Glass Terms Glossary

Not too long ago, there was a post on the Etsy Forums asking people to please not "confuse the customer". And while I do believe that Google, Wikipedia, and a dictionary should answer most people's questions, it does bring up the fact that there are a lot of technical terms in any field, which are confusing to folks who are unfamiliar with the territory.

Since I work primarily with glass these days, I thought I would start a glossary of Glassworking Terms...that way, I can point folks to it, and hopefully contribute something to the collective education of the customer base!


Anneal
To reduce the stress in a piece of glass by controlling the rate of cooling. By allowing the glass to come to a uniform temperature and then cool at a uniform rate, the internal stresses are reduced. These stresses can cause a piece of glass to become brittle or even fracture.

Annealing point
The temperature at which the annealing process starts. This will vary depending on the type of glass, thickness, and other factors.

Annealing temperature/zone
The temperature or zone where the annealing occurs. The zone is the range where the glass converts from liquid to solid or vice versa.

Bail
The loop at the top of a piece of jewelry which allows it to be hung on a chain. May be wire, solid metal, glass, or another material. May be glued on after the glass is complete, or incorporated as part of the glass.

Base
The foundation piece of glass, onto which more glass is fused. For example, a piece may use a black base, and have multicolored pieces fused to the top, and may be capped with clear.

Bead Release
A liquid consisting of powdered ceramic material. Bead mandrels are dipped into it, and are then air dryed or flame dried. The release allows beads to be removed after they cool (otherwise the glass would stick to the metal.)

Billet
Bricks of glass which are melted for fusing larger projects.

Borosilicate
One of the types of glasses commonly used for lampworking. Sometimes jokingly referred to as "recreational" or "bong" glass, as it is the type of glass used for pipes. Has the lowest COE of commonly used glasses, making it very stable to work in a flame and less subject to sudden thermal shock. Pyrex is a common brand name.

Bubbles
Just what it sounds like. Small bubbles of air trapped between pieces of glass, or in a bead. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes not.

Burner
Another word for the torch used in lampworking.

Cabochon
A smooth piece of stone or fused glass used for jewelry making. Has no hole, usually has a flat side on the back. Can be glued to backings, or have a bail glued to it, or used in wire wrapping.

Cap/Capped
A sheet of glass fused over the top of another piece. Often used to refer to a clear cap put over other colors to add depth to a piece.

Casting
Filling a mold with melted glass or frit

COE (Coefficient of expansion)
A number which refers to how much and at what rate a given material expands and contracts when it is heated or cooled. It is important to use glasses of a compatible COE in any given project, or the difference in expansion/contraction will eventually tear the piece apart.

Combing
Drawing a pick or set of picks across hot glass inside a kiln.

Cold working
Any work done to a piece of glass when the glass is at room temperature, such as cutting, grinding, polishing, faceting.

Compatibility
See "COE". This is a measure of how well glasses will fuse with one another.

Crash cool
Speeding up the rate of cooling a kiln. Generally this involves opening the lid, but can also be done with an exhaust vent.

Devitrification
A whitish "bloom" that appears on glass as an undesirable effect of incorrectly firing.

Dichroic
Shiny, decorative glass created by applying metal oxides in a vacuum furnace. Dichroic coating can be applied to any substrate glass, and can be used in lampworking or fusing.

Draping
Heating glass to drape it over a form. (See also slumping.)

Fiber Board
Board used to insulate kilns, make molds, or create dams for molten glass.

Fiber Paper
Heat resistant substance used to prevent glass from sticking to itself or shelves. Can be fired between two pieces of glass to create a hole (it must stick out from between the glass so it can be removed after firing) or pre-fired to create a soft, drapable nonstick surface for draping molds.

Fire Polishing
Heating glass to the point the edges soften and the surface smooths out.

Float Glass
Clear glass, usually used for windows, made by making glass over a bed of molten tin.

Frit
Glass broken into fine pieces. Ranges from powder to 1/4" or larger chunks.

