Gather

The first gather

Everything starts at the furnace mouth. A blowpipe goes in, rolls, and comes out with a ball of glass the color of the sun — 2100°F, moving like honey.

The numbers

furnace     2100°F (glass molten)
pipe        steel, five feet, dipped twice
gather      golf-ball to grapefruit
speed       seconds — glass waits for no one

Why it matters

Every gather is a little different. The temperature, the humidity, the rhythm of the day — it all lives in the glass.