- A hot shop is the facility containing the tools and materials necessary for doing glasswork such as paperweights. In addition to other items, a typical shop has a furnace and glory hole, which serve specific purposes. A furnace is a fire-proof container that holds the molten glass in preparation for being worked, and the glory hole maintains a steady temperature so that the artist can reheat pieces as needed.
- To get the initial glass for the paperweight, the maker dips a warm steel pipe into a furnace of molten glass of over 2,000 degrees F and carefully circles the pipe to attach glass to the end before bringing it back out. Rotation is key here, because the glass on the pipe is so hot that it may start to sag, and the glassblower must keep the glass as centered as possible to maintain control.
- While the glass is still hot, the artist adds designs to the paperweight by rolling the glass over carefully chosen materials on top of a flat, fireproof surface. These design materials can be anything from frit (crushed pieces of glass) to millefiori, which are extremely small, detailed images of flowers that take special knowledge and skill to make in advance.
- The glory hole is used next to melt in the designs and hold the piece's temperature. Often, a glass artist will use this tool multiple times throughout the creation process to ensure that her work does not crack from being too cold. Just as before, the pipe must be rotated constantly to ensure that the piece stays on center.
- Once the initial design is in place, the artist goes back to the furnace and repeats the first step, which is gathering a wind of clear glass on the end. This time, the clear encases the design underneath to give the piece depth and magnification.
When the preferred mass has been achieved, the glassblower sits at a specially designed bench, with the pipe perched on top of attached bars, and may use a thick stack of wet newspaper or a wooden mold (block tool) to shape the paperweight into an egg or ball shape. The pipe is continuously rotated in one hand, and the other hand holds the shaping material and properly forms the piece. - To separate the paperweight from the pipe, the maker must put stress between the glass and the rod. To do this, a tool called jacks, which looks like a giant pair of tweezers, is used to "jack" (indent) the section to be broken off. After distinct lines are squeezed in, the glass artist dips the end of the tool in water and places drops of water in multiple areas around the indentation. Finally, the steel rod is tapped with the jacks and an assistant wearing fireproof gloves catches the finished paperweight.
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