How is glass made?
What is glass made from?
Take a handful of sand and look closely at its grains - even with the naked eye, you can see that some sand grains are transparent. These transparent grains are a mineral - quartz, which is a very hard mineral (although diamond is harder). Glass is mainly made from sand, which contains a lot of quartz (we call this type of sand quartz sand).
Look at what quartz sand looks like under a microscope, its grains look like gemstones! These transparent crystals are quartz. The photo shows grains of sand from a Baltic beach in Łukęcin.
How is glass made?
Quartz sand is mixed with other various additives...
and then melted in a furnace at a temperature above 1000 degrees Celsius!
Glassworkers extract a small amount of glass mass from the furnace using a long tube called a blowpipe, which is not hard but resembles stretching honey. Depending on what is to be made from the glass, glassworkers blow into the blowpipe to create spheres - this is how vases, glasses, bowls are made, or if they want to make a figurine, they shape the glass mass accordingly - they have to be very careful because it is very hot.
White glass often has various colorful dyes added. However, even if we add different colors to it, after removing it from the furnace, the glass is always red - it is that hot. Only after a while, when it cools down, we see its color. To make glass objects as durable as possible, they are finally put into a tempering oven to cool down.
History of glass
Actually, no one knows exactly when and where glass was invented. However, it has been known to mankind for a very long time. The oldest glass products found by man are small glass beads and pendants, which were used to decorate the costumes of ancient Egyptians. It is also most likely the Egyptians who first started making vessels from blown glass and began to color glass - by adding a small amount of copper to it they obtained a red color. However, old glass looked completely different - it was not transparent! Transparent glass was first obtained by the Romans and in Poland the first glass products come from the island of Wolin and were made about 1000 years ago.
Where to see glass forming demonstrations?
What does the work of a glassworker look like today? You can observe it, for example, at the Krakow Glassworks on Lipowa 3 street in Krakow. This is a glassworks where workshops and glass forming demonstrations take place:
Krakow Glassworks - demonstrations and museum
The Krakow Glassworks is a living museum where you can see demonstrations of hand glass forming, learn about the history of the Krakow Glassworks, discover how and what glass is made from, and understand its wide range of applications. In the museum section, you can see old tools for glass processing and historic antique glass. ...
There is also an interesting museum at the Krakow Glassworks that tells about where glass comes from and what its applications are:
Other recommended glassworks with demonstrations
By the sea, we invite you to Puck:
Puck Glas Glassworks - shows
The glassworks in Puck is an extraordinary attraction for everyone: children and adults! Here we can see how glass products are made, and in the workshops, try our hand at this magical craft. ...
or to the Sabina Art Glassworks in Rymanów in the Subcarpathian region
Sabina Artistic Glassworks in Rymanow
Sabina Artistic Glassworks in Rymanow is a place full of magic. Here, you can see how glass miracles are created and also view an exhibition of local masters' works: a collection of original, unique artistic products. ...
Publish Date: 2017-08-06
Last Updated: 2023-09-18