When we visited Cooperstown NY this summer, nearby The National Baseball Hall of Fame) is the The Farmers Museum
While there, Steven J. Kellogg Blacksmith made me a custom Glassblowing Raking Tool (in under six minutes!)
Click the image above to go to the web page and watch the video of the Raking Tool being made!
You can see more of Steven J. Kellogg blacksmithing here: ruralblacksmith.blogspot.com/
Tony Patti
www.glassblower.info
gaffer@glassblower.info
“Pulling Stems” Glassblowing Exercise
“One Gather One Reheat” Glassblowing Exercise
at http://www.glassblower.info/karl/index.html
Nikolaj Christensen was the guest Glassblowing Artist at Bucks County Community College (BCCC) Glass Arts Society on Wednesday April 6, 2011.
Photos and Videos of Nikolaj making a Reticello Bowl and Merletto Pitcher can be found on these web pages:
http://www.glassblower.info/nikolaj-christensen/reticello-bowl.html
http://www.glassblower.info/nikolaj-christensen/merletto-pitcher.html
I started work on a custom 6-sided steel glassblowing mold, based on a pyramid (faceted cone).
In the process I uncovered a quick and easy math-based craft project which you may find suitable for your elementary school (or older) children. My brother’s kids seemed to enjoy this project yesterday during Thanksgiving.
Basically, with only a protractor, scissors or paper cutter, ruler, and a few pieces of tape, you and your kids can create n-sided pyramids. In other words, 3, 4, 5, or 6-sided pyramids that are fun to make, and if decorated, can make some really nice paper hats, kind of like Wizard Hats! As well as perhaps teaching a little bit of math along the way!
This project started from the wonderful online article Compound Angles – Calculations and Jig for Making for N-sided Pyramids by Tony Beugelsdijk of the Albuquerque Woodworkers Association. I have an extra copy of that PDF stored
here (if you have a problem with the first link).
There is some really interesting math — algebra and trigonometry — which I’ll go over at the end of the article, if you are interested, but for now, here is a summary table if your goal is to have some math-based fun with a kids craft project, and make some hats!
| Number of Sides | Width (inches) of Base Side | Height of Pyramid (hat) | Angle to be Measured |
| 4 sides | 6 inches | 11 inches (letter-size paper) | 15 degrees |
| 6 sides | 5.5 inches | 11 inches (letter-size paper) | 14 degrees |
| 6 sides | 4 inches | 11 inches (letter-size paper) | 10 degrees |
| 5 sides | 5 inches | 11 inches (letter-size paper) | 13 degrees |
| 5 sides | 4 inches | 11 inches (letter-size paper) | 10 degrees |
I’m going to make the last one — a 5-sided hat which is 4 inches on each side and 11 inches tall.
If you would prefer a flat-topped hat, you could create a truncated pyramid (Pyramidal Frustum), using sides which look more like this (for a 6-sided two-inch-to-four-inch truncated pyramid).
How are the angles in the table above calculated? Glad you asked! Tony Beugelsdijk’s article gives worked-through examples of the math, and from those, I created this Excel spreadsheet (also available in Excel 97-2003 format) which looks like this (from the last example in the table, and the hat we made above):
In Excel 2007, typing the keyboard shortcut (toggle) ctrl+` (that is the “Grave Accent” key which is above the tab key), shows the formulas:
A1: n
B1: 5
C1: number of sides
A2: h
B2: 13.6
C2: vertical height of pyramid (not length of side)
A3: a
B3: 5
C3: base length
A4: Theta θ
B4: =ATAN(SQRT((2*h/a)^2+k^2))*(180/PI())
C4: or
D4: =90-theta
E4: degrees
A5: Phi Φ
B5: =ATAN((2*h)/(a*k))*(180/PI())
C5: first angle to be cut on the table saw
A6: b
B6: =SQRT(h^2+(a*k/2)^2)
C6: lenth of side (face altitude), this is a piece of legal-size paper
A7: k
B7: =TAN(PI()/2-PI()/n)
C7: used in various calculations
During the three months since I first installed WordPress, I have received HUNDREDS of WordPress Blog comment spam — spammers (and their evil automated programs) trying to promote all types of products and websites (even though the links have nofollow attribute set!)
While the comments never made it to the WordPress Blog web pages you see, they did get sent to me for moderation, and this was just too time-consuming (to find the one valid comment out of hundreds).
To find an automated (and not burdensome) solution to this problem I installed SI Captcha Anti-Spam for Blog Comments which you can find on this web page: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/si-captcha-for-wordpress/installation/
As the name implies, this is a Simple Captcha to defeat spammers. The definition of a Captcha is “A distorted image of letters and numbers used to prevent automated use of websites; Anything that a human must do to prove that they are not a computer”.
Captcha may sound like a silly word, but it has a serious acryonym: Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. The Turing test is a test of a machine’s ability to demonstrate intelligence, and more information about this fascinating subject can be found on Wikipedia.
Our WordPress Comment Captcha looks like this:
A computer program can not (easily) “see” the letters inside the graphic, but a person can.
So, this is a simple and not too onerous way to separate serious commenters from spammers.
My steps to install SI Captcha Anti-Spam for Blog Comments was pretty straight-forward:
<?php
phpinfo();
var_dump(gd_info());
?>
which allowed me to see that GD was now ENABLED (via use of the simple grep command “php phpinfo-test.php | grep GD”It was very clear that my server was happy when I saw this very appropriate image for success:
I have a new web page at http://www.glassblower.info/Brandon-Smith/Brandon-Smith-glassblowing-at-BCCC.html which shows the beautiful incalmo glass vessel (below) being made, step-by-step via photos.
