The Joy of Coldworking (book)
June 27, 2009 by cynthia
The Joy of Coldworking
A guide to grinding, smoothing and polishing blown and fused glass
Johnathan Schmuck
$49.95
Available through warmglass.com or the Bullseye Resource Center (although as of 6/27/09 it wasn’t listed in their online store)
No, the book’s title is not an oxymoron, at least not for author Johnathan Schmuck. The dude actually likes to grind and polish glass, and since his writing gives no sign of mental deficiencies I must conclude he knows what he’s talking about.
“Joy” is not the first word I associate with coldworking. “Hell” would come closer. Cold, wet, slimy, gritty, carpal tunnel’d hell.
That’s partly because I tend to build highly detailed sculpture that is a bear to coldwork (unless you want to lose all that fancy detail to a grinder, of course). I envy contemporary, abstract glass artists who create smooth, sinuous and FLAT expanses of glass that can be planed and polished in one fell swoop.
I just ain’t one of ‘em, and so the object of my game is to avoid coldworking at all costs. I spend countless hours refining wax and clay, I’ve developed investment face coats that pretty much lift away from the glass and leave it smooth, I’m willing to make two of everything and send it out to acid-polishing (the breakage rate is incredible, so it’s good to have a spare)…anything to get out of actually having to break out the coldworking stuff.
Note: The intelligent reader may be asking, “Hey, Cynthia, how much time and energy (and money) would you have saved if you’d simply gotten on with coldworking instead of spending “countless hours” trying to avoid it? Answer: If I wanted to be logical and sensible, would I be making glass?
Still, Mr. Schmuck’s book looked interesting and his title was so idiotic–joy?!?!?!–that I couldn’t resist reading it. Much as I hate to admit it, he does make coldworking sound like fun.
Moreover, he’s produced a neat little survey of the pantheon of coldworking implements, from massively engined pneumatic wonders to simple things like grit and a piece of glass. The book is nicely organized and the kind of survey I wish I’d had when I was setting up my coldworking shop.
It’s well-illustrated with photographs from some of the best coldworkers in the business (Jiri Harcuba, April Surgeant, Steve Immerman, Stephen Procter, Greg Dietrich), showing shop setups, grip positions (an important consideration when trying to hang onto cold, wet glass as it meets a whirring wheel) and the often gorgeous results. (This book introduced me to a new (for me) artist team, Jean Salatino and Steven Gandolfo, whose carved work is really lovely. Hanker, hanker.)
Mr. Schmuck’s writing is clear, conversational and to the point. He carefully explains the “joy” in each piece of equipment, detailing its pros and cons, safety considerations and generic instructions for use. Probably just as important, he shows the work setup, including methods for cushioning the glass to reduce breakage and shielding an area from spraying swarf (the gunk that comes off a grinder).
Grinding glass is easy; it’s the polishing that drives you nuts. I suspect that the difficulty of obtaining a scratch-free polish leads to much of the “artistic” matte finishes on contemporary glass. I was kinda hoping that this book would provide magical new insights into making polishing fast and easy.
It doesn’t. Nor does it help much with actually using the machines, beyond the basics. There’s not much step-by-step recipe stuff here for actually working the glass, and that may be by design. Coldworking is a mostly physical endeavor that’s hard to learn from books; you either get it by trial and error, or (hopefully) with a good coldworking teacher.
I’ve been coldworking stone and glass for maybe 20 years, and I still learn something new every time I watch a great coldworker take a piece to final polish. (Last week, for example, Marty Kremer introduced me to making a duct tape handle on glass that’s being flat lapped. MUCH easier than the method I was using.)
The Joy of Coldworking isn’t a substitute for time in the coldshop or a good class. But it’s nonetheless a valuable addition to a glassworker’s library and one I’m glad I bought.
Thanks for reviewing Johnathon’s book Cynthia. I finished reading it weeks ago and felt like I was having a conversation with Johnathon. I had the good fortune to take his rollup class (with Avery Anderson) a few years ago and met him again at Arrowmont a couple years back. He is truly passionate about glass and his coldworking skills are broad and deep. The book should be read cover-to-cover and added to every fused and blown glass artist’s bookshelf.
Tony
I hear that my old flat lap that I sold to Monica Boettcher is in the book,in a section on how to do it on the cheap.
I grind a lot and consider it meditation. ‘Course my hands that fall asleep would disagree.
I have Johnathon’s book too and have found it a good read! I find that I’m starting to enjoy the whole coldworking process. Hmmmm, guess that is a good thing.
Your review of his book is on target!
Hi, I’ve just bought the book as there was very little instruction on cold working at college.
I liked it because it tells me how to adapt simple handworking tools as well as describing the heavy duty studio tools.
I particularly liked his ‘recommendations’ for someone just about to invest in equipment it was very helpful.
Having just made a glass shop (think dolls house but in glass) I can testify to the realaxing properties of colw-working. After 50 pieces of cast fruit and veg, I learned to zone out and the time flew by. its the first time I’d worked to a full polish and although the workshop looked like a soggy disaster zone, covered in pink polishing powder I really enjoyed it.