Copper wheel engraving is a traditional technique which requires a belt-driven lathe carrying a range of inter-changeable spindles, each mounted with a wheel made from copper. Each wheel varies in width, diameter and profile so as to make different types of cut in the glass. A slurry of carborundum grit, oil and paraffin is applied to the turning copper wheel and the glass is held against the wheel to make the cut. Coarse grit is used for rapid and large scale cutting, fine grit for more polished, delicate work. Most engravers now also use stone and diamond impregnated wheels. In the past, the lathe was driven by a foot pedal, now usually by an electric motor. The copper wheel creates a very precise cut and was the tool originally used for traditional cut crystal designs.

Sandblasting - also called sand engraving or sand carving. This is an industrial technique in which fine grit is projected onto the glass at high pressure. It is associated with mass produced designs, but in the hands of an artist, using hand-cut stencils and hand-controlled deep cutting and shading techniques, it can produce highly individual and original results.

Hot glass techniques. Engraving can be combined with glass blowing skills to create quite different effects. An example is graal, a technique invented in Sweden. The starting point is a blown glass bubble consisting of one or more layers of coloured glass overlaid on clear glass, known as an embryo. The embryo is engraved, cutting through the layers to reveal the different colours. It is then reheated on a blowing iron and re-blown to the final shape of the object. The invention of this difficult technique was considered the 'holy grail' of glassblowing - hence the name ('graal' is Swedish for grail).

Back