Chapter 90: How Glass is Made
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“Your Highness, this is the tube used for blowing glass.”
While the materials were being heated, Chen Qi handed Xiao Ming a ceramic tube.
Once the glass liquid was formed, if one wanted to shape the glass, blowing would be required.
In fact, this was the most critical part of glass production. Because the temperature of the glass liquid was so high, and Xiao Ming didn’t have heat-resistant alloy tubes, he had to use a clay-fired ceramic tube. After all, he couldn’t even produce a seamless steel tube at this stage.
On either side of the regenerator, craftsmen took turns operating the bellows, blowing the heat from the coal in the regenerator into the furnace. After waiting for an hour, Xiao Ming instructed the craftsmen to open the furnace lid.
Instantly, a wave of heat surged out of the furnace, causing the craftsman to jump back in alarm. Once he regained his composure, he slowly approached the furnace and saw the red, molten liquid inside.
He said, “Your Highness, the materials inside have melted.”
Xiao Ming stepped forward and saw a lava-like liquid—this was the glass liquid.
“Hand me the blowpipe,” Xiao Ming said to Chen Qi.
While Xiao Ming could teach the theory, practical skills had to be honed through practice. No one could become a master glassblower overnight.
The blowpipe in Chen Qi’s hand was about 1.5 meters long, the standard length for industrial blowpipes.