Full Fuse
The point where all the glass has been heated until it melts together to an even level.

Hand Rolled Glass
Glass made by ladling onto a table and then rolling it out by hand. Much rougher than float glass.

Iridescent Glass
Glass with a metallic coating, not to be confused with dichroic. Iridescent glass doesn't fuse to itself, and it is less likely to stick to a shelf when fused irid side down.

Kiln Wash
A powder mixed with water to paint onto molds and kiln shelves to prevent glass from sticking to them.

Lampworking
Also called torchworking. Shaping glass with an open flame, usually an oxygen/propane setup.

Machine Rolled Glass
Glass created by drawing molten glass through steel rollers.

Mandrel
Steel rods around which glass beads are made. Dipped into Bead Release to allow the glass to be removed after cooling.

Polariscope
A device using two polarized filters to identify stress in fused glass. My low-tech one is two polarized sunglass lenses and a flashlight. The only way to easily test for compatibility in unknown glass.

Pyrometer
A device for measure temperature.

Quenching
Dropping hot glass into water to cause it to break into pieces.

Ramp
The speed at which the kiln temperature is raised or lowered.

Rod
A long wand of glass, used primarily for torchworking.

Tack Fuse
Fusing pieces of glass just to the point where they stick together, preserving the texture of different pieces of glass.

Venting
Opening the kiln to allow fumes or heat to escape quickly.

Etsy Shop Tips

Moved from a previous MySpace Blog Post

I admit, sometimes I hang out in the Etsy Forums. Yes, sometimes I also stick a fork in the toaster, and it's about the same dealio. No, seriously, I get a kick out of helping new Etsians, discussing Business or Techniques, and posting nonsense in the Etc. forum, and hunting Bugs in the Bug forum. I avoid the Promos forum pretty studiously.

One of the most common requests from newer Etsians is, "Will you critique my shop?" On the occasions that this isn't just a thinly veiled promotional shot, the advice given is pretty much the same each time. Thought I'd sum it up here...maybe I can just cut and paste next time!

Tips for Improving Your Etsy Shop

* Include your full location. "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" is cute and humorous and I appreciate the intent, but Etsy is a worldwide shopping venue. When people come to your shop, they may want to know how long an item will take to reach them, and they certainly want to know if they are considered "International" from where you are. I suggest City, State, and Country (believe it or not, there are Des Moines in two states, and Londons in at least two countries...)

* Keep your shop announcement short. That's the part at the top of your Etsy shop. Most people want to see your photos right away, or with only a very tiny scroll down. Most of the detailed information people put there would be better off in the Profile section. If you have things you want people to read, put "Please see my profile for more information" and leave it at that!

* Fill out your Profile. Etsy shoppers tend to be looking for a little more personal experience than if they were visiting a Big Box store. You don't have to get detailed, but a little about yourself, how you got started, and what kinds of skills you have is always nice. Information about your training, your studio, or your techniques also reassures customers that the items they are purchasing are genuinely handmade by you. However, do consider that shoppers are from all walks of life, a wide variety of countries and backgrounds, and think about who you might be welcoming or alienating with certain tidbits of information. Keeping it professional is always appropriate, though many Etsy sellers go for a little more edgy feel and do bangup business, so it really depends on your target audience and your own comfort zone. Many sellers choose to disclose whether their items come from a Smoke Free Home or from a Pet Free Home (more an issue with textile workers. Both are relevant to people with allergies, not an indication of an anti-smoking or anti-pet-owning stance!)

* Fill out your policies, completely. This will protect you in the event of non-payment, or shipping delays, or a request for a refund. Take some time to look around at other folks, get an idea of what kind of policies they have, and then do your own thing. Do you want to take returns? Do you offer insurance? Where will you ship, and how often do you ship? Do you take custom orders? If so, what kind of a down payment do you require? Mine aren't perfect by any means, but feel free to take a look at them here: http://www.etsy.com/shop_policy.php?user_id=3188

* Have a banner. And an avatar. This should really go without saying, but it doesn't always. There's some debate about whether your avatar should be of an item you make, or of a recognizable logo, or of something else. I personally have never found that it matters, but I don't make most of my sales on the Forums. The only time the avatar is truly important is for posting in the Forums. Your banner, on the other hand, sets the tone for your entire shop.

