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casting the doors casting the floor casting the heat retaining ring sealing the frax interior refitting the doors much better than before :)  

jack blades need wax and it needs to last homemade wood charcoal ground fine, carnuba wax, locally sourced beeswax. the original recipe for this is known historically as Milton Mud* calls for bubblegum to be added in the meltdown, were omitting this in our recipe . combine thoroughly and pour into paper cups used a few aluminum dishes as well and they worked out way better (cupcake cups ended up as a bad idea cause of side crinkles) then cooled overnight apply liberally directly to hot jack blades     *original formulation created at the Blenko Glass Factory in Milton, WV  

Two full charges of the 30lb crucible later and we could have kept on, but seeing a few hiccups approaching, the decision was made to ramp down the furnace and shut off to repair and improve some parts of the shop. The list isn’t too long and knowing the heat/humidity is coming soon, we expect to be up and blowing come this autumn when temperatures become more hospitable. :(

with most of the kinks worked out, we’ve embarked into the next phase, melting the first full crucible of glass, igniting all the peripheral equipment and blowing a few shapes.. on the morning after the second session, this lovely came out of the annealer.