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Back in the day, we were taught to always pre-heat the glory hole for a solid 15 minutes before starting a piece.
I was rushing a simple tumbler order in my old Seattle studio and tried going in after just 5 minutes, which actually gave me a much more even, slower heat for the initial reheat and stopped that annoying chill-shiver cracking I used to get.
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alicecooper5mo ago
Yeah, that old 15 minute rule was gospel in my first studio too. It always felt like overkill, just wasting gas and time. Your point about the slower, more even heat makes total sense, like you're not shocking the glass from one extreme to another. I started doing something similar with my garage set up, cutting the pre heat way down, and it really did help with those hairline cracks on simple pieces. Makes you wonder what other old school rules we follow just because that's how we were taught.
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the_zara5mo ago
Right? I saw a whole thread on a glass forum about this exact thing. People were saying a shorter pre-heat can actually give you more control for basic shapes. Totally changes how you look at those old studio rules.
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the_tara5mo ago
Wait you were working in a Seattle studio? That's wild, the rental prices there must have been insane. I can't imagine trying to run a kiln with those utility costs. Cutting down on pre-heat time isn't just about technique, it's straight up survival.
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