Preface
The appearance and use of glass, in human life, has a history of more than 4,000 years, from 2,000 BC in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egyptian monuments, there have been small glass beads unearthed. In China, glass has been made to a greater or lesser extent since the Warring States period. Generally speaking, Chinese glass technology has been heavily influenced by the West, but the composition of lead glass, which contains barium, is different from that of the West's sodium glass, which does not contain lead or barium. In Taiwan, the development of glass has a history of nearly a hundred years, the Japanese during the Japanese colonial era, Japan set up in Hsinchu, Taiwan, high-level glass factory, set up because of Taiwan's production of silica sand and an abundance of natural gas, prompting the establishment of glass factories in the future, also one after another.
Glass in Taiwan
In Taiwan, the development of glass has a history of about 100 years. In the early days, it was mainly used for manufacturing industrial instruments and civil necessities. Natural gas (as a fuel) is one of the key reasons why the glass industry is concentrated in the Hsinchu area. The glass industry in the Hsinchu area first branched out from industrial glass (instruments or daily necessities). Hollow and solid glass were developed around the 1960s, while drawn glass began in the 1970s.
Glass crafts were initially sold domestically, but with Taiwan's export-oriented development strategy, glass crafts also shifted to export-oriented. During the 1970s and 1980s, there were two waves of prosperity. However, there have also been periods of recession (such as the early 1980s). Labor shortage has been a major concern for the glass industry in recent years.
Taiwan's glass development
1887
Guangxu 13 years
Mr. Chen Liangcheng established a glassware factory in Taipei, with a crucible kiln and hand-blown glassware as the main focus, the prelude to Taiwan's glass industry.
1895
Meiji 38
Taipei businessman, Mr. Chen Wanyuan, hired Japanese glass technicians to manufacture glassware in Taiwan, but the factory was closed down after only a few years due to poor performance.
1915
The 4th year of Taisho
Japanese businessman Mr. Takashi group came to Taiwan for the first time to set up a factory, mainly to make glass vials, but the factory was closed down after only a few years due to poor performance.
1916
The 5th year of Taisho
Japanese Nakazawa came to Taiwan to set up a factory in Taipei with the glass merchant "YongtaiLong", but due to the Japanese policy and the impact of the war, the factory was unable to produce significant results.
1922
The 11th year of Taisho
The famous Japanese company "Tomei Bottle Manufacturing Company" came to Taiwan and set up a bottle factory with the Monopoly Bureau (renamed as the Public Market Bureau after the war), specializing in the manufacture of coffee-colored bottles for the Monopoly Bureau.
1925
The 14th year of Taisho
Mr. Liao Qiming set up the "Synthetic Glass Factory" in Hsinchu, China, to manufacture glass daily necessities, including glass floats for fishing, kerosene lamps, fly lamps, military signal lamps, and test tubes for medical treatment, etc.
1929
Mr. Liao Qiming set up the "Synthetic Glass Factory" in Hsinchu, China.
1928
Showa 3 years
"Dongming Bottle Manufacturing Association" set up additional plant to manufacture other kinds of glass containers and introduced OWENS automatic bottle-making machine, which was the beginning of Taiwan's automatic bottle-making industry, and laid a good foundation for Taiwan's glass industry in this period.
1930
Showa 5 years
This period, the public is widely optimistic about the future of the glass industry in Taiwan, since then the Taiwanese or Japanese have invested in dozens of glass factories, the production range of medical instruments, meters, chemical laboratory equipment, etc., all of which are transparent glass. In Hsinchu City Street, the earliest emergence of the "Shibayama Nitrous Manufacturing", the production of thermometers and hydrometers glass company (factory site in the present-day Hsinchu Library across from the old site), the company later merged with the famous Japanese "Momoki Nitrous Manufacturing"; Hsinchu Momoki Nitrous Manufacturing, is the Japanese head office of the branch in Taiwan, Taiwan, the presiding officer of the Momoki's grandfather, who studied in the United States during the Meiji period of all kinds of glass production technology. In Taiwan, the factory has dozens of employees, most of them are Taiwanese, and the employees learn a lot of techniques from the Hyakumoto's. (Note: Nitro's factory is a branch of the Japanese headquarter in Taiwan. (Note: Nitro is Japanese, GLASS, is glass)
1939
Showa 14 years
When the Sino-Japanese war was intensifying, the Japanese General Administration set up the "Taiwan Advanced Nitro Corporation", with a staff of about two hundred people, and [Momoki Nitro Manufacturing (mentioned above)] was merged with it, and at that time, it was used to produce chemical instruments for medicine and chemical experiments, military instruments and vials for injections. At that time, the company produced chemical laboratory instruments for medicine, military instruments, and vials for injections, which were supplied to pharmaceutical companies on the whole island of Taiwan and to pharmaceutical companies in Japan. In the late stage of the company, the company set up the "Skill Training Institute" to train new employees, and the person in charge of the Institute was Mr. Chen Chien-hsiang, and the organization had a great influence on the development of the glass industry in Hsin-chu, and almost all of the pioneers of Hsin-chu's glass industry today were born at that time at the "Senior Nitronics Corporation". (Note: At that time, Western medicine (injection therapy) was prevalent in the Japanese medical profession, and some of the injections produced by the Japanese pharmaceutical industry were used for medical treatment of the Japanese army on the battlefields in mainland China.
