How glass figurines are made. Glass figurines manufacturing technology
I was able to visit the Drachuk family, who make simply magnificent and breathtaking glass figurines. The figures are mainly made by his father, Sergei Drachuk, and this is their main business. Since these wonderful people live only 50 km from my Khmelnitsky, I allowed myself to invite myself to visit them.
Glass figurines are produced using lampworking technology. They showed me and told me about this wonderful art, about the secrets of production, and even gave me the opportunity to make a beautiful flower out of glass myself.
The entire Drachuk family is involved in lampworking - i.e. making glass figurines using a gas burner and multi-colored glass rods. Their house and workshop are located in the suburbs of Starokonstantinov, an ancient Podolsk town with beautiful nature, the ancient Capuchin monastery and castle and its Trinity Church. Sergei Drachuk, the father of the family, is the main author and master of the figurines, and his son Nikita - known to us under the nickname Nikitos721 - sells these figurines in full on aukro.ua, simultaneously earning money for his future studies.
Nikita was just busy writing a letter to a client who had just bought as many as 6 figures. The figurines themselves, ready at any moment to be packed and sent into the hands of a happy owner, were awaiting my visit on the windowsill:
I, naturally being amazed by this beauty, hovered for about half an hour, looking at figure after figure:
Sometimes I couldn’t even believe that this could be done with human hands. How I wanted to finally go to the holy of holies - the workshop, where all this beauty is born. Sergei immediately warned me that chaos and chaos reigned there, but this is exactly what I expected to see, in such places there is no order in principle, it’s not for nothing that they say “creative disorder”: 
While I was looking at the workshop in admiration, Sergei was talking about the Lampworkinga technology itself, about the materials, about the intricacies of production. So, the figures are made from multi-colored glass rods:
The apparent broken glass, which invariably remains during the production process, is not such, but is reused in production: 
Everywhere there were already made figures, waiting in the wings: 
Sergei kindly agreed to make several figures for me. This is what his workplace looks like:
The protective screen protects your eyes from glass shards: 
Sergey showed how to make 2 figures, a black cat and a scorpion. Who would have thought that from a simple glass rod...
...you can make such a beautiful cat:
Who would have thought that glass stretches perfectly...
... and you can make a beautiful scorpion out of it:
Words cannot describe it all, so don’t regret 11 MB of traffic and watch this video:
Who would have thought that such beauty could be made from glass?: 
A squirrel from the Ice Age and almost finished bees... 
Well, how can such a bee cost only 19 UAH??? Well, doesn’t the eye get enough of this beauty?
Returning to reality, I wanted to try lampworking in action: 
This is a very difficult matter, and not at all as easy as it seems at first glance in the experienced hands of Sergei. Here I am learning how to heat and stretch glass:
On the 5th time it finally worked: 
And then moved on to more complex figure- flower. And you know? IT WORKED! Beauty, isn't it?)))))
And here is a video of how I made my first masterpiece. I gave the flower to my beloved wife and she really liked it.
Sergei said that he is constantly inventing new figures and expanding his range:
By the way, there are only a few masters like Sergey in Ukraine and I was really very grateful for the opportunity to visit these wonderful people.
Finally, a couple of photos and a short video about the workshop:
The same scorpion that was made in my presence and given to me:
I was simply inundated with gifts. The wife and child were delighted: 
The same cat:
A short video from the workshop:
With this, my humble visit came to an end, my family and I were kindly invited to visit again and I will definitely wait until spring to once again spend a wonderful time with this magnificent family.
I was able to visit the Drachuk family, who make simply magnificent and breathtaking glass figurines. The figures are mainly made by his father, Sergei Drachuk, and this is their main business. Since these wonderful people live only 50 km from my Khmelnitsky, I allowed myself to invite myself to visit them.
Glass figurines are produced using lampworking technology. They showed me and told me about this wonderful art, about the secrets of production, and even gave me the opportunity to make a beautiful flower out of glass myself.
The entire Drachuk family is engaged in lampworking - that is, making glass figurines using a gas burner and multi-colored glass rods. Their house and workshop are located in the suburbs of Starokonstantinov - an ancient Podolsk city with beautiful nature, an ancient Capuchin monastery and castle and its Trinity Church. Sergei Drachuk, the father of the family, is the main author and master of the figurines, and his son Nikita - known to us under the nickname Nikitos721 - sells these figurines in full on aukro.ua, simultaneously earning money for his future studies.
Nikita was just busy writing a letter to a client who had just bought as many as 6 figures. The figurines themselves, ready at any moment to be packed and sent into the hands of a happy owner, were awaiting my visit on the windowsill:
I, naturally being amazed by this beauty, hovered for about half an hour, looking at figure after figure:
Sometimes I couldn’t even believe that this could be done with human hands. How I wanted to finally go to the holy of holies - the workshop, where all this beauty is born. Sergei immediately warned me that chaos and chaos reigned there, but this is exactly what I expected to see, in such places there is no order in principle, it’s not for nothing that they say “creative disorder”:
While I was looking at the workshop in admiration, Sergei was talking about the Lampworkinga technology itself, about the materials, about the intricacies of production. So, the figures are made from multi-colored glass rods:
The apparent broken glass, which invariably remains during the production process, is not such, but is reused in production:
Everywhere there were already made figures, waiting in the wings:
Sergei kindly agreed to make several figures for me. This is what his workplace looks like:
The protective screen protects your eyes from glass shards:
Sergey showed how to make 2 figures, a black cat and a scorpion. Who would have thought that from a simple glass rod...
