I Built The Most Powerful Blow-Lamp I Could

I try to take my reconstruction of the "Blow-Lamp" as far as I can, doing my best to reproduce the capabilities of the tool as it was described in T.P. Danger's 1830's glassworking manual; 'The Art of Glassblowing'
References(in order of appearance)
The 'Mutus Liber'(containing depiction of alchemists using blow lamps):
www.loc.gov/item/10018432/
T.P. Danger's 'Art of Glass Blowing':
www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...
Faraday's 'Chemical Manipulation':
archive.org/details/chemicalm...
Middleton and Knowles' The History of the Thermometer and its Use in Meteorology':
archive.org/details/thermomet...
Hero's pneumatica(woodcroft's 1851 english translation):
www.loc.gov/item/07041532/
Corning Museum of Glass Lampworking Videos:
• Lampworking in the 1800s
• Lens Making in the 1600s
• The History of Lampwor...

[@jakeeasterday1663]

Having also invested myself in designing and using blowpipes, lamps and their apparatuses for fine metalwork, I have a few ideas as to why the large wick underperformed consistently. Firstly, the wick on your lamp needs to be trimmed very evenly or be shaped to a slightly domed form. This helps prevent turbulence from the airstreams impacting stray fibers. Secondly, the nozzles need to be cones with a much gentler taper, so that the resulting jets run fairly close to parallel to one another. This is why two nozzles outperformed three. Finally, I would locate the "sweet spot" for your lamp, which tends to place the orifice of each pipe less than a mm above the top of the wick and practically immersed in the fire, preserving a more laminar cone of flame. This proximity is where the many accounts of assay blowpipes being clogged with soot come from. The conducted heat will probably be hot enough to melt your solder joints, but a harder solder will remedy that! Forgive the essay, I enjoy your channel and journey and would love to see it continue!

[@johnkoury1116]

Exactly! That is called Laminar flow which is what today's gas burners use with a number of small tubes inside of another larger tube giving that laminar flow effect.

[@oxoniumgirl]

As a Silversmith, I was thinking that his use of 60/40 tin/lead solder might prove problematic due to the higher heat of the flame. Historically and modernly outside of leadworks and electronics, solders for metalsmithing are comprised of the workpiece metal (silver or copper, generally) + a miscible dopant/dilutant metal of a much lower melting point, such as Tin or Cadmium. Given that Cadmium is extremely toxic and Tin is not, I recommend Tin. A modern substitution for Cadmium is Bismuth, which when mixed with Tin makes an excellent dopant/diluent for making a solder. You can look up recipes for silver solder by checking the composition percentages from major suppliers of today, such as Rio Grande. Since silver, whose melting point is lower than copper, and its solders are miscible with copper, it will work well for bonding copper. Joints made of these types of solder will be harder to perform as the workpiece metal must be heated to much nearer its melting point than for lead soldering, but the joints will be far stronger and will hold up to being placed in a simple flame.

[@Eric-nu3wh]

yeah when i saw the air streams crossing i thought the same thing turbulence is your enemy.

[@johnkoury1116]

@@Eric-nu3wh Oh Yes it is!! I am a chemical engineer and I do scientific glass blowing and neon repair or shall I say used to. I also built my own laminar torches. You have to search really hard but there are a few really talented people who have built their own laminar torches for their shops. I used an apple corer that was on Amazon like ten years ago and just started being available as the outer tube and 12, 2 or 3mm brass and copper tubes that make up the inner assembly. I used a special filler solder that NOBOX09(I think that is the way he spells it) used when building his torches. Really great stuff and a great art to learn because the torch I wanted was over $1200 and I was not going to throw that money away on a torch because I do not blow glass as a living. I may start building triggered pressurized and custom spark gaps however because they are insanely expensive and very hard to get.

[@DarrenMalin]

@@Eric-nu3wh 'don't cross the steams' lol :)

[@Dangineering]

Babe wake up, Fraser Builds posted

[@fraserbuilds]

Im back!

[@jameslynch8738]

Haha, it's true! 🤗

[@The_Arachnid]

Haha exactly I was like 🫸😲🫷

[@theodoretavenner3089]

Fr Fr

[@agxryt]

This meme needs to die, it stopped be funny two years ago

[@zamplify]

"I've hesitated to do this because it is insane."

