Workspaces and Tools

The Glass department provides its students with a thorough technical foundation and broad resources for specialized material exploration. An extensive custom facility offers a full range of glassworking processes (see below). Among its various refinements are a half-ton continuous-melt glass furnace, a 500-lb. casting furnace, 22 computer-programmed process ovens, a well-developed coldworking facility and individual studio space for graduate and undergraduate students.

Hot shop

  • continuous melt furnace (1000-lb. capacity)
  • casting furnace (500-lb. capacity)
  • three glory holes
  • three benches with compressed air stations
  • mobile pipe cooler
  • gas-fired pipe warmer
  • two large front-loading annealing ovens
  • two top-loading annealing ovens
  • three pick-up ovens
  • one front-loading sculpture annealing oven (for solid work)
  • rolling metal boxes and ladles for sandcasting
  • oxy-propane bench torch
  • natural gas-fired garage
  • sand casting equipment (ladles, metal boxes, acetylyne)
  • two Digitry GB5 controllers
  • one Watlow 981 controller

Kiln room

  • two small kilns
  • three small stacker ovens
  • four medium ovens
  • two large ovens
  • one car kiln
  • one bell kiln
  • two Digitry GB5 controllers
  • Nederman downdraft de-molding table

Cold shop

  • Clipper diamond cut-off saw
  • Covington diamond cut-off saw
  • Somaca glass drill press
  • two Somaca roller platen vertical belt sanders
  • three diamond flatting wheels
  • one large Steinert flatting wheel
  • two Somaca polishing wheels
  • four grinding/cutting lathes and diamond wheels
  • two Merker cutting lathes
  • two Foredom flexible-shaft engraving stations
  • Merker engraving lathe
  • two Tornado I and II air-powered diamond shaping tools
  • two Starlite hand-held etching/grinding tools
  • two Rose Industries Recipro-lap automatic polishing machines
  • American ultraviolet curing lamp
  • UV gluing station
  • polarizing lamp

Sandblasting room

  • Zero Mfg. Co. #BN 65-1 sandblaster
  • Cyco-Blast industrial sandblaster

Plaster room

  • Hoffman RPGH-15 steam machine

Additional equipment

  • Carlisle and Bethlehem bench burners