You can make such a beautiful cat:
Who would have thought that glass stretches perfectly...
And you can make a beautiful scorpion out of it:
Words cannot describe it all, so don’t regret 11 MB of traffic and watch this video:
Who would have thought that such beauty could be made from glass?:
A squirrel from the Ice Age and almost finished bees...
Well, how can such a bee cost only 19 UAH??? Well, doesn’t the eye get enough of this beauty?
Returning to reality, I wanted to try lampworking in action:
This is a very difficult matter, and not at all as easy as it seems at first glance in the experienced hands of Sergei. Here I am learning how to heat and stretch glass:
On the 5th time it finally worked:
And then he moved on to a more complex figure - a flower. And you know? IT WORKED! Beauty, isn't it?)))))
And here is a video of how I made my first masterpiece. I gave the flower to my beloved wife and she really liked it.
Sergei said that he is constantly inventing new figures and expanding his range:
By the way, there are only a few masters like Sergey in Ukraine and I was really very grateful for the opportunity to visit these wonderful people.
Finally, a couple of photos and a short video about the workshop:
The same scorpion that was made in my presence and given to me:
I was simply inundated with gifts. The wife and child were delighted:
The same cat:
A short video from the workshop:
With this, my humble visit came to an end, my family and I were kindly invited to visit again and I will definitely wait until spring to once again spend a wonderful time with this magnificent family.
People have learned to create beautiful glass things since ancient times. This is confirmed by the multi-colored sintered alloys that were found in ancient Egyptian tombs. This technology for making glass objects is called fusing. To create a glass product, professional equipment is required. You can also practice fusing at home if you replace it with other analogues.
The fusing technique is based on step-by-step implementation necessary actions. Glass elements are laid out in a mold in a certain pattern and baked in ovens at temperatures from 600 to 900 °C. Under the influence of heat, glass particles melt and merge into a whole product. In this case, each element only slightly changes its position and outline. Making glass crafts is a long and labor-intensive process, but the result is worth it. Fusing includes several more complex techniques, such as:
The most simple technique, which is very popular, is planar sintering. To perform it, a certain type of glass plate is required and obligatory adherence to the order of work. This method makes the basis for more complex and voluminous things. It allows you to create magnificent stained glass windows. Products made by planar sintering turn out beautiful and interesting. Types of fusing also include combing, polishing, casting, pate de vere, etc.
Fusing is a type of stained glass technique, so its technology and stained glass production are very similar. If you create two canvases using the fusing and stained glass techniques, the resulting compositions will have the following differences:
- Color boundaries in classic stained glass are made metal elements, which are clearly visible in the figure.
- The boundaries between colors in fusing are soft and smooth. Thanks to gradual transitions, during the manufacturing process the drawing acquires natural look. It is impossible to achieve such an effect using stained glass technology.
Ready-made crafts using the fusing technique decorate the interior and are widely used as partitions and screens. They are great for rooms designed in high-tech and postmodern styles. Doors and windows are often decorated with colorful inserts. Fusing is used to make glass table tops, panels, and mirror frames.
Products made using the fusing technique turn out beautiful and elegant. In order to achieve the strength of crafts, the following steps must be followed during the manufacturing process:
The entire manufacturing process takes place on professional equipment, but when working with glass at home, they use a special mini-oven. It has low power and operates on a 220 V network. The mini-oven allows you to create products small sizes and various decorations.
Making glass crafts at home is not only a hobby, but also good source income. Before starting work, choose the type and shape of the product. The easiest drawing is flowers or abstract figures. They are best suited for beginners. To avoid injury or burns, wear special gloves. Plastic or silicone goggles are used to protect the eyes. Making glass crafts in a home mini-oven is a combination of the following steps:
You can do fusing without special equipment. To create glass crafts, a regular microwave oven with metal walls is suitable. This method of making glass products with your own hands is harmless and safe. The microwave power should be 800 W, otherwise the material will melt from the high temperature.
A small stove is placed inside the device, which is made of special materials and has high heat resistance. Waves at 2.4 MHz are absorbed by its substrate, and heating occurs along with the glass. You can bake frosted and clear glass, millefiori and frits of various shades in the microwave. It is recommended to choose glass with COE 90. During the work process, you need to perform the following steps:
After the product has cooled, its color will return to its original color. You need to know that dichroic glass will change its original texture and color.