Visit the web page to see photos of the glassblowing demo of how Brandon Smith, assisted by Karin Kozlowski, made this glass vessel.
Just about the only complaint I have about the design of the Dell PowerEdge 2650 is that it only has built-in USB (Universal Serial Bus) 1.1
According to this web page at Wikipedia, “USB was intended to make it fundamentally easier to connect external devices to PCs by replacing the multitude of connectors at the back of PCs, addressing the usability issues of existing interfaces, and simplifying software configuration of all devices connected to USB, as well as permitting greater bandwidths for external devices.”
USB 1.1 peripherals can operate at a maximum speed of either 12Mb/s or an even slower 1.5Mb/s (which might be used by a mouse or keyboard).
In comparison, USB 2.0 has a raw data rate at 480Mbps, so it is rated 40 times faster than its predecessor interface, USB 1.1.
Is it possible to add the much faster USB 2.0 to a Dell PowerEdge 2650? Defintely yes! Here is what has worked for me.
You want to buy a Siig Hi Speed USB 5 Port PCI Card Model JU-P50212-S5
Here is the official Siig web page for their Model JU-P50212-S5 USB 2.0 PCI card.
Here are the features and specification highlights from that page:
It makes a huge difference, running Clonezilla, to have USB 2.0 and its faster transfer rate, which allows me to do a bare metal restore (BMR) backup in one hour.
Today I added a new web page about
Copper and Glass: Mixed Media Vessels
I hope that other people will email me their photos of similar “cage pieces” which can be added to that web page.
My email is gaffer@glassblower.info — please email photo(s) and/or links.
Thanks,
Tony
I attended the first annual GlassFest 2010 in Corning NY this summer, and setup two web pages to document a few of the many events:
http://www.glassblower.info/corning-glass-fest-2010/glass-ribbon-cutting-ceremony.html
and
http://www.glassblower.info/corning-glass-fest-2010/michael-rogers/michael-rogers-cast-and-hot-glass.html
The second annual GlassFest 2011 has been scheduled for May 26-29, 2011, and I recommend if you have any interest, pencil it in on your calendars now…
At GlassFest 2010 there was a very wide range of activities, including the Oral History Project (which I was honored to be asked to participate in), and I also still vividly remember the lecture “How to Care for Glass” by Stephen Koob, Conservator at CMOG, which taught me important ideas about glass that I had never thought about before. A PDF brochure of the original 2010 event can still be downloaded from http://www.glassfest.org/pdf/GF2010_web.pdf
More information about GlassFest 2011 in Corning NY can be found below. This info is “hot off the presses” — it was just released this week.
Tony Patti
www.glassblower.info
gaffer@glassblower.info
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MEDIA RELEASE Contact: Mike Melaro, Director of Marketing & Communications Email: mike@gafferdistrict.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Corning’s Gaffer District and Chemung Canal Trust Company Announce 2nd Annual GlassFest Corning, NY – October 19, 2010 – Corning’s Gaffer District and Chemung Canal Trust Company are pleased to announce the second annual GlassFest, held in Corning May 26-29, 2011. The inaugural GlassFest continues to receive rave reviews from glass artists, enthusiasts and collectors – many of whom traveled from locations throughout the Northeast U.S. – to celebrate the first-ever celebration of glass and the Fire Arts in the Crystal City this May. With attendance from visitors and locals far exceeding expectations, officials at Corning’s Gaffer District immediately moved to ensure the 2011 event brought even more excitement to Corning’s historic downtown. GlassFest 2011 will offer the return of many popular features from the inaugural year, including live outdoor hot glass demonstrations, wine and craft beer tastings, live music, a juried Fire Arts show on Historic Market Street, and Light Up The Night – an evening of neon and illuminated sculpture in Riverfront Centennial Park. In addition to the returning features, several new components will be introduced, including the first GlassFest Flame-Off presented by World Glass, an interactive glassmaking competition that gives artists a venue to compete outdoors for artistic recognition. Officials at Corning’s Gaffer District anticipate strong attendance at the popular event. Executive Director Coleen Fabrizi notes, “The GlassFest experience blends the celebration of the remarkable history of glass in our city with the excitement and enthusiasm people search for in an experience that just keeps getting better year after year.” The festival continues to receive strong support from sponsors, including Presenting Title Sponsor, Chemung Canal Trust Company, in addition to a number of other partners, including Corning Enterprises, Guthrie Corning Hospital, Radisson Hotel Corning, WETM-TV, Pembrook Pines Media Group, Michael Orr & Associates and Multi Media Services Business Printers. A diverse roster of other community partners share in the planning and collaboration of the event, including the Corning Museum of Glass, Rockwell Museum of Western Art, the Steuben County Conference and Visitors Bureau, Finger Lakes Wine Country, 171 Cedar Arts Center, and The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes, all of which contribute to our synergetic approach of promoting the growth of Corning, the Gaffer District and the region. The event kicks off with the traditional glass ribbon cutting at the Corning Museum of Glass on Thursday, May 26th, 2011 at 5:00pm. The event will take place in conjunction with one of the museum’s annual 2300˚ events. For the most updated itinerary and artist participation information, please visit www.glassfest.org, follow us on Twitter using @gafferdistrict or become a fan on Facebook! Corning’s Gaffer District Corning’s Gaffer District is a historic downtown business district with restaurants, retail, local art and world-class museums. The culture and uniqueness of our historic downtown is reflected in local architecture and restoration along with the events and promotions held throughout our annual events calendar. For more information, please visit www.gafferdistrict.com. For More Information Please contact Mike Melaro, Director of Marketing & Communications at (607) 937-6292 x108 or email mike@gafferdistrict.com |