Off a main road in Gladstone, Oregon you'll find an unsuspecting warehouse. Inside, several shafts for ventilation run along the ceiling of this giant glass blowers dream work space. This is where Anthony "Frit" Charles and other artists practice their craft.
Anthony, like many other glass blowers originally signed his work by a nickname to help protect his identity, not unlike that of a graffiti artist. But now as the laws and stipulations around pipe making and smoking loosen up, newer artists are emerging into a scene where their identities can be at the forefront of the art they are creating.
Knowing full well the potential liability of having Taylor and Jon run amok in a large room of glass and fire, Anthony was kind enough to let the hosts of WBYF! join him in his “office” and discover more about the “how to” of pipe-making. Anthony was already in the process of fulfilling an order of several pipes and walked us through the creation process of this functional art.
Anthony begins his session by gathering all the essential tools and materials he can find on his work bench. As far as Anthony is concerned, Glassblowing is 50% looking for stuff. Once he has acquired all his ingredients, he firmly plants himself at the epicenter of his workstation... his Lathe. The lathe is a tool that holds the glass in front of his torch and spins the glass at a consistent pace. This spinning will ensure smoothness and consistency throughout all of the pipes he makes in this session. At this point, Anthony fires up his torch, and adjusts the two main valves. Each of these valves controls the two main gases needed for the torch (Propane and Oxygen). By carefully mixing the two main gases, Anthony will be able to get the torch flame up to a stead 3,500 degrees fahrenheit. Frit aims to heat the Borosilicate glass, a common glass used for pipemaking, to 2,500°. At this temperature the glass becomes a stiff but malleable liquid capable of being shaped and worked with. When working with heated glass it’s important to be mindful of it’s integrity. If the glass changes temperature to rapidly it can crack or even shatter. Using a kiln to bring the glass to another temperature can be done otherwise, when idling, a anneal flame is used, keeping the glass around a 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent cracking.
Before Frit begins molding and shaping the glass, he needs to color a portion of the glass. For this to occur, he’ll need to color the glass using… frit. The term “frit” refers to granular crushed glass that can comes in a variety of colors. By adding the frit into a standard or clear glass tube and heating the tube, the frit particles begin mixing into the glass and creating color. Once Frit reaches the desired color effect he moves on to the blowing and molding phase.
In this part of the process Anthony introduces a series of tools to help him achieve the desired shapes and designs he will need. While spinning the glass and applying heat, Frit uses a series of paddles to flatten and smooth the glass. Part of the pipe design calls for a wide disk-like shape.
To create this, Frit uses a combination of his paddle and various airways or “Blow hoses” to create a wide disk like shape at the end of the pipe, also known as a “Maria”. Now that the glass looks more like a pipe less like a large tube, Anthony will need to create the hole into a bowl shape for the… “tobacco” to go in. For this, Frit uses a reamer or “bowl push” to create the needed “herb holding” crevice. Upon completing the creation of these parts, Anthony will form them together to create then end product.
By repeating the steps above a total of 5-10 times, Anthony “Frit” Charles will create a “run” of pipes that will be distributed out to various customers. Depending on the client, Anthony could be selling the pipes through local glass shops, or directly to the customer. If you or anyone else is in the market for a fine crafted piece of American glass-work, you can find and contact him at his Instagram page @fritglass. As Avid users of Frit’s products, I and the boys of WBYF! Can confidently say that the end result is Lit AF.
Written & Edited by Kenneth R. Maron.
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