Ohio Seeks More Recyled Glass

The Herald Dispatch features an article today about Owens Corning's need for more recycled glass. The article titled, Ohio Seeks More Recycled Glass, tells how Owens needs more recycled glass in their fiberglass insulation manufacturing process. They state, as we learned this summer, that using recycled glass brings down their production costs. They also state that it has become part of their business model and the recycled glass helps with their energy-certificates.
They plan to target bars and taverns to get their patrons to recycles their glass (beer) bottles. Currently, over 90% of those bottles go into the trash.

Fiesta Dinnerware on American Restoration

I was watching some DVR events today and came across an episode of American Restoration where they were refurbishing a uranium detector. They consulted with the National Atomic Testing Museum on the detector and even got a sample of uranium to prove to the owner that the detector was in good working order. The museum gave them a red Fiesta dinnerware cup and saucer to test the detector. As we discussed in our study, much of the ceramic dinnerware produced prior to the 1970's used uranium oxide in its red dinnerware. As a result, there was a detectable amount of radiation in the dinnerware.

Blowing Pittsburgh Glass Center Away

We finished up our week long trip exploring glass and ceramics at the Pittsburgh Glass Center. There we were able to watch skilled artisans make glass art and blow our own glass art creations. This was a great culmination to our trip as we go to create glass ornaments in any color combination we chose.

Mural on the outside of the Glass Center

There were many colors of frit that could be chosen for our ornaments

Kelly provides the blowing power for Bekka's ornament.

Glass artists adhere a new glob of molten glass to hone the bottom of the ornament

A speckled ornament that is being blown

A new piece of glass is pulled into a handle to hang the ornament

In addition to the glass blowing studio, there is also an art gallery with various models and glass creations. The above piece shows how detailed and lifelike pieces can be designed. The inspiration for the show were models of cells and other microscopic organisms that glass artists created before powerful microscopes were readily available to scientists.

Questions:
1. You see Kelly and Bekka blow an orb or glass ball ornament above. How do you believe the art piece above was created?
2. Why would glass models be useful to scientists?

Phipps Conservatory

Our second trip of the day saw us visit the Phipps Conservatory of Pittsburgh. Phipps houses botanical gardens spanned several continents and included a butterfly exhibit.

Beautiful orchids

Wonderland display of glass figures 

A butterfly in the conservatory

Thaw by the Pittsburgh Glass Center depicts a glass woolly mammoth skeleton

Desert flower

Celadon and Royal Purple Gilded Fiore Dale Chihuly

Question:
1. Chihuly and other artists glass sculptures are on display in the conservatory. What are some other non-traditional places that you can imagine glass art being displayed?

Carnegie: Hero or Villain

We visited the Carnegie Natural Science and Art Museums today. As we have studied, they were endowed by Andrew Carnegie, the steel magnet from the Guilded Age. Carnegie made his money building a trust that kept wages low and crushed his competition. He eventually sold his steel company to J. P. Morgan for $408 Million.  With the fortune he made from his business he built many libraries,  Carnegie Hall, founded the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, Carnegie Hero Fund, Carnegie Mellon University and Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

A plea to patrons to give to the museum to continue its mission.

A prehistoric exhibit in the natural history museum.

Modern Zombie art: can you tell which are zombies?

Carnegie Music Hall

Water Lilies by Claude Monet

A few pieces of glass art on display

Question:
After reviewing the links to the philanthropic organizations Carnegie endowed and reviewing how he made that money answer the following question: Was Andrew Carnegie a hero or a villain. Justify your answer.

Hello Pittsburgh!

Our final destination Thursday was Pittsburgh, Pa and Station Square. Station Square celebrates Pittsburgh's past and serves as a place to gather with friends or make new ones. I was blessed to be there with my Cabell County friends and we had a good time geocaching, talking and of course, eating.

A retired Bessemer Converter on Station Square

Two of my partners in crime, Dan and Steve!

A view of a bridge over the Monongahela River

Dan and Steve search for a geocache

Lungs of a blast furnace

A car on the Monongahela Incline

Upon return to our hotel we were treated with a sighting of the world famous Oscar Mayer Weinermobile!

Goodbye Oglebay, Hello Mosser Glass

Thursday saw us leave Oglebay and head for our new home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On the way we stopped at Mosser Glass in Cambridge, Ohio and saw a different kind of glass factory.

The morning at Oglebay provided a lot of fog which lent itself well to me capturing sun flare!

A gather boy collects a large ball of molten glass on the end of the pipe.

The molten glass is then cut precisely as to fill the glass mold.

A large lever is then compressed by hand to push the glass into the mold and form the glass pitcher.

The worker must exact the proper amount of pressure to ensure the glass fully fills the mold.

A carry boy then takes the glass for final preparation.

After three hours in the annealing oven the glassware is ready to be sold.

While they only had two lines running on our visit, they have many molds they have made or acquired from other companies over their more than 30 year history.

Questions:
1. Compare and contrast the three different ways we have observed glass collected and processed in glass making (Blenko, Wismach and Mosser).
2. Are there any advantages or disadvantages you see for any of the three processes?