How a shade is made
Fifteen steps, in the order the hot shop works them.
Charge
Batch and our own clear offcuts go into the pot at night.
Melt
Melted near 2,400 °F (1,320 °C), then held at working heat near 2,100 °F.
Gather
The preheated pipe is dipped and turned, and the glass winds on like honey.
Marver
Rolled on the flat steel marver, which shapes it and draws a cooler skin.
First breath
A bubble goes in. The glow turns inside out: darker in the middle, brighter at the rim.
Optic
Blown into an eighteen-flute mould, lifted out ribbed, then given a quarter twist.
Reheat
Back into the glory hole, which runs between 2,000 and 2,400 °F.
Transfer
Moved onto the punty, a solid steel rod about five feet long.
Open
Opened with the jacks while it turns, a little at a time, with reheats between.
Cool
On the bench the thin parts cool first. The ribs hold their glow; the crown holds it longest.
Anneal
Knocked off into the annealer near 900 °F (480 °C) and cooled slowly overnight.
Inspect
Checked cold against a black flag, rib by rib.
Grind and drill
The crown is ground and drilled, which takes away the punty's scar.
Fit and hang
Fitted with its cord and lamp holder.
Lit
Hung and lit over the bench. The ribs catch the lamp in lines down the glass, and the light falls in a soft cone to the bench.