SCIENTIFIC GLASS BLOWING: AN INTRODUCTION

This is a short book, based on the proven techniques of teaching the basics of scientific glassblowing to the novice, and of the several books I have on the subject this is the clear winner for the place to start to learn the basics on your own.Some other reviews ding it for recommending the National hand held surface mix torch as the glass working flame source instead of much more expensive tabletop units. This is entirely wrong headed for several reasons.First, even skilled glass workers use the National hand held torch in their complement of glass working tools (it is easy to find professional glass workers recommending it).Second, the National torch is the most versatile torch on the market with an enormous array of different tips and other supporting tools (stands to hold it, etc).Third, it makes sense to recommend an economical versatile tool to a beginner instead of a costly specialized one.Another review also complains that it is too expensive for its brevity (claiming a cost of $18, it is $16 currently). If you are taking up glass working this is not one of your major expenses, and a reasonable return to the author and publisher for a well thought out, effective guide should not be begrudged. It provides value in excess of its page count.I am glad I have this book, and I am using it to learn scientific glassworking.

Some years ago i took a similar class in college, I feel that this book or perhaps I should say booklet as it is a short book does seem to follow the same subject mater, With a few exceptions, such as crack chasing, where one attempts to 'repair a crack by remelting the glass where it is cracked without having the crack 'run' farther. This is not always successful.

I purchased this book with low expectations, but man was I shocked! I'm a major in scientific glass technology, at SCC, and this book covers everything from our first semester. Almost like our Professor, (a 30+ year scientific glassblower) wrote it himself. If you're interested in getting into blowing scientific glass, this is the book for you! Hands down, there is no other book out there that cover scientific glassblowing with this simplicity.

This is a very short book for the first semester course in bench top glass blowing. It is fine for that purpose, but anyone who is a little bit crafty will out grow this book quickly.

Straightforward, but very brief. Many previous books on the same subject offer far more detail. This author also focuses on the use a small inexpensive premix-type torch, which is not normally used as the primary tool for this kind of work. Unfortunately, all but one other book on this subject (to my knowledge) is now out-of-print. Recommended book instead (in print) is Scientific Glassblowing by Le Pinnet. If you have Le Pinnet's book, you probably don't need to buy this one. Not a very good value at $18.If you have a serious need for detailed guidance on this subject, you will probably need to start looking for the earlier, out-of-print titles on the used market.

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Great for somebody that has some experience the tutorials leave a bit to be desired

I was hoping for something modern and technical. This is like a lab manual from the 1960s. Keep looking and find something better