Scientific Glass Blower Makes Beer Glasses | WIRED

Tim Drier works with scientific glass all day, but what if he took some of those techniques he's perfected for scientific glass and applies them to standard barware? Watch as Tim takes us step-by-step through his process of making beautiful drinking glasses.

Tim's Instagram:

Tim Drier is a scientific glass blower for Dow Chemical.



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Scientific Glass Blower Makes Beer Glasses | WIRED

[jackanderson]

“I try not to catch myself on fire” more true words have never been spoken

[jamesmatthew]

"I blow glass"
"So you make bongs?"
"For alcoholics, yes."

[nathanxx]

“You got a smoke detector in here?”
“No I have a fire extinguisher”

[lennonwhitehead]

I like how at the end. The YouTube recommendation vids cover up the thing I’ve been waiting to see for 18 minutes.

[martinas]

Firefighter here, I approve of not trying to catch yourself on fire

[Artinthedark]

'why doesn't anyone drink out of these?'
*Me as a retired dishwasher chuckling*

[swimman]

This is so cool. My undergrad had a scientific glass blowing class that I wanted to take but it was only for students going on to pursue a PhD. This makes me jealous again.

[CreamCobblerFiend]

"I wanted to give drunk people the most fragile drinking vessels I could produce"

[mynameisnotita]

This is so wild, Tim is a family friend of mine and he taught me how to blow glass. This is pretty cool. He’s a pretty fun guy and very good at what he does!

[dp]

You can tell he's a scientist by how passionate he is when he explains his techniques. Someone who does this for a living wouldn't share their secrets. But a scientist would want to share his knowledge because he knows other people can build upon it and advance the craft.

[dexobj]

7:28 "...I try not to catch myself on fire..."
You learn something new everyday.

[kmanglass]

As a professional lampworker its cool to see the scientific side of things. Clear glass is such a challenge, you cant hide any of your imperfections like I can with color tubing. Very impressive and definitely learned a few things.

[fishsoda]

His spinning is so perfect. Look how smooth the arrows turn

[SamIves]

It's always a pleasure to see somebody demonstrate a profession that they're passionate about and it looks like this could very well be the most satisfying job/hobby out there!

The sheer amount of things that could go wrong during the whole process and the delicate balance of all of the elements of producing such wonders is truly mesmerizing and an absolute delight to watch!

[cylesarmiento]

Glass blowing is such a beautiful artform

[skydivekrazy]

I love his dry humor. "So, I try not to catch myself on fire."

[andrewlazenby]

I know Tim and he is genuinely one of the most talented and simply the nicest guy you could ever meet. His Barware series is second to none.

[andrewr.]

"Distinctive lines between the glass you've seen in a bar and the glass you've seen in a research lab"
-looks at all the research glassware in my kitchen "whelp"

[jimischwalbe]

I would absolutely spend way way way too much on a single beer glass like this even if I could never get it clean again

[AvirupRoy_rivu]

I've had a lot of fun working on a few projects with his brother Tracy who is also a talented scientific glassblower at UW Madison. I suppose the love for the craft runs in the family! Love seeing the passion they bring to the craft!