Blogger Astrida participated in a GlitchCraft course (assisted by Dan Calliki) at UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, New York, a place that combines tradition and innovation, where students experimented with 3D printing and glass blowing.
UrbanGlass is America's first and largest artist glass studio, and the most advanced glassblowing facility in metropolitan New York. The facility partners with local universities but also offers several courses open to the public for a basic fee, as well as providing scholarships. This summer, UrbanGlass collaborated with visiting instructor Timothy from Toronto, Canada. Timothy is an expert in the 3D rendering program Blender and has honed his glassblowing experience in hot glass shops for years; three years ago, he began experimenting with using Blender to create products for glass casting.
The result of his experiments was the rediscovery of using clay molds for hot glass blowing and casting—a process also widely used in Roman times. Using this method of creating clay molds around a 3D printed master object allows for reshaping 3D forms in blown glass; simpler clay stamps can also be used on hot glass to create decorative designs and smaller textures on blown glass vessels.
After the first day of the course, they became familiar with the material for making molds—clay; that evening, they made a simple stamp with clay and basic carving tools; it was a memorable night, leaving some "handmade" marks. For some, it was satisfying, while others admired those with the technique; the clay stamps were dried and fired in a kiln, ready for use a few days later.
In subsequent classes, we began with Blender, first importing black and white graphics into Blender and learning how to generate 3D立体圖形 from flat images. We were trying to create more intricate patterns. After several evenings of tinkering in Blender, preparing 3D printing files in the user-friendly Ultimaker Cura software—and loading them into an Ultimaker 2+ for printing—we watched as the designed model gradually appeared, which would become the basis for our final clay mold.
While the 3D printed objects were being made, and the clay was drying and being fired in the kiln, we learned the basic principles of glass, how to blow glass, make glass blobs, and prepare the clay by pressing it onto the molds.
Then we proceeded to another demonstration of making clay molds, which was not just about making glass stamps; it was a method to reproduce the entire form, so we also learned how to blow glass into the mold, using more 3D printing to produce more clay molds.
．Two-week course flies by
Due to the very short duration of the intensive two-week course, there wasn't enough time to complete a single piece; therefore, in the last class, Timothy guided them to create a virtual and fast 3D art gallery space using Blender, bringing the course to a close.
They ended the course with a large number of molds and 3D designs, thankfully this was not the end, as they had some free time. UrbanGlass offers work hours for those who attend the courses to independently practice these new skills there, or to refine their work in the cold shop.
Here are some of the results:
Amy, a resident artist at UrbanGlass and a successful borosilicate glass creator, uses Ultimaker printers for 3D printing. She specifically wanted to learn how to make clay molds for custom camera lenses for photographic subjects, creating a "distorted" shooting effect. Amy completed her work and assisted with some less experienced glassblowing processes, and also helped apply other people's clay molds to hot-formed glass bubbles, achieving excellent results. (Included in the video)
Astrida found herself to be a mere novice but eager to learn hot glass blowing to fulfill her desire to create personal lamps. Further wishing to create glass objects through 3D printing, she enrolled in a subsequent course at UrbanGlass - Part & Parcel, taught by Anna Booth. Anna is an expert in lost-wax casting techniques, and through her course, Astrida learned how to photograph her existing 3D printed objects and reproduce them into multiple molds for lost-wax casting, casting them into various gorgeous colored carved glass.
Astrida is currently researching how to use MoldLay 3D printing filament to develop her glass lamp ideas, hoping to achieve higher precision and larger sizes.
Amy, on the other hand, purchased a 3D printer and is currently completing an artist's work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which features images shot through borosilicate glass lenses made using Ultimaker printers, clay molds, and flashlights.
This autumn, Beryl will also be learning more about glass casting at UrbanGlass. The course video was provided by Beryl Benbow.
3D printing technology is constantly evolving and combining with various industries for applications; we are delighted to see such examples and look forward to more developments and sharing in Taiwan. As a pioneer in 3D printing, we provide high-quality machines, printing consumables, and printing services, hoping to promote this technology to all industries; if you are also interested, please refer to our other pages, or call to make an appointment to learn about various 3D printers.
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