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Glass Marbles: Rod Cut with Marble Scissors and Rounded Hot
Hand-made glass marbles start as a rod of glass. The end is melted in a flame, cut off into a marble-sized gob with marble scissors, a tool a German glassblower invented in 1846, and rounded while still soft. Several coloured rods bundled together give the swirls.
The picture: antique hand-made German swirl marbles.
Intermediate
An afternoon
Instructions
1
1
Melt a gather
Melt a gather
Turn the end of a glass rod slowly in the torch flame until a soft ball gathers, a little larger than the marble you want.
Materials for this step:
Glass Rod Stock1 pieceTools needed:
Lampworking Torch (Oxy-Propane)
Safety Glasses2
2
Cut it off
Cut it off
Close the marble scissors on the hot glass to cut off a marble-sized piece.
Tools needed:
Marble Scissors
Heat-Resistant Gloves3
3
Round it
Round it
Keep turning the soft piece in the flame, held in the scissors, until it is round all over.
Tools needed:
Marble ScissorsLampworking Torch (Oxy-Propane)4
4
Anneal
Anneal
Put each marble straight into a hot kiln and cool them all slowly together, so they do not crack.
Tools needed:
KilnHeat-Resistant GlovesMaterials
1- 1 piecePlaceholder
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