Trash to Treasure
W. J. Wheeler
Glass Technician
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin

The big disadvantage of fire polishing the cut glass ends using the record player, is not to be able to tool the heated end of the glass for smoothing or opening it up when there is some curve where the bottle was cut on the neck. I salvaged some parts from an old sewing machine to construct a single ended lathe that holds the glass firmly, works in a horizontal position, rotates the bottle during scribing, fire polishing and annealing in one chucking. I used the motor, the foot pedal motor speed control, the pulleys and drive belt. (See Figure 4)

I purchased a pair of 1/2 inch Pillow Blocks from a bearing supply house, some 1/2 inch steel rod, and a 2 foot long, 3/4 inch thick red Oak board from Home Depot. I cut the oak board into four pieces and put together the base as shown in the illustration. I used a floor flange used in assembling Flexiframe vacuum lines to go from the steel shaft to a wood block in the end of some 2 inch and three inch plastic pipe available also at the Home Depot. I split the open end of the chucks in my power saw to allow them to compress collet fashion on the glasses. A steel adjustable strap allows me to clamp the glass tightly during the heating operations. To accommodate the particular size bottles, I placed 1/4 inch strips in three locations inside the collet chuck. These wood strips are held in place with small bolts, the inner surfaces countersunk to place the bolt heads below the surface of the wood. The parts of the chuck were held in my glassblowing lathe for assembly, temporarily fixed in place with hot glue, and then secured with wood screws. Holding the chuck parts in the lathe assured me that they would run true when completed, and as a result, the wobble is held to a minimum.

The Flexiframe floor flange is made to accommodate 1/2 inch rods, and is larger than that diameter by several thousands of an inch. I made some shim stock from a 7-up can, cutting it into 3/4 inch by 3 inch long strips, and wrapped some around the 1/2 inch steel rod when inserting it into the flange to make a better fit. The chucks can be changed by loosening a single screw in the flange.

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