A
Annealing Oven (annealer, tempering oven)
A heated device or furnace area where glass is slowly cooled to relieve internal stress so it will not shatter.
B
Batch
The mixture of raw materials that are melted to make glass.
Bench
A special chair, usually having two metal arms, where the glassblower sits while working hot glass.
Block
A tool, usually made from a chunk of fruit wood, hollowed out to form a hemispherical recess used to give a gather of glass its basic shape, usually a sphere, before it is inflated. Depending upon its size, the block may be on the end of a handle or in a stationary location, and is kept wet to reduce charring and to create a cushion of steam between the wood and the hot glass.
Blowpipe
The long metal tube the glassblower uses to inflate a bubble of glass.
C
Cullet
Broken pieces of glass added to batch to facilitate the melting process
D
E
F
Furnace
An oven where raw materials are heated to extremely high temperatures to melt glass
G
Gaffer
The head glassblower, sometimes called the “master workman of the chair” in the 19th century
Gather
A molten gob of glass, or the act of getting a gob of molten glass from the pot
Glory Hole
A furnace used to reheat glass during the glass forming process
H
I
J
Jacks
A glassworking tool, somewhat like large tweezers, with 2 long metal arms used for shaping hot or molten glass
K
L
M
Marver
A metal table where the glassblower rolls a gather of glass to make it smooth, or the act of rolling the glass on the table
N
O
P
Punty (pontil rod)
A solid metal rod with a little hot glass on the tip used to hold the glass object while it is being shaped