To create products, glass with the same COE (coefficient of thermal expansion) is used. If the characteristics of the elements differ, the joints will become fragile. The following recommendations will help you make jewelry and other crafts using the fusing technique more beautiful and of higher quality:
To learn how to independently create the simplest products using the fusing technique, you need minimal knowledge. It's a simple process. By watching videos on this topic, you can make your own jewelry and other glass crafts. At training lessons and master classes by specialists, you can see all the work with your own eyes and participate in the manufacturing process.
This idea home business can be very profitable. Glass figurines- it's always manual labor. And manual labor has been valued at all times. The peculiarity of glass products is that each figurine is unique and inimitable. Even in modern equipped enterprises it is not always possible to automate all processes.
Having learned how to make glass souvenirs, you can always receive additional income, or even make it your main source of income.
We are not talking about blowing various glass objects, although this technology will also need to be mastered in the future; We are considering a method of making glass figurines by melting on a gas burner as a business. The glass blank is melted, and from it, like from plasticine, a souvenir figurine is made using various devices.
This technology is called lampwork or lampwork (from the English lampwork; lamp - lamp, burner, work - work).
You can make various figurines of animals (animals that represent zodiac signs before the New Year are selling well), flowers, various talismans, and glass figurines.
Colored glass pebbles are good for interior design - they are used to fill various glass objects (vases, glasses), in aquariums as soil, etc. They are very easy to make, and the demand market can be quite large. Beads, buttons, bracelets, and various glass jewelry are also in demand.
The demand for souvenirs especially increases before the holidays - New Year, Valentine's Day, March 8...
Necessary equipment for making glass figurines (souvenirs)
To make souvenirs you will need glass blanks (the so-called dart or glass dart). They represent themselves glass tubes or glass rods (rods). Length - usually up to 40 cm, thickness - from 3 to 6 mm.
To practice lampwork you will need:
Glass tubes and glass rods of various colors;
Gas burner;
Tungsten wire for cutting workpieces;
Pobedite knife;
Metal tongs; metal tweezers;
Scissors; metal and wooden reamers; holders - but they are used mainly in the manufacture of glass products by blowing;
Safety glasses;
You will also need a flight of imagination and skillful hands...
The table cover must be covered fireproof material(for example, asbestos). Hoses for supplying gas, oxygen and compressed air are connected to the gas burner.
The cost of the equipment is not very high; in principle, anyone can afford to acquire this set.
To be fair, it is worth saying that it is better not to make glass figurines in a city apartment. This is especially true for beginners. There is a risk of a fire caused by negligence, so it is better to train in a garage, country house, etc.
It is necessary to equip the room with a system exhaust ventilation. Special attention should also be paid to fire safety issues.
Glass figurines manufacturing technology
You can find many video tutorials on the lampwork technique on the Internet; they clearly show how to make a glass figurine in the flame of a burner.
In short, the procedure for making a glass figurine consists of the following steps:
Definition appearance future product (sketch);
Heating the workpiece, giving it the required shape;
Adding to the main form various parts- petals, eyes, wings, antennae; this can be done using glass blanks of a different color and size...
Cooling of the product.
Experienced professionals can determine the “correctness” of the flame color for a particular stage of making a glass souvenir.
If the flame has a slightly bluish color, this means that air is supplied in a slightly larger volume than necessary. The supply of oxygen produces a silent, deep blue flame. If there is insufficient air, the flame will bright yellow color. Such a flame is needed only to heat the finished product.
Cylinders with compressed air, oxygen and gas are best placed outside the living space. The supply to the burner is carried out using hoses with reducers.
There are also small oxygen-propane torches, etc.
Before melting, the tube blanks are cut into several parts using a pobedit knife or circular saw. Larger workpieces are cut after pre-heating them with tungsten wire, through which electric current. After the operation, you can drop water on the workpiece in the intended place so that it bursts along the cut line. However, sometimes it’s easier to melt the workpiece in the right place and that’s it.
Steel tweezers are necessary for stretching the molten workpiece, forming small and thin parts of the product, as well as for making small holes.
Wide tweezers (tongs) with copper, brass or graphite tips are often used in the manufacture of glass figurines with parts flattened on both sides.
Heated glass stretches beautifully, and it can be made into almost any shape.
Flame temperature gas burner can reach 1800 degrees Celsius. Optimal temperature for making glass figurines is 800-1200 degrees.
The time to make one figurine can take from 15 minutes to several hours, depending on the complexity of the product and the experience of the craftsman.
Glass figurines market
You can offer souvenirs simply through advertisements on the Internet. Various souvenir shops can take these products for sale. Pet stores will take colored glass pebbles to sell to aquarists as aquarium substrate. Costume jewelry stores will be willing to sell various items- beads, buttons...
You can offer your product to online stores, or create your own online store selling glass souvenirs.
Set up business connections It wouldn't hurt to work with interior designers. They can order various things from you. The production of glass figurines to order occupies a significant share of the market in this business.
As an additional source of income, you can consider the option of teaching art to everyone. making glass souvenirs (lampwork), including on the Internet.
More information on this idea for starting and running a business can be obtained.
