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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Horoscope Fish" data-source="post: 575047" data-attributes="member: 13090">Hey Cindy...It's a little hard to tell what you'll be doing in your class based on your description but I'm thinking this class may be one on "lampworking"...  Lampworking means you'll be sitting a workbench using a torch to soften bits of glass in order to form them. It's much easier to set up because it doesn't require a large kiln for holding glass batch (which require a lot of natural gas, attention and ongoing maintenance), only annealing kilns. Glassblowing, on the other hand, refers to gathering a glob of glass on a long steel pipe, called a "punty", from a kiln that typically holds several pounds of molten glass. This requires a much more elaborate setup and this is why I'm wondering if you might be doing lampworking instead; a glasslbowing studio is a significant financial commitment. Still, it may be a full on glassblowing studio and if so, so much the better in my opinion! Lampworking is fun but glassblowing is just fantastic!How difficult this process will depend on the type of ornament you're going to be making. Lampworking is much more suited to fine, delicate work than glassblowing is and you don't have the same issues with heat and the hardest part of glassblowing IS the heat. I could type all day about how hot it gets doing a gather while standing in front of a glass kiln, but there's really no describing it. You know what it's like when you're standing over the oven and you open the door to pull something out; that hot blast you get right in your face? Yeah... Magnify that about 1,000 times, bear in mind you'll need to stand there for several seconds and just... TAKE IT... And you'll start to have some idea of just how uncomfortable it can be. Still, don't let this dissuade you! Glassblowing is UH-MAAAAAAZING!!! I would urge you not to miss an opportunity to try it.</blockquote>

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