1945
Republic of China 34 years
The end of the Second World War, the restoration of Taiwan, the national government to receive the Japanese 10 glass business units, reorganized and organized into seven glass manufacturing plants, the use of the original equipment and professionals, to expand the export of the first production of the Commissary Bureau of the special bottles of wine, hot-water bottles and other utensils, and then the production of medical equipment and chemical, industrial instruments and other products. Then we produced medical instruments and chemical and industrial instruments.
1949
Republic of China (R.O.C.) Year 38
Due to the expansion of market demand, the number of private glass factories increased to 29.
1953
R.O.C. 42
"Hsinchu Glass Co. was established", the president of the company, Mr. Chen Shang-Wen, started to produce flat glass for building materials.
1960
ROC 49
The Hsinchu Glass Company founded the "China Glass Industry Research Institute" and set up a glass craft kiln, which was the beginning of Taiwan's glass craftsmanship. At the beginning of the company, it produced handmade vases with sandblasted patterns, which were based on ancient paintings, and then it developed into glass sculptures of animals and towns of a slightly more artistic taste.
1962
Republic of China 51 years
"United Glass Company" was founded, Chairman Miao Yuxiu, set up in Jhongli City, the production of high-quality 24% P60 crystal glass, is the first crystal glass factory in Taiwan, but because the raw materials come from foreign countries, the cost is expensive, competition in the international market is difficult, closed a few years later.
1964
ROC 53
Taiwan Glass Company was founded to produce polished glass.
1970
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Central Fiberglass Corporation was established to produce glass insulation wool for refrigerator insulation.
1971
ROC 60
The Wusong Glass Company was established to produce glass animals and wenzhen for export. "Philips" came to Taiwan to invest in TV tubes, which started the development of Taiwan's electronic glass industry.
1973
Republic of China 62
The world oil crisis and the 10-fold increase in fuel prices forced Taiwan's glass industry to move towards high-quality and design-oriented products.
1974
ROC 63
The Hsinchu Glass Company established an automotive glass factory.
1987
76
The Glazing Studio was established in Taipei County, and was the first studio to utilize the PATE-DE-VERRE (wax casting) technology.
1988
Republic of 77
Due to the market downturn and the high cost of labor in Taiwan, the glass industry has been declining year by year.
1990
ROC 79
The glass industry Mr. Tsai Song-ping for the first time in the Hsinchu Cultural Center speech, advocating the transformation of the Hsinchu region towards the glass workshop of the new trend of thinking, caused a warm response, and with the Cultural Center co-organized the [fire Phoenix] glass exhibition in Kaohsiung.
1993
ROC 82
Liuyuan was founded. Hsinchu Municipal Cultural Center held the National [First Golden Glass Award] Glass Art Competition.
1994
ROC 83
The "Chugai Glass Association" was established, the first chairman was Mr. Tsai Song-ping, the board of directors were Pan Kuo-xian, Chen Yu-shu, Huang An-fu, Wang Shui-jih, Jian Rui-min, Chen Quan-shui, Chen San-lang, Huang Bao-xue, supervisors were Zheng A-lagen, Wu Chun-chi, Chiu Rui-yao, and renewed the [2nd Golden Glass Award].
1995
Republic of China 84 years
The Hsinchu Municipal Cultural Center held the [First Bamboo Valley International Glass Art Festival]. Theme: To make the local traditional glass industry, combined with history, art, science and technology and international vision of the full range of culture.
1997
Republic of China 86
The Hsinchu City Cultural Center held the Second Jhuche International Glass Art Festival. Theme: The Beauty of Glass, The Use of Glass.
1999
ROC 88
The Third Jhuche International Glass Art Festival was held at the Hsinchu Municipal Cultural Center. Themes: New Vision of Glass, Permanent Exhibition of Glass, Special Exhibition of Glass Education in Taiwan, Glass Experience and Introduction to Glass Techniques.
Float: Fishermen choose the right size float to attach to their nets according to the size of their nets and the depth of the water to make their nets float on the surface of the water.
