The Tools For Murano Glassmaking

Murano glass jewelry is highly sought afterpipe) is used to blow the inside portion of the
throughout the world. The artisans that produceglass so it expands and adheres to the contour of
this jewelry are highly skilled and accomplishedits mold. The pontello is used with this tool to hold
craftsmen with traditions dating back severalthe glass while it is blown and after it is blown. It
centuries.also makes it easy for the craftsman to add the
As with other kinds of glass, Murano glass isfinal touches to the glasswork before it hardens
made from fine silica. The silica melts whenthoroughly. The scagno is the glassmaker's
exposed to high temperatures and becomesworkbench. The final tool is the tagianti, a pair of
molten glass. After it hardens, it becomes solidclippers, which is used to cut through glass.
glass. When glass is in its semi-molten state, it canHaving the right tools is not enough for anyone to
be bent or shaped, stretched or packed, or hotwork with glass as the Murano masters do.
worked in other ways.Hotworking glass is a very sensitive process,
To shape and work with glass as they do, theespecially if your goal is to shape glass to create
Murano glassmakers make use of special tools tovery attractive works of art. Considerable effort
get the job done. One of the main tools is themust be put into detail to make glass art look its
borselle, the name of the tongs, which are usedbest. If you wish to put things in perspective and
to hand handle glass while in its molten state solearn just how difficult working with glass is, try
that it can be formed, bent, and shapedheating up a small glass tube, then try stretching it
accordingly. For creations which are meant to beevenly along its length without splitting the tube in
containers, a tool called canna da soffio (blowingtwo.