Renaissance costumes that they were in the Halloween spirit. A few resident demons with red eyes wandered by, challenging each other to a duel. A group of witches ran through the street asking visitors if they were in need of a spell.
Other than that, it was the usual chaos of horses, sheep, and chickens mixed in with black-garbed fairy-tale folk playing in the streets. The Wandering Madman kept asking everyone he met if there was a bird on his head. The Pied Piper, dressed in deep purple (obviously he couldn’t wear black ), walked along playing his pipe, a group of adult-looking children following him.
I took a deep breath and smiled. It was good to be back.
Roger and Henry were waiting for me at the Glass Gryphon after I’d stopped and changed into my costume at Debby’s since Chase was still working on the banshee problem. Henry went to talk with a few visitors while Roger sat me down behind the workbench again. “I want you to get a feel for all these tools, Jessie. You’ll be using them shortly. You can move things around, left and right, however you feel comfortable.”
I looked at all of the tools. Some I recognized. There was the hot glass rest, the lapping wheel, a tungsten pick, and a torch. I knew the torch could be moved around the glass, unlike a stationary burner. “Okay. I’m ready.”
He laughed. “You’re not, but we’ll get you started anyway. First thing we’re going to do is light up your torch. We’re going to practice sealing or joining two pieces of glass together. It’ll give you a feel for working with it. Just take these two pieces and use the torch to heat up the ends until you can fuse them.”
I followed his instructions exactly and ignited the gas torch with a flint lighter. “How big should the flame be? ”
“Should be less than an inch. You can leave it on at this level and put it in the holder over there while you do something else. But shut it off before you leave the bench.”
He had me practice flame control by changing the setting on the gas and oxygen valves. I made a really large flame that I thought might’ve singed my eyebrows, and then I made a tiny little flame I could barely see. “How’s that? ”
“Pretty good. Now let’s see what you can do with the glass.”
I picked up the two clear glass rods and held them together in front of the torch. They heated up right away, and I dropped one.
“Not like that,” he said, correcting me. “You’ll have to hold it like this and melt the two pieces so the ends join. It’ll get pretty hot, so you might have to hold it with this clamp. Henry and I are used to it, but a newbie like you will need some time. And remember to wear your goggles. The glass can shatter. I had some taken out of my eye once. Not a pleasant experience.”
I moved the pieces of glass together so the ends would get hot. I was concentrating so hard on what I was doing that I didn’t notice Henry bringing his two winsome lasses closer to my workbench until the first one said, “Ooh! That looks hot!”
I glanced up, making my safety glasses fall off my face. The glass rod heated up too much and melted on the bench. I moved the other rod quickly away, narrowly missing the torch held in the clamp. Unfortunately, my sleeve didn’t miss the torch, which blazed a black hole in the fabric. Guess it could’ve been worse. At least I didn’t have to stop, drop, and roll.
“Henry, move the visitors away from Jessie’s workbench. She doesn’t need to be nervous.”
“Sorry, Jessie.” Henry smiled. “Let’s come this way, ladies. Methinks there may be something of interest to you on yon table.”
I watched them walk away, glad to see them go. That’s the only problem with apprenticing in a shop that relies on the public watching what you do. Half the fun (and therefore the appeal of the products) has to do with seeing how the craft is done. But the audience puts a lot of pressure on the apprentice.
I cleaned up my mess and checked
Other than that, it was the usual chaos of horses, sheep, and chickens mixed in with black-garbed fairy-tale folk playing in the streets. The Wandering Madman kept asking everyone he met if there was a bird on his head. The Pied Piper, dressed in deep purple (obviously he couldn’t wear black ), walked along playing his pipe, a group of adult-looking children following him.
I took a deep breath and smiled. It was good to be back.
Roger and Henry were waiting for me at the Glass Gryphon after I’d stopped and changed into my costume at Debby’s since Chase was still working on the banshee problem. Henry went to talk with a few visitors while Roger sat me down behind the workbench again. “I want you to get a feel for all these tools, Jessie. You’ll be using them shortly. You can move things around, left and right, however you feel comfortable.”
I looked at all of the tools. Some I recognized. There was the hot glass rest, the lapping wheel, a tungsten pick, and a torch. I knew the torch could be moved around the glass, unlike a stationary burner. “Okay. I’m ready.”
He laughed. “You’re not, but we’ll get you started anyway. First thing we’re going to do is light up your torch. We’re going to practice sealing or joining two pieces of glass together. It’ll give you a feel for working with it. Just take these two pieces and use the torch to heat up the ends until you can fuse them.”
I followed his instructions exactly and ignited the gas torch with a flint lighter. “How big should the flame be? ”
“Should be less than an inch. You can leave it on at this level and put it in the holder over there while you do something else. But shut it off before you leave the bench.”
He had me practice flame control by changing the setting on the gas and oxygen valves. I made a really large flame that I thought might’ve singed my eyebrows, and then I made a tiny little flame I could barely see. “How’s that? ”
“Pretty good. Now let’s see what you can do with the glass.”
I picked up the two clear glass rods and held them together in front of the torch. They heated up right away, and I dropped one.
“Not like that,” he said, correcting me. “You’ll have to hold it like this and melt the two pieces so the ends join. It’ll get pretty hot, so you might have to hold it with this clamp. Henry and I are used to it, but a newbie like you will need some time. And remember to wear your goggles. The glass can shatter. I had some taken out of my eye once. Not a pleasant experience.”
I moved the pieces of glass together so the ends would get hot. I was concentrating so hard on what I was doing that I didn’t notice Henry bringing his two winsome lasses closer to my workbench until the first one said, “Ooh! That looks hot!”
I glanced up, making my safety glasses fall off my face. The glass rod heated up too much and melted on the bench. I moved the other rod quickly away, narrowly missing the torch held in the clamp. Unfortunately, my sleeve didn’t miss the torch, which blazed a black hole in the fabric. Guess it could’ve been worse. At least I didn’t have to stop, drop, and roll.
“Henry, move the visitors away from Jessie’s workbench. She doesn’t need to be nervous.”
“Sorry, Jessie.” Henry smiled. “Let’s come this way, ladies. Methinks there may be something of interest to you on yon table.”
I watched them walk away, glad to see them go. That’s the only problem with apprenticing in a shop that relies on the public watching what you do. Half the fun (and therefore the appeal of the products) has to do with seeing how the craft is done. But the audience puts a lot of pressure on the apprentice.
I cleaned up my mess and checked
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