Glassblowing at RISD A beginning glassblowing class for glass majors at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Fall 2008 in the Glass Department of the Rhode Island School of Design; Sean Salstrom instructing

The Conservation of Glass A practical course sponsored by International Academic Projects: Professional Training in Conservation of Antiquities, Archaeology, Collection Management and Museum Studies (Institute of Archaeology, University College London).

16-20 October 2006 at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY; conservator Stephen Koob instructing

This week-long workshop is a practical course aimed to teach six students from around the world the principles of glass conservation, with special attention being given to the chemistry of glass, the deterioration and preservation of glass, and the requirements of both the field and museum environment.

Specific course components include:

• Materials, tools, chemicals; handling and safety
• Examination and documentation
• Using adhesives (acrylics and epoxies); loss compensation
• Storage and display (lighting, mounting, temperature, humidity)
• Symptoms and stages of deterioration; active/passive intervention

Early Iron-Working: Archaeology and Experiment A workshop organized by Peter and Susan Crew for Thilo Rehren and eight students of archaeological science from the Institute of Archaeology, UCL.

11-15 June 2004 at Plas Tan y Bwlch, Snowdonia National Park Study Centre, Maentwrog, Wales

EXPERIMENT #92: Smelting iron in a reconstructed furnace

Following on the heels of Experiments 90 and 91 (which used the same ores but different furnace atmospheres, thus resulting in drastically different products), our goal for Experiment 92 was to create tap slag while smelting local bog into a 4-5 kilo iron bloom.

Important considerations:

• Nature of the ore (what is the concentration of the iron, aluminium, silica, manganese and other oxides?)
• Design of the furnace (does the size and location of the blow-hole matter?)
• Scale of the process (how long do we blow? how much and what ratio of ore to charcoal do we use?)
• Intended product (are we interested in the final iron bloom? waste products or slag? both?)