Pharmaceutical and chemical instruments
Perfume containers
Modern handmade works
Equipment
Glass production can generally be divided into large-scale production and individual production. In large-scale factories, the equipment required includes kilns, crucibles, molds, sanding machines, and ovens. Depending on the finished product, there are also different kinds of equipment. At present, kilns are generally categorized into gas kilns, heavy oil kilns and electric kilns. The electric kiln is better than other kilns because of its low cost and cleaner and non-polluting. The tools needed for individual production are spitfire nozzle, oxcart and molding tools, etc. We will introduce them as follows: Tools and equipment needed for large-scale production
Oven: The products that are melted and fired at high temperature must be annealed in the oven.
Crucible: a device to contain the raw materials of glass.
Furnace: The main purpose of the furnace is to melt the glass, and the crucible needs to be kept at a high temperature for 24 hours
Individual tools and equipment required for production
Pincers required for glass molding.
The oxcart: the main role in the insulation and preheating, on the one hand, to save the glass heating time, on the other hand, to avoid the glass rupture in the instant heating.
Flame-throwing nozzle: the main purpose in the glass softening, in order to form lines.
The glass-making process
If you want to taste the traditional glass-making process outside the colorful glass exhibition, then go to the glass factory, where a group of glass masters who love the old-fashioned glass still hold on to their traditional posts. When you visit the old glass factory, the heat, the kiln, the glass blowing masters, and the finished glass products all over the floor are like another world, where the old images that would never appear in modern life are shown in their original form. The glass-making process can be divided into two types: hot-end work and cold-end work.
Hot End
Fusing Glass Tubes
The first step in the glass making process is to put the long glass rods into the kiln at 1300 degrees Celsius, then take out the rods, and you will see that the front end of the rods are burned red, hot, and soft, and have lost its original color, but this is the best time for it to be blown or molded into shape. The time to blow or mold.
Blowing or molding
These two techniques are used to shape the glass. Molding is the simpler process, where you insert the tip of the hot glass rod into the mold, close the teeth, and you're done! Blowing glass takes a little more effort! In order to prevent the front end of the glass from falling off, the glassblower must keep turning the glass rod in his hand while blowing, which is a new and interesting sight for those who are new to the world of glass. It takes about a year to train a skilled glassblower to get on the right track, and it takes a lot of suffering from the summer heat and the frustration of failed blowing, but it's also the preciousness and value of the glass that makes it so special.
The first cooling
Because the glass semi-finished products, inside and outside the density of the difference, it is easy to make the semi-finished products suffered twisted deformation of the accident, so there is a need to slowly cool down the stage, this step needs to be made before the glass semi-finished products on the first cooling conveyor belt, and also experienced a period of blood boiling high temperature, 500 degrees Celsius in the slow melting! Every step of the process is taken care of. From the outside of the conveyor belt, the view from the inside is like asphalt on a hot summer's day, and even the air feels like it's on fire. After this step, there is another cooling process. After a **** of high temperatures, a completed glass life is born!
Cold-end work
The creation of glass by sandblasting, engraving, cutting, polishing, painting, and inlaying without using hot techniques is called cold-end work. The sandblasting technique restrains the sharpness of the glass and gives it a deep and hazy feeling; the composition of the grinding and carving method enriches the appearance of the glass; and the cutting method gives the glass a dazzling appearance under the refraction of different angles. For those who are afraid of the heat but love to work with glass, consider this "cool" way of making glass.
Individual production and common techniques
As far as the individual production of glass art is concerned, in the Hsinchu area, glass rods are used as the main material, and the production procedure is to heat form and then cool down the glass rods, and the rods used vary according to the finished product, including the so-called hollow rods, solid rods, and wired rods. As for the common techniques, there are six types.
Thermal molding technique
Glass molding technique, using the flame nozzle as a tool, holding a glass rod in each hand, rotating the glass rod in the flame constantly, so that it is melted to the required amount, using the point, pulling, melting, cutting, pressing and other gestures will be molded.
Drawing Technique
The drawing and weaving of glass into fine glass strands is called drawing glass, and the drawing work is like the curling of a sweater.
Hollow technique
The hollow tube of glass is heated and blown to shape the hollow glass, such as the production of Christmas light bulbs.
Blowing Technique
Blowing is the basic step of taking glass paste from a blowpipe and blowing it from the other end to expand the glass (blowing small bubbles) so that it is hollowed out and shaped.
Dewaxing Technique
Turn over the silicone mold and fix it with gypsum, fill it with wax liquid, cool it and take the wax mold prototype for refining, embed the wax mold with refractory gypsum, warm it up and remove the wax, take the gypsum mold, fill the glass block in the mold and warm it up and melt it, then condense it and take it out of the mold for refinishing.
Grinding and engraving
Commonly used in the body or bottom of glass cups, the geometric shapes are engraved on the glass with a diamond wheel cutter or a copper wheel, in order to meet the performance and demand for special glass components and increase the added value of the product.
Solid Glass Thermoplastic Technique
Hollow Glass Hollow Technique
Wire Drawing Technique
Hot End Blowing Technique
Cold End Grinding Technique
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