Usine de verre soufflé,19e siècle

Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison),with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a glassblower,glassmith,or gaffer. A lampworker manipulates glass with the use of a torch on a smaller scale,such as in producing precision laboratory glassware out of borosilicate glass. Glassblowing involves three furnaces. The first,which contains a crucible of molten glass,is simply referred to as the furnace. The second is called the glory hole,and is used to reheat a piece in between steps of working with it. The final furnace is called the lehr or annealer,and is used to slowly cool the glass. The bench is a glassblower's workstation,and has a place for the glassblower to sit,a place for the handheld tools,and two rails that the pipe or punty rides on while the blower works with the piece.