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Contemporary Lampworking: A Practical Guide to Shaping Glass in the Flame (Volume 1 and 2) Third Edition
This 2-volume set is an outstanding teaching guide for lampworking glass. The sprial binding allows the books to lie flat while working. Included in the volumes are a glossary of terms and techniques and a reference for locating glass working tools. Hundreds of photos and step-by-step processes.
Spiral-bound
First published September 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 22, 2016
Contemporary Lampworking
Volume Two
By Bandhu Dunham
This is the second book in Bandhu Dunham's lampworking guide series, it is the most technical book in the series. This book is perfect for a lampworker who has nailed down the basic mechanics of glass working, and needs something that expands on the basic techniques explained in the first volume. This book details advanced sculptural techniques in both hollow and solid mediums as well as giving much more specific information on various other methods. This book also talks about different styles of working glass using specialized tools.
The sections that cover hollow and solid sculptural techniques have many mini-tutorials explaining how to achieve certain effects with better consistency and form. For instance, there is a step by step walk-through on how to do a ring seal, which is a method used frequently in scientific glassblowing that allows someone to jacket a small diameter tube within a tube of larger diameter. This technique is frequently used in condensers and various types of other apparatus. This tutorial draws on knowledge from volume one, such as how to maintain an even heat base and wall thickness but adds information on the correct placement and process, to assemble complex pieces. The next section covers techniques to improve your color application skills. A section that helped me very much was a dot application pointer that said to let your color rod cool in between dot applications. If you don't let it cool, the residual heat will accumulate and your dots will gradually get larger because the glass will melt more readily.
After addressing these kinds of techniques the author goes on to talk about the basics, and specifics, of lathe-work. Which means using a lathe to be really precise and efficient when working glass. Also work can be done on a lathe that is not humanly possible, due to the mass of the glass and the heat involved. For instance one simply cannot hand turn a 72 liter flask. You would be roasted alive. But on a massive lathe people make massive pharmaceutical reactors all the time. Bandhu also covers the ancient art of core forming, which was the way people made hollow vessels out of glass before blowpipes were used to inflate molten glass. Core forming is an interesting piece of glass history to visit which is why glass workers still use it for artistic and historical purposes.
Overall this book is probably the most useful out of the entire series because it has so much technical information, and it answers so many questions related to almost any issue you can have while actually working with glass.
Volume Two
By Bandhu Dunham
This is the second book in Bandhu Dunham's lampworking guide series, it is the most technical book in the series. This book is perfect for a lampworker who has nailed down the basic mechanics of glass working, and needs something that expands on the basic techniques explained in the first volume. This book details advanced sculptural techniques in both hollow and solid mediums as well as giving much more specific information on various other methods. This book also talks about different styles of working glass using specialized tools.
The sections that cover hollow and solid sculptural techniques have many mini-tutorials explaining how to achieve certain effects with better consistency and form. For instance, there is a step by step walk-through on how to do a ring seal, which is a method used frequently in scientific glassblowing that allows someone to jacket a small diameter tube within a tube of larger diameter. This technique is frequently used in condensers and various types of other apparatus. This tutorial draws on knowledge from volume one, such as how to maintain an even heat base and wall thickness but adds information on the correct placement and process, to assemble complex pieces. The next section covers techniques to improve your color application skills. A section that helped me very much was a dot application pointer that said to let your color rod cool in between dot applications. If you don't let it cool, the residual heat will accumulate and your dots will gradually get larger because the glass will melt more readily.
After addressing these kinds of techniques the author goes on to talk about the basics, and specifics, of lathe-work. Which means using a lathe to be really precise and efficient when working glass. Also work can be done on a lathe that is not humanly possible, due to the mass of the glass and the heat involved. For instance one simply cannot hand turn a 72 liter flask. You would be roasted alive. But on a massive lathe people make massive pharmaceutical reactors all the time. Bandhu also covers the ancient art of core forming, which was the way people made hollow vessels out of glass before blowpipes were used to inflate molten glass. Core forming is an interesting piece of glass history to visit which is why glass workers still use it for artistic and historical purposes.
Overall this book is probably the most useful out of the entire series because it has so much technical information, and it answers so many questions related to almost any issue you can have while actually working with glass.
April 21, 2015
Must have reference for the studio. Wish I would have bought this earlier in my journey it contains a wealth of information. I leave it in "currently reading" status because that is what it is :) A book I will never put back onto a shelf and seems to always be laying open somewhere in my house or studio.
March 30, 2010
A staple in my library of lampworking, but aside from that...so educational, very detailed, incredibly helpful and a treasure.
February 19, 2015
Very informative, lots of practical advice.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews