Article November 27, 1902 Issue

The Manufacture of Cut Glass

Philadelphia North American

It may be thought by some that the cutting of the beautiful glass tableware that is so highly prized is done with delicate tools, wielded by artists as fragile and æsthetic as the product of their skill. The cut glass factory, as a matter of fact, is as rough and workmanlike an establishment as any shop where machinery buzzes and leather belts whirr the day through. There are several of them in Philadelphia.

Along each side of the shop run rows of wheels, differing in sizes, but all alike in one particular. Above each is a receptacle for fine sand and water. The mixture is allowed to trickle down on the wheel at which the workman is cutting a piece of glass, and against this sanded wheel the cutter presses the punch bowl or vase or tumbler upon which he is at work, allowing the combination of sand and whirring wheel to wear away the glass until cut deep enough to take the impression of the pattern.

This pattern has first been marked roughly on the article to be cut. The workman takes this rough-marked bowl or vase and follows closely the outline of the design with his sanded wheel. It is very important not to cut either too deep or too shallow a groove in the glass, for the one would send the wheel right through the glass, while the other would leave the design of uneven shape and finish. In knowing just how far to cut and in avoiding the chipping of the material, while patiently boring away at the pattern, is where the glass cutter shows his skill.

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