* Have clear photos. This is one with which I constantly struggle, but given that your customers cannot touch or taste or smell your items, your photos are paramount. Closeups or artfully arranged photos seem to do better than distance shots of full items against a plain background. This will likely be a work in progress for most folks who produce 3 dimensional objects.

* Use your sections. You get up to 10 sections, to title as you wish. The titles should let your customers know what they should expect to find within them, so keeping them relevant is good. You could sort sections by functionality of your items (Coats, Hats, Scarves, Socks) or by colors, or by Theme (Birds, Rainbows, Things That Scare People), but try to avoid something cutesy that says nothing about the section contents (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta). Many people shop by going immediately to the sections, because when a shop has more than a few pages of items, it makes it much easier to browse. Be sure all your items are IN sections!

* Include relevant information in your item descriptions. Some people like to tell a little story, some people like to keep it bare bones, and that's more a matter of taste. What I mean is to be sure you include such things as measurements (in inches AND centimeters!), color, size, number of items if there could be any question, materials used, and any other information someone might need to make an informed buying decision.

* Use all your photos slots. I'm guilty of not doing this. Sometimes, there just is no other really relevant angle of an item, it's true. But never have just a single picture of an item. The more, the better...remember, you get charged the same for using 1 photo as you do for using 5, so use them!

* Use all your tags, or as many tag slots as you can come up with. Make sure your tags are genuinely relevant to the article in question, or they might be flagged and removed. For example, you could tag a shirt as "shirt", "top", "clothing", "handmade", "retro", or other applicable words, but tagging it as "scarf" or "pants" would be inappropriate. Tags are the key way the search is conducted, so they're critical.

* Use your materials slots. Not everyone searches through materials, but some people do. Again, keep it relevant and true; use "sterling silver" only if your item is genuinely sterling, not silver plated or silver colored.

* Consider shipping internationally. There are constantly threads about how confusing it is, but really, it's not rocket science. If you are a seller in the US, there are only a handful of major shipping zones in the world. (My experience with other postal services is non-existent, so I can't help there.) If you weigh your item, you can look up on http://www.usps.com how much it would cost to send it to a handful of countries. For many sellers with items weighing only a few ounces, there's little or no difference between countries, so you can indicate one flat "Everywhere Else" price for shipping. For others, you can list countries individually. The major sales seem to be US, Canada, UK, and Australia with a few others coming in a ways behind (such as China, Singapore, Spain, and France.) With a little patience, you can broaden your audience of potential customers! (Feel free to contact me on Etsy at http://triplelle.etsy.com if you have any questions or need help.)

* And not a tip for your shop, but Promote, Promote, Promote! Find new and creative ways to promote your shop and your goods without spamming people. Consider an opt-in mailing list (perhaps in the top announcement of your shop). Find blogs and post relevant, useful information. Purchase advertising in any periodical you can afford, or online advertising. Network through the Forums, on MySpace (gee, lookit this!), and on the many blogs devoted to Etsy and Indie crafters. Attend local craft events, shake hands, make friends, and get your name out there!

Finally Catching Up to the Blogging World

I'm not much of an "early adopter" when it comes to new fangled things, which is a little bit sad for a self-professed geek to admit. Got my first computer in 1992. I'm still active on LiveJournal. I'm a reluctant user of MySpace. I've never tried FaceBook. Should I mention that I don't own an iPod either? Still, I decided it was time to join the rest of the world and create a more "bloggy" blog than the ones I operate on LiveJournal and MySpace; the former seems the refuge of the Old Schoole, and the latter just flat freaks me out.

On that note, I will be porting over a few posts I've made on MySpace, and for a while will be conducting some parallel postings. Then we'll see!