WEB ARTICLE by DREW FRITTS  

"My Graphite V-Block" In 2008 I had a medium-sized graphite V-Block made to my specifications by Weaver Industries (http://www.weaverind.com/), and I love it!  The quality of both the graphite and the workmanship is excellent, and their turnaround time was fantastic.  If you have design ideas for graphite tools that you'd like to have made, I highly recommend talking to them.  For specific contact information, see the end of the article. This article discusses several uses for the V-Block and then shows it in action. My block is 3" tall by 3" wide by 4" long.  The "V" channel that runs the length of the block is a 60° angle that is 2" wide at the top opening and about 1.75" deep.  It is held in a bracket that I welded out of two pieces of angle-iron and is mounted on a swing arm so that I can move it out of the way when it's not in use.  However, it could just as easily be placed in a stationary bench mount.   The V-Block can be used for multiple shaping processes that I'll describe (and hopefully fill in with pictures soon).  A gather of glass that is rotated horizontally in the V will automatically form a cylinder. A gather of glass that is rotated with the punty sticking out the end of the block at a down angle will automatically form a cone with the small end of the cone nearest the punty. A gather of glass that is rotated with the punty sticking up at an angle will form a cone with the wide end nearest the punty. A bi-cone shape can be formed by doing both steps 2 and 3 to the same gather. A football or egg shape can be formed by varying the angle at which the punty is held while rotating the glass in the "V," as shown in the first image below. The process of making a V-Core Back-Twist marble is illustrated below. A core is made by gathering clear glass and rolling it in yellow, orange and red glass powders.  The core is then encased in a thin layer of clear glass and rounded to a football shape in the V-block.   The core is laid in the V-block and a graphite paddle is readied.   The graphite paddle is used to press the hot core down into the V-block.   The graphite paddle is lifted and the core is turned one time.   The graphite paddle is used to press the hot core down into the V-block again to make sure all sides are even.   This shows the result of pressing the round core into the V-block.   This shows another side of the resulting core.   Blue stripes are applied on the flat sides of the core and the process is repeated, pressing the blue stripes flat and making the core triangular again.   This shows the core again from another angle.   White stripes are laid over the blue stripes and the whole pressing process is repeated again.  Black lines are laid over the three points of the triangle and the core is then dipped into the furnace for a final coat of crystal clear.  The marble is twisted to form the final design.  It is then rounded and finished.   This is the resulting marble.  This example is in the collection of Craig Saxton, who also created the beautiful image.   For more information about ordering a Graphite V-Block or designing other graphite tools, contact:   H. Nathanael Hoover Glass Tool Division Weaver Industries, Inc. PO Box 326 Denver, PA 17517 Phone (717) 336-7507 ext.246 Fax (717) 335-0636 nhoover@weaverind.com