I Built The Most Powerful Blow-Lamp I Could

I try to take my reconstruction of the "Blow-Lamp" as far as I can, doing my best to reproduce the capabilities of the tool as it was described in T.P. Danger's 1830's glassworking manual; 'The Art of Glassblowing'

References(in order of appearance)
The 'Mutus Liber'(containing depiction of alchemists using blow lamps):

T.P. Danger's 'Art of Glass Blowing':

Faraday's 'Chemical Manipulation':

Middleton and Knowles' The History of the Thermometer and its Use in Meteorology':

Hero's pneumatica(woodcroft's 1851 english translation):

Corning Museum of Glass Lampworking Videos:

[zamplify]

"I've hesitated to do this because it is insane."

[jakeeasterday]

Having also invested myself in designing and using blowpipes, lamps and their apparatuses for fine metalwork, I have a few ideas as to why the large wick underperformed consistently. Firstly, the wick on your lamp needs to be trimmed very evenly or be shaped to a slightly domed form. This helps prevent turbulence from the airstreams impacting stray fibers. Secondly, the nozzles need to be cones with a much gentler taper, so that the resulting jets run fairly close to parallel to one another. This is why two nozzles outperformed three. Finally, I would locate the "sweet spot" for your lamp, which tends to place the orifice of each pipe less than a mm above the top of the wick and practically immersed in the fire, preserving a more laminar cone of flame. This proximity is where the many accounts of assay blowpipes being clogged with soot come from. The conducted heat will probably be hot enough to melt your solder joints, but a harder solder will remedy that!
Forgive the essay, I enjoy your channel and journey and would love to see it continue!

[trainiumm]

the Steve Mould joke at 9:00 was hilarious

[felixer]

Laboratory glassware and an upcoming alchemy video?! I can't wait!

I worked as a glassblowing assistant for a year, but I couldn't personally afford the costs for acetylene/gases, so I wasn't able to approach it in my own time. I'm very grateful for your endeavors.

As you progress with glass working, there are three tools I think you might find helpful:
1. A marver table/surface for having a stable, level base to keep the hot glass from sagging
2. An air supply for cooling off specific portions of your glasswork.
3. A mandrel to size the openings of your labware to allow fitted articulations between labware.

Once again, I'm very thankful for your resurrection of this technology! I can't pay what this is worth right now, but this would be an immensely valuable tool for my future projects

[amogusenjoyer]

Its so cool to see you solder with your earlier blow lamp, such a good way to show how useful it wouldve been back then. Also, top notch humour as always 😊

[marthinwurer]

This is insane. It's so cool bridging the technological gap between the medieval and modern eras with this renaissance technology!

[cheeseguru]

I get a certain feeling watching your videos that I only get watching Primitive Technology, there’s just something amazing about watching you work and explain what you’re doing. The end result always looks incredible too, the wick cap alone is beautiful

[daniellapain]

Between Uri Tuchman and your videos on YouTube. It’s becoming increasingly easier to see just how people did things differently way back when. It’s also inspiring to know that one is not stuck with what a hardware store offers when you can just make the tools at home.

[andreandrade]

Fraser it is so refreshing to see content with this level of quality on youtube, the amount of entertainment and educational value your videos contain is amazing. I hope you know you are amazing, and we’ll be pleased to see more!

[benhoward]

Fun to see that one of the first proper glassblowing projects you make with the new lamp is a moonshine still!

[ashurean]

This is one of the first times I've heard Hero's other discoveries mentioned. Every other Youtube channel brings up his vending machine, but no one talks about how much else he did

[nikthetrickster]

Mate you have no idea how much I enjoy your videos, you're probably the only YouTuber whose content makes me go "I definitely have to watch this one".

[bearnaff]

Every day we come closer to that weird achievement - an extended video essay that illustrates how one could move from an early Victorian scientific workshop and eventually build a very simple digital computer. I am serious. There are videos on making your own vacuum tubes of differing capabilities, and other videos on how to build a simple computer out of tubes. Videos like this, showing what making the needed tools looks like, are just another piece of the puzzle.

[arjovenzia]

I love the aesthetic of your builds, and the passion for the history behind the projects makes for a very enjoyable experience. multiple 'Aaaah, that makes sense' moments.
Keep up the good work mate, but at your own pace.

[Kclassicrockfan]

As a french person, I can attest, your pronounciation of Danger is excellent and took me by surprise as usually english people have a difficult time concerning the french accent. Bravo!

[Zane-It]

With these tools you can produce your own chemistry set. Amazing

[ototao]

Fraser continues to forge his legacy into the annals of YT builders, with another banger 😎

[enoh]

I had a hand held alcohol torch that work very well. The pressure was actually created by warming a sealed alcohol reservoir that was part of the handle. Neat technology.

[sandwichmanu]

This is the kind of stuff I expected from How to Make Everything. I'm definitely enjoying your content!

[fransoldman]

I appreciate you sharing your process and knowledge so much. Your skills as a craftsman are fantastic! That setup is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again for sharing.