How to Make a Cossor WR1 Replica

[peter scott]

Those of you who have seen glasslinger's works previously can probably skip this. I hadn't seen this one before.

http://www.r-type.org/exhib/aaj0053.htm

https://youtu.be/BXAjspPLzRQ

I think it's just amazing!

Peter

[ppppenguin]

Scientific glassblowing (of which making valves is a subset) is a dying art. It's good to know that it's being kept alive.

This is actually part of a larger class of problems, to do with the passing on of arcane knowledge. It's possible to document how you make something or perform some process but it's not the same as learning in person from a master. The technical term for this sort of thing is "tacit knowledge". It's hard to preserve; making videos like these helps to do this. For that matter forums like Golborne also preserve odd snippets of knowledge. In 30 years time who is going to know about how to fix a valve radio or TV? Even if parts are available or can be remanufactured there's a lot of skill that's much harder to pass on.

[boater sam]

Wonderful to see someone still hand assembling elements and glass working.  Its 55 years since I did any glasswork and CRT gun assembly.
It was very high on the skill rating, needing a steady hand and good eyesight.
Most of the gun work was done by women but all the glassworkers were male. Both were extremely fastidious. I remember one glass worker who made champagne glasses, a set of 12, and when finished they were all exactly the same height.
Glasslinger's work is commendable considering his equipment is not the best and he has obviously been doing it for a long while.

[Nick]

The reason that most hot glassworkers are male is that it's dangerous for women of reproductive age as the glass often contains lead.

I was told this at the Dartington Glass works once, after I queried why all the hot glass workers were male. Sensible health & safety issue as a female worker may not have known if she was pregnant and the fetus can suffer catastrophic damage if exposed to lead in the mother's blood...