[@trainiumm]

the Steve Mould joke at 9:00 was hilarious

[@felixer80]

Laboratory glassware and an upcoming alchemy video?! I can't wait! I worked as a glassblowing assistant for a year, but I couldn't personally afford the costs for acetylene/gases, so I wasn't able to approach it in my own time. I'm very grateful for your endeavors. As you progress with glass working, there are three tools I think you might find helpful: 1. A marver table/surface for having a stable, level base to keep the hot glass from sagging 2. An air supply for cooling off specific portions of your glasswork. 3. A mandrel to size the openings of your labware to allow fitted articulations between labware. Once again, I'm very thankful for your resurrection of this technology! I can't pay what this is worth right now, but this would be an immensely valuable tool for my future projects

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you! Those are great suggestions I'll look into. Best of luck, and thank you for your generosity!

[@marthinwurer]

This is insane. It's so cool bridging the technological gap between the medieval and modern eras with this renaissance technology!

[@enghel381]

i miss you buddy, post more please

[@fraserbuilds]

More is coming soon! I promise!

[@-NGC-6302-]

hooray

[@amogusenjoyer]

Its so cool to see you solder with your earlier blow lamp, such a good way to show how useful it wouldve been back then. Also, top notch humour as always 😊

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you! Each new lamp makes soldering easier, though Ive yet to try soldering with this big one!

[@cheeseguru1017]

I get a certain feeling watching your videos that I only get watching Primitive Technology, there’s just something amazing about watching you work and explain what you’re doing. The end result always looks incredible too, the wick cap alone is beautiful

[@unusualfabrication9937]

extremely underrated channel

[@caseyc3686]

4:20 i just love your tiny anvil :)

[@andreandrade3083]

Fraser it is so refreshing to see content with this level of quality on youtube, the amount of entertainment and educational value your videos contain is amazing. I hope you know you are amazing, and we’ll be pleased to see more!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you! :)

[@Mr.Fabrication007]

@@fraserbuilds I second that compliment....please influence as many as possible! Your clear calm collective voice and narration of your videos is refreshing to modern mumblers, thanks man, stay smart........

[@nikthetrickster9948]

Mate you have no idea how much I enjoy your videos, you're probably the only KZbinr whose content makes me go "I definitely have to watch this one".

[@ashurean]

This is one of the first times I've heard Hero's other discoveries mentioned. Every other KZbin channel brings up his vending machine, but no one talks about how much else he did

[@adamwest6499]

This channel is such a gem.

[@daniellapain1576]

Between Uri Tuchman and your videos on KZbin. It’s becoming increasingly easier to see just how people did things differently way back when. It’s also inspiring to know that one is not stuck with what a hardware store offers when you can just make the tools at home.

[@arjovenzia]

I love the aesthetic of your builds, and the passion for the history behind the projects makes for a very enjoyable experience. multiple 'Aaaah, that makes sense' moments. Keep up the good work mate, but at your own pace.

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@Zane-It]

With these tools you can produce your own chemistry set. Amazing

[@benhoward2619]

Fun to see that one of the first proper glassblowing projects you make with the new lamp is a moonshine still!

[@bearnaff9387]

Every day we come closer to that weird achievement - an extended video essay that illustrates how one could move from an early Victorian scientific workshop and eventually build a very simple digital computer. I am serious. There are videos on making your own vacuum tubes of differing capabilities, and other videos on how to build a simple computer out of tubes. Videos like this, showing what making the needed tools looks like, are just another piece of the puzzle.

[@calebkaminski6951]

Then we need to get stone age to Victorian next

[@bearnaff9387]

@@calebkaminski6951 Oh definitely - though that's a MUCH longer distance. In terms of skill and capability, the difference between early Victorian tech and the age of radio is actually slimmer than you would expect. There was a big difference in what materials could be easily acquired, and the catalog of things one could make was much more vast by the end of the end of the vacuum tube era. But, the actual skills needed to make a homebrew version of, say, a vacuum tube computing device, existed long before people knew how to do it Getting from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age would probably be the hardest point since neither copper nor tin are available everywhere. You need vast shipping networks to reliably make bronze. If we were doing it all over again, it might be worth going the route of John at the Primitive Technology channel, and try to work out a small-forge iron age straight from stone.

[@calebkaminski6951]

@@bearnaff9387 that's what I was thinking of originally just going straight to iron to skip looking copper and the like it would allow a much faster speed run of the tech tree but still sounds like it would take forever or at least a lot of one's life

[@ototao]

Fraser continues to forge his legacy into the annals of YT builders, with another banger 😎

[@K7classicrockfan]

As a french person, I can attest, your pronounciation of Danger is excellent and took me by surprise as usually english people have a difficult time concerning the french accent. Bravo!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thats a relief! Thank you!

[@K7classicrockfan]

@@fraserbuilds keep up the very entertaining content!

