The furnace at the Tacoma studio just ate another one of my pieces

Last week I was working on a custom vase for a gallery in Seattle, had it almost perfect on the pipe. The furnace temp spiked over 2300 degrees and the whole thing slumped into a weird blob before I could get it out. Happened to a friend's goblet there three years ago too, same furnace. Anyone know a good studio tech in the area who can actually calibrate an old Glorybee?

3 comments

3 Comments

chen.james1mo ago

That furnace sounds like it has a personality problem, kind of like my old van that always overheated on the freeway right before a trip. You learn to either fix it for good or keep losing pieces to something that should work but doesn't. Sometimes the right fix is just getting someone who takes the time to dig in and find the real issue instead of blaming the glass.

kaib183mo ago

Ever work with a furnace that has a known history? That's not a coincidence, it's a pattern. Get that thing looked at.

david_price503mo ago

You're blaming the furnace but that temp spike sounds like a normal part of the process. If a piece can't handle 2300 degrees, maybe it wasn't ready to come out or the design was too thin in the wrong spot. Old Glorybees are tough to kill, they just need someone who knows how to run them. Your friend's goblet three years ago is a totally separate event, not proof of a bad furnace. Sometimes the problem is the glass, not the equipment.