Tuesday 11 September 2012

How Did Glass Pipes Come Up

By Thelma Kent


There are many people who are currently making use of glass pipes for many activities including the smoking of marijuana as well as tobacco. The history of these pipes has been dated long time ago and the usage is spreading widely. They are usually hand blown to ensure that they are unique in terms of size, design color, and shape.

The origin of these pipes can be dated around 1500 BC in Egypt and Mesopotamia. At that time, the most commonly used objects were the vessels. The process of making them was actually very easy because the artists made a mixture of sand, lime, and ash. They went ahead and poured it over a core. After cooling, the core was extracted leaving the resulting vessel.

After some period of time, the Romans discovered a better production method than the already existing one. The artists discovered that they could blow each piece to expand and then shape it into different shapes. They made use of clay blowpipes though modern artists make use of metallic ones but the production process has never changed.

The blowing process was withheld in Roman communities for a very long period of time. In the late 1960s, the American artists were taught the production process and thus resulting into so many objects that were unique. These included pipes that were hand blown individually to ensure that each of the pieces is unique in terms of color, style, and shape.

The modern artists have however changed the production method and made it easier. They make use of long tube which has different dimensions depending on the desired size and shape of the end product. They make use of torches to heat up the glass and expand it. Later, they roll, bend, and pull it into different sizes, shapes, and designs.

Adding color to the glass pipes is not a complex process. Through melting of colored sticks, the glass object to be used is made to have the desired color. After, the colored end product is hand blown and it results into different shapes and sizes. The color is however not guaranteed to stay for a long time and it many change depending on the usage.




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