RED Matthews
Well-Known Member
Hello whoever likes to touch on this subject. I just wrote a description of a bottle problem or question for another bottle collector. After reading it over I decided I would be audacious and send it on this subject to the ABN Forum members.
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Back to you Randy, Yes, if something holds a mold open it will cause a flash of glass along the seam. This can be due to a nick in a mold part, dirt in the seam separation of the mold parts, or something like that.
The molds were usually held together by a mold boy apprentice, who had two long steel bar handles, one on each half. It was his responsibility to close the mold around the gaffers formed parison shape on the blowpipe and hold the mold halves closed until the glass was given the final blow. Then the mold boy had to open the mold so the gaffer could take the blown bottle out of the mold and then the main gaffer would work with another attendant that had the responsibility of attaching the punty rod or a previous blowpipe to the bottom of the blown bottle.
The next step then was for the main gaffer to take the blowpipe off the top of the bottle. His attendent would then hand the punty rod with the bottle attached to the main gaffer who would trim the neck if it needed it and he would then apply glass to the finish and tool it to the specified finish for the bottle.
I will go back to the punty rod or the previous blowpipe. After they took the new bottle off the blowpipe an attendent would lay the blowpipe up on a rack by the glory hold in the furnace to keep the little bit of glass left on the blowpipe - hot for the next bottle empontilling that they had to do. These tubes of glass from the old neck attachment then created what is sometimes called a tube ponitl or open pontil on the bottom of the next bottle they made.
And this continuous process could sometimes make about 800 bottles in a day on that particular glass shop. I will also inject the comment that early bottle crews ont these glass shops, were usually paid based on the number of good bottles they made. An early incentive program. Also these bottle makers would often have a special "makers mark" on the bottom plate of their mold assembly. This let them count successful production quantities and get in trouble if their bottles turned out to produce service problems.
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It is also a way of fishing for comment or correction or criticism from anyone that sees a mistaken description. I tend to blurp out these things when I am asked a question that isn't always answered for understanding. RED Matthews
* * *
Back to you Randy, Yes, if something holds a mold open it will cause a flash of glass along the seam. This can be due to a nick in a mold part, dirt in the seam separation of the mold parts, or something like that.
The molds were usually held together by a mold boy apprentice, who had two long steel bar handles, one on each half. It was his responsibility to close the mold around the gaffers formed parison shape on the blowpipe and hold the mold halves closed until the glass was given the final blow. Then the mold boy had to open the mold so the gaffer could take the blown bottle out of the mold and then the main gaffer would work with another attendant that had the responsibility of attaching the punty rod or a previous blowpipe to the bottom of the blown bottle.
The next step then was for the main gaffer to take the blowpipe off the top of the bottle. His attendent would then hand the punty rod with the bottle attached to the main gaffer who would trim the neck if it needed it and he would then apply glass to the finish and tool it to the specified finish for the bottle.
I will go back to the punty rod or the previous blowpipe. After they took the new bottle off the blowpipe an attendent would lay the blowpipe up on a rack by the glory hold in the furnace to keep the little bit of glass left on the blowpipe - hot for the next bottle empontilling that they had to do. These tubes of glass from the old neck attachment then created what is sometimes called a tube ponitl or open pontil on the bottom of the next bottle they made.
And this continuous process could sometimes make about 800 bottles in a day on that particular glass shop. I will also inject the comment that early bottle crews ont these glass shops, were usually paid based on the number of good bottles they made. An early incentive program. Also these bottle makers would often have a special "makers mark" on the bottom plate of their mold assembly. This let them count successful production quantities and get in trouble if their bottles turned out to produce service problems.
* * *
It is also a way of fishing for comment or correction or criticism from anyone that sees a mistaken description. I tend to blurp out these things when I am asked a question that isn't always answered for understanding. RED Matthews
