In high school I took a pottery class. I did lots of ceramic things, but more interestingly, I went down to the clay bank of the creek where I grew up and gathered some. I cleaned it, kneaded it, and made a bowl out of it and my teacher (reluctantly) fired it for me.
I also had 2 years of chemistry, so I talked my teacher into letting me borrow a few oxide chemicals to make glaze colors with. I mixed this with sand and borax and glazed a bowl.
My mom still has this bowl and it is still functional.
I have a pretty decent understanding of proper conditions and temps for working with clay and such.
I was wondering if anyone here knows anything about working with glass specifically and if we can get some info up about working with glass that has been made into something before, like a beer bottle or old drink bottle. I have read some info on primitive kilns, maybe someone could post some more info on this specifically also.
aside from the skill required to actually work it, I would think it would be possible to melt down old bottles and mold them into something usable. This is a notion I've been bouncing around with some locals, but haven't found much in the way of instruction.
You could flatten rounded glass into a flat spall that you could make knife blades and arrowheads out of, bowls, spoons, etc. and as much trash as there is on the side of the road and scattered about trails, certainly in a survival situation it would be a very handy skill to know.
Mike Rowe happens to be blowing glass in a factory on Dirty Jobs tonight. Couldn't help but watch so I won't feel so humiliated when I fail haha.
anyhow, I was just putting some feelers out there, get some gears turnin, and basically pick brains (not like I do with deer). If anyone has anything, please share!!
