|
attack their own furnace with heavy, metal pikes. They tear
away the front wall of fire bricks, to expose the glowing, red
hot, clay, containment pot. The furnace temperature is
hardly
reduced at all, so flames shoot straight for-
|
Fred Shea, of Our Glass in Hampden, Massachusetts, calls it "a
first-rate glass for restoration, especially when the original is
almost gone.
|
ward out of every chink. They lower a fireproof curtain from the ceiling to enable a man to drive up a forklift; lever the old pot up, drive the forks under it, and back away from these seeming gates of hell.
Almost instantly, another man piloting a second forklift drives in a brand-new pot. After he settles it on a block and reverses out of there, they drop the curtain, knock out the block, and start building up the front wall again with the still-warm firebrick.
All the masonry work is done with pikes, from a distance of perhaps 20 feet. This is very touchy, rather like trying to tuck-point one of the circles of Hades. Once they've built the front wall up again, they hurl wet clay at the chinks and around the edges. The clay dries solid in the intense heat, and once again the only opening is the pot-mouth.
Why go through all this? Why is Kokomo's other furnace, a day-tank, sitting in the corner, cold? "We use it as a backup," acknowledges Elliott. "We're one of the last rolled-glass factories to really rely on pots. Most of the industry has switched over to day-tank furnaces,
|
|
A RIVER OF GLASS--courses endlessly toward the cutters at the cool end of the lehr, where they trim and inspect each sheet of glass prior to stacking for transport to the adjacent warehouse.
|
with up to five times greater capacity. In some ways, they are more efficient; the glass sits directly on the firebrick, and there's no pot to replace.
"But they're also less versatile. With a day tank, if something goes wrong, you're three weeks waiting for it to cool down to repair; a new pot can be filled the next day. And a day tank's bigger capacity leads you to volume glassmaking, not variety.
"Our 12-pot furnace is the company's main strength. It's allowed us to be more creative, flexible, nervier. We can use five pots, almost half the furnace, to make one color combination?and still have the other half to manufacture other products in smaller quantities."
The resulting freedom of color-choice has drawn glass artists for over a century. Louis Comfort Tiffany bought Kokomo glass as early as 1891, while planning his own third furnace, the first two having blown up.
Many of the colors Tiffany requested have remained on the product list ever since. In one typical letter, dated N.Y, February 23,1893, Tiffany was ordering glass by the carload: 9400 pounds of glass in one order, for $594.00 (including a 6% commission) and another 600 pound crate for $45.00. Indeed! Those were the days.
Despite a slight rise in cost since then Kokomo glass is still popular with artists and restoration experts all over the country.
|
"With a few shards, you can determine whether Kokomo was the glass used, and in many cases they're making the same colors today. When you hold up a Kokomo opalescent you can see it transluces in the same way as the nineteenth century original, with the correct warm underhues of amber and pink.
" And almost any color you call for is being made up within two to four weeks. The bigger manufacturers tend to do certain colors only once or twice a year, and then in quantity. If you come in at the wrong moment when something's out of stock you may wait six months for it to come in again?and I have.
"Kokomo always has a great response, quick and honest; it's why I like working with them. They understand when you're over a barrel and a project is on the table, you need the straight news."
The families at Kokomo intend to make glass along the lines of timeless style, well into the new century.
Says Wright: "We care here. If it isn't right, we'll replace the damned thing. That's the way I was raised and that's the way I live?and that's the way my kids are being raised." Wright has a son and daughter, nine and 12 respectively. If one of them is moved to learn chemistry and join the business, those recipe books could be decoded for a sixth generation. For today, it seems abundantly clear, Kokomo has the mix right. | |
---End |
|
|
Back to Page 3
|
|