[@wrekced]

@FraserBuilds When you close chain links, it is much easier to use two pairs of chain-nose pliers (stubbier needle-nose) with some tape around the jaws to prevent marks. I use two pairs of nylon jaw needle-nose for jewelry chains. You could even make leather or rawhide sleeves for the jaws if you don't want to spend the $$ for nylon jaw pliers.

[@johnkoury1116]

Super incredible throwback to another time when there was so much to learn and so much that needed to still be invented. I guess in a way it still is like that for those of us interested in Alchemy. Everyone should start as you do and make everything to make everything to make everything that is needed to finally make and or use or distill or sublimate or even circulate and calcine to name a few processes. As a PhD. Chemical Engineer I take things for granted such as all the work that went before just so I can start a chemical reaction and take whatever it is to completion. We are standing upon the shoulders of even greater giants in our field. It certainly doe make one appreciate all the work that went before to develop our tools.

[@moconnell663]

Regarding the historical inaccuracy of your air mattress pump (24:50), just refer to it as your "apprentice" as its activities seem like apprentice work to me :)

[@derekturner3272]

Absolutly amazing video. Good pace, detail, camera work and subject matter depth. As a 50 something life long tinkerer and maker, I pay the compliment of saying, you are well on your way to bringing something great back into the world. Keep it up and never stop sharing your passions. They are contageous and well worth the toil. :)

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@anatexis_the_first]

As a beginner woodworker, I found it amazing that you nonchalantly made a perfectly fitting dovetail insert!

[@nomam9085]

this tiny candle powered distiller is absolutely adorable

[@sandwichman8u]

This is the kind of stuff I expected from How to Make Everything. I'm definitely enjoying your content!

[@justinh5701]

Your content is great! Really making the past come alive.

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@aurora7207]

Great to see you getting some traction with your videos, they are wonderful.

[@welcometocattown2036]

I do lampwork, have been making jewelry, aquarium parts, pens, soldering tools, pipes, etc, and actually got started in college almost 30 years ago in my chemistry labs. This video just rekindled my passion for it and now I want to build some of my own supplies. Great, here I go buying more metal working tools to pack into my apartment.

[@fransoldman841]

I appreciate you sharing your process and knowledge so much. Your skills as a craftsman are fantastic! That setup is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again for sharing.

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@Jacob-yg7lz]

This channel's really an asset for when I get sent back in time and have to bring the ancient greeks modern science.

[@Poetofsilver]

Great video, incredibly informative, and you show the entire process step by step. I think I'll make my own little blow lamp!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you! Best of luck!

[@asgerthorndalkofod2366]

Not only are your subjects extremely fascinating, your craftmanship is also hypnotic to watch, and you got a wonderful voiceover voice. Watching your videos are the perfect combination of exciting and relaxing. Always appreciative when you upload.

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you so much! Glad you appreciated :)

[@PopcornOnCouchAnime]

watching this legend is always on my list of things to do im always eager for your uploads! it gives me ideas for when i get the chance i really loved your clay working videos trying to refine bad clay into workable art its always so cool to watch what you make and just the blow torch alone was amazing i cant wait for the video involving the silver ! much love Fraser!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@ProductiveSam]

I am full of wonder at how you have convinced me to make one of these soon. I had ordered a printed version on Danger's book but yeh, it never arrived. Thank you so much for the links! My workshop really needs one of these. my current torch is way too large.

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you! best of luck!

[@xuplankton]

bravo. I'm always stoked for your videos when they come out. What you love about the blow lamp is exactly what I love about your channel in general -- your videos bridge the ancient world and the modern world, they help me understand better how we got from there, to here. Fascinating stuff! Keep it up!!!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@samcoote9653]

Awesome video mate, absolurely quality channel. Not just for history, but fabrication techniques that many others think they can't achieve in a simple shop. You and Clickspring are pioneers of the build your own workshop from scratch. Thanks!

[@Mr.Fabrication007]

Very nice to see traditional handmade metal tools like this. I studied traditional blacksmithing and have done modern metalwork since (and glass blowing for a brief time). We need more smiths to procure and pass on knowledge of basic scientific theory and methods to future generations. I appreciete you my friend. Keep up the good work. Your thumbnail likely caught the extra interest of the hi-speed late night viewers, lol

[@Scott.E.H]

This is definitely fascinating stuff. Would love to see more development going into it!

[@magnustveten492]

Your style of video is very enjoyable, dialogue is not exactly descriptive of what we see but done in such a way we get to enjoy what your doing and hear why it’s being done. And the history stuff is awesome as well.

