The Magic of Glass
edge of the cooled bubble . The glass on the end of the hot rod is hot enough that it melts the edge of the cooled bubble , joining the two separate bodies of glass on the two different rods together . Once the two different glass pieces are fused , Trimpol hits the end of the glass rod that is holding the cooled bubble with a small hammer . If done correctly , the front edge of the bubble will break off from the rod in a nearly seamless fashion . This will create a hole where the short glass stem that linked the bubble to the rod was once attached , which can eventually be manipulated into the neck and lip of the perfume bottle .
When the cooled bubble is broken off of its original rod , Trimpol reheats the newly-merged , two-part piece of glass in the reheating furnace on the second rod . Once the glass is hot , he opens the newly-formed hole and forms the neck of the perfume bottle by using jacks . At this point in the process , he repeatedly re-heats the piece from time to time , holding it in the re-heating furnace in a manner that refocuses the heat on the neck section instead of the bubble section . In between re-heating , he alternates between
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streamlining the shape of the bubble with wet newspaper , forming the neck of the bottle , and making sure that the neck is straight and even . While forming the neck , he twists it to ensure that the spiral shape is continued from the bubble to the neck . When the neck increases in length to the point that it is ready to be cut down to form the final shape of the perfume bottle , he trims it down with a pair of shears . He then re-heats the piece once more , and flares the lip of the perfume bottle open with jacks . After that , he narrows the neck so that it can properly fit the custom-made glass bottle stopper . Each stopper is handmade on-site to fit the specifications of the bottle . Once the lip is flat and perpendicular to the body and the opening is centered , the perfume bottle is completely formed and ready to be set aside and cooled .
When pieces are set to cool , they are typically placed in a specialized cooling furnace known as an annealer , or “ lehr ,” which gradually lowers their temperature . Trimpol says that given the dynamic properties of glass , the rate at which it cools has a significant effect on its structural stability . “ When we work with the annealers , we turn them to 850 ° Fahrenheit . 850 ° is a temperature that is hot enough that the molecules can readjust and all of the stress can be relieved . From there , we cool them down to what is known as the “ strain point ,” which is about 220 degrees below that . Once the glass hits the strain point , you can drop the temperature down to room temperature fairly quickly — as long as the drop isn ’ t so quick that it causes the glass to break from stress caused by rapid cooling .”
After a finished piece has cooled , it is taken to an adjacent room , where it is ground , polished , and finished . The room is equipped with a sandblaster , a wet belt sander , and a lapping wheel that uses diamond discs to grind down surfaces . All pieces made at Little River Hotglass are fully ground and polished before they are packaged for shipping and sale . “ The grinding process removes excess material and makes the surface nice and flat ,” says Trimpol . “ After the surfaces are flat , we move on to a finer and finer grit and bring them to a full polish .” When polishing curved surfaces , Trimpol uses the belt sander . “ It has a certain