We’ve been telling the story of our crucible crisis. This blog contains part 3 of 3, but in case you’re just joining us, here’s a quick recap!
Recently, our crucible sprung a hole and unexpectedly put us on an emergency timeline for repair! A crucible swap is a lengthy process that can take up to nine full days in total, so being able to plan for it is the ideal situation. As life often does, we were thrown a curveball — and our incredible Studio & Gallery teams rose to the challenge!
After the furnace finally came down to a safe temperature, we removed all the spilt glass and the old crucible to find a deep crack at the top brim that had been the cause of the problem. We also took this opportunity to replace our furnace elements, which are long metal rods that are responsible for heating the furnace up to its regular temperature of 2100°F. We then put our new crucible into the furnace, sealed it back up, and began the process of heating everything back up! Read on to see the conclusion to our story and how we were able to still produce some truly unique pieces while our main furnace was under repair!
The Conclusion — The Return of the Furnace
While our main furnace was under repair, we were unable to create most of the amazing artwork we showcase at our gallery, but that doesn’t mean we were out of options! We have a special backup pot furnace that utilizes recycled glass that creates a very slight blue tint in most of the items made in it. Our talented glass artists then relished in the opportunity to create some amazing wave sculptures using this recycled glass. See below for a recycled wave glass sculpture!
A quick note on our recycled glass items: These will not be regularly stocked and a limited quantity are available in-gallery only. We do have regular glass wave sculptures for purchase on our website.
Back to our main furnace, the heating process began immediately after the new crucible was installed and sealed in. Bringing the furnace back up to its regular temperature of 2100°F needed to be done very quickly or we could cause damage to many of the parts that make the furnace up to the metal rod elements responsible for heating the furnace up, to the structural insulation keeping the heat inside the furnace, and even the crucible itself. Needless to say, raising the temperature had to be done carefully and monitored frequently.
Pictured above is the panel right next to the furnace that controls the temperature. To heat it back up, we programmed the furnace to heat up incrementally according to strict thresholds and time periods. From room temperature to 1000°F took 30 hours, from 1000°F to 1100°F took 6 hours, and then from 1100°F to 2100°F took 36 hours, making the full process take a total of 72 hours or 3 whole days!
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Though the process was long and the timing unanticipated, our team persevered and has been back at it teaching classes as usual and creating beautiful glass-blown items for our gallery.
If your class was canceled or rescheduled during this crucible swap time, we sincerely thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you for sticking with us through this unexpected journey and for reading along with our journey!
