The blue glass bowl was made by fusing two 10 inch diameter disks of glass together at 1450 f in a kiln. After the fused disk cooled to room temperature, it was placed on a 'dropout ring' (a ceramic disk with a large hole in it). The glass was heated in the kiln again to about 1300 f and the glass slowly sagged through the hole. It took about 40 minutes to sag. Each time the glass is in the kiln it takes about 6-8 hours to heat and cool.
The segmented wood ring holding the bowl is made of spalted maple with spline joints and was lathe turned. The alabaster base was lathe turned and all the holes for the brass rods were drilled on the lathe using the index pin on the spindle. The brass rods were formed over the edge of a shaped piece of plywood. The brass rods were sprung into place and no glue is used to hold the assembly together.
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The alabaster bowl was turned from a 25 pound block of alabaster and
took about 5 evenings to complete. The wood rim and foot are Kingwood,
attached with WeldBond glue. Carbide tipped scrapers were used for
turning. The alabaster was sanded and polished and has a Bartley Paste
Polyurethane finish.
Some interesting links about glass and alabaster:
http://www.maxkrimmel.com/
http://www.coloradoalabaster.com/
http://www.warmglass.com/index.htm
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