Working with glass

Glass is an interesting material, to say the least. It is a hard and fragile, and yet as an amorphous solid it is slowly moving as gravity pulls on it— just look at the window glass in old homes. Glass is also quite flexible, and can bend significantly. Glass is also a wonderful material for the use of color due to it's translucency. Color may be viewed on the material itself, and also projected onto a surface by a light source. Glass may also be formed in several different ways— cast, blown, scored and then broken, or cut with a water jet.

When working with glass, the question is not if you will injure yourself in some way, but when. Whether you are working with molten glass or trying to avoid tiny shards of glass, there is a high probability of being hurt in some way, regardless of how much care is taken. I've taken splinters of glass in my fingers and have been cut on the edge of a sheet of glass (with a square edge) countless times. However, for me the dangers of working with glass are worth it, as the end product is always much cooler than I imagine when it is being designed.