a bit more science-y than the art stuff as it involves sensitive vacuum equipment and very high voltages.
- HarryHirsch 8y ago
  3D printing? Have you even seen a glassblower? If you are in the NE US the Corning Museum in Elmira is recommended. Otherwise one can just look at the Chemglass or Ace Glass catalog and consider that everything in there was made from glass tubing with the aid of nothing more than a torch and a lathe. No pressed glass, no forms are involved.
  - code_duck 8y ago
    I have 20 years of professional experience fabricating borosilicate with a torch in the exact fashion of scientific glass, and I have taken several classes at Corning and am familiar with the museum. I am quite familiar with precisely how all of that apparatus is constructed. The most recent 3-D printing with glass I have read about creates a piece of fused silica, which is even harder to fabricate and more useful in lab work. They print it from a silica infused polymer, and then each section is fused with the laser, and the polymer burns away, leaving quartz. Seems quite workable to me. This was covered in an article published recently. edit: one article that gives a good overview: https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=15114 https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=15114 a more consumery article: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/you-can-now-3d-print-glass-180962951/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/you-can-now-3d-pri...
    - thereisnospork 8y ago
      Do you know if anyone has gotten that or a similar process to a commercialy viable level? Truly 3d customizable glassware is something I'd definitely be wanting to order at some point in the future.
      - namibj 8y ago
christoph 8y ago
Completely off topic... but are you the same 2mcm from another orange coloured forum back in the day?
janekm 8y ago
There is a huge difference between walking down the hall and saying "hey, I need another one of those retorts but we need to increase the helium flow 20%. Please charge to account 0123.", vs having to find a reputable manufacturer in another country, writing a precise and concrete specification that doesn't depend on domain knowledge or knowledge of institutional history, obtaining quotes that your finance department will accept, getting all the international payments sorted, and having your research delayed 2 months while waiting for all that to get sorted out. More likely the University will outsource to a local company that in turn handles the communication with an overseas factory.

tzahola 8y ago

>being enthusiastic about tattoos and vaping cannabis extracts all day How ableist! Some people can’t choose whether they smoke cannabis or not. They need it like diabetics need insulin.

angersock 8y ago
HN comment of the year here. In case of edit: >being enthusiastic about tattoos and vaping cannabis extracts all day How ableist! Some people can’t choose whether they smoke cannabis or not. They need it like diabetics need insulin.
code_duck 8y ago
I agree. I've been severely ill with celiac for a very long time and at this point, cannabis is the only medication that helps me feel decent enough to get out of bed and be functional at all. In the functional glass industry, we don't discriminate against cannabis usage... somewhat the opposite. If you don't smoke and especially dab, you will have a hard time fitting in, and more limited social and business opportunities. At the same time, many people in the community look down on excessive alcohol usage. Smoking throughout the day is considered perfectly normal, or beneficial, and nobody would consider looking down on it or encouraging less consumption of cannabis.
- ghettoimp 8y ago
  > If you don't smoke and especially dab, you will have a hard time fitting in, and more limited social and business opportunities. FWIW, this strikes me as quite distasteful. It sounds like cannabis is helpful to you, and that's great. But other folks should be able to make their own decisions.
  - code_duck 8y ago
    I'm not dictating this, just describing it. It's the same situation as with most business groups and alcohol, or golf and so forth. Social conformity and activities common build bonds between people, which helps in business. It's just notable that cannabis is beyond accepted in this subculture, in contrast to many other professional environments (and we are professionals - this is an intense job that requires much dedication).

dpeck 8y ago

My impression is that university work would mesh well with artistic types, all the people I know there are easy going, rarely work a full day, and unless they’re looking for advancement are happy to be reasonably well paid with a lot of job security and low stress. Lab work and higher math may be a problem, but I’ve read many times today’s best botanists and agricultural students go into cannabis so the worlds may not be as incompatible as one would think.

pm90 8y ago
Agreed. Most universities are also much less restrictive in their drug policy enforcement (as compared to corporations). As long as you get shit done and don't get into serious trouble, a University job is as stable and easygoing as one can get.
- dhimes 8y ago
  Depends on who your supervisor is. Some labs suck.

adrianratnapala 8y ago

>... being enthusiastic about tattoos and vaping cannabis extracts all day. :) Since obviously such behaviour is totally unheard of in universities.

chii 8y ago
you're thinking of yester-decade's university...today's university is about profits and increases in tuition fees and beaurocracy and administration and conformism.
code_duck 8y ago
For students, definitely not going to stand out. For full time faculty, I'm not sure. I mean, I'm honestly not sure since most of my experience there is observing my father work at a business school as I grew up and I didn't attend college myself.

saryant 8y ago

> would not mesh well with a university job in some other way, such as, being enthusiastic about tattoos and vaping cannabis extracts all day. My experience from dating someone at Caltech is that this would not, in any possible way, be an issue.

code_duck 8y ago
I think it varies with region. Cannabis use is much more accepted in California and the PNW than the East Coast, Midwest or South.