[@LenKusov]

One thing you could try if you want to be able to make a LOT of relatively high-pressure air using period-accurate tech is to build yourself a gasometer outside - just a couple of barrels, one full of water and one inverted, a couple boards to keep the inverted barrel upright, a hose off the top of the inverted barrel, and a check valve to let air into the barrel. Should get you several minutes of air in exchange for lifting the barrel once. Either that, or make a blacksmith's style lung/counterlung bellows, where it's split in the middle - bottom bellows is what you move through a lever overhead, top bellows is held up by air pressure and keeps a smooth flow of air.

[@dunravin]

Always a pleasure watching you work. Good job Fraser

[@andrewinnj]

Very happy to have a new video from you. Rewatching the older ones has been good, but nothing hits like new information 😊

[@theauroradragon8410]

I'm so excited to see another video from you! I can tell how much love goes into making each piece :)

[@goddessofmoss9649]

ough dude! I'm always intrigued with your content and I just adore seeing these antique techniques replicated! As a lampworker myself i doubt i'll find a huge amount of use for this stuff cause i work boro but it really is awesome to see someone experimenting and having fun with stuff i've never seen done before. i think my one suggestion for getting nice round stuff is work on consistent turning of your work! the difference between the return thing and the thermoscope already shows a ton of improvement and I look forward to what you do in the future!

[@stauffap]

Fantastic! KZbin doesn't get any better than this. Thanks for sharing your experience and actually trying this thing! I'm sure it will be helpfull to a lot of people, since this tool seems to be pretty much forgotten.

[@franciscodilisio4956]

I found you're videos, and i watched them on a marathon, you're content is amazing, can't wait to see more like.

[@worm628]

This is great! I have no problem waiting a long time in between videos because your production value, meticulous research, and fantastic narration are a treat! Keep up the great work.

[@philippdebus7404]

Love your videos man, glad to see another one

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you! Hopefully theyll be coming a little more frequently going forward 😅

[@gafrers]

Fascinating, detailed. Wonderful. Love the development Glass blowing is so mesmerising

[@aaronhackney9652]

thank you for exploring these obscure but essential tools for early scientists and inventors

[@charlieevergreen3514]

Fascinating, all of it. Thank you.

[@benbordwell9476]

I really enjoy your videos. I have done some scientific glassblowing in the past and I would recommend getting some books on scientific glassblowing blowing from your library or, if there is a university near you, their library. The technique for scientific glassblowing is a little different than what you showed in your video. Also a book on scientific glassblowing would show you the steps in making a project like you made. Thank you so much for making these videos! I think they are very important for showing people how it was possible for people in the past to make and do these things. Thanks again

[@matthewhays9410]

Nice work! i really liked the retort desk display

[@ObsessedwithZelda2]

So happy this channel got such a boom in attention

[@JohnSmith-il4wi]

I watch every minute of these videos, they never get old.

[@kittencaboodle8124]

always a joy to see a new video from you!! your insights, craftsmanship, and production quality are genuinely top tier especially for a smaller channel. you're already doing great things but I imagine you'll grow far beyond your current audience before long. keep up the good work!

[@rafaelduarte2730]

I will never get over the screeching fart one way valve

[@Remowylliams]

First time viewer. I did enjoy your video. You provided info in a very smooth and calming way. I liked the Steve Mould comment made me chuckle. The effort and detail attention made me think of Clickspring. Which I hope you'll take as a compliment. Please keep making more. I have no specific interest in blow-lamps and their use. I just enjoy learning things, and the historical info you offered just sweetened the pot of goodness. Bravo

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you! Clickspring is incredibly talented and a major inspiration to me :) Glad you enjoyed!

[@IragmanI]

Absolutely loving your channel. Love the artistry. Love the history. Love the pace. Beautiful work all round

[@peter_hauer]

This series is really interesting, has very well produced video and annotation and your finished builds look amazing. Thank you for your work.

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@wtechboy18]

these long format build videos are pretty awesome. I like this lamp - I kinda want to build something like that for myself for some DIY glassblowing.

[@fast-yi9js]

crazy artistry making the lamp, what a gem of a channel

[@NebuTheNub]

Always enjoy your work. Keep on keeping on.

[@paulvosper4524]

This is actually wild. Been enraptured since the alchemist clay!

[@tysonty5989]

Keep it up friend, really like your alchemy and magick videos. Awesome work as always🙌

[@wrekced]

@FraserBuilds You could ensure a seal around the blowpipes with a bit of waxed string wrapped around where the blowpipe sits in the fitting. That might help with the amount of air you are getting out.

[@fraserbuilds]

Thats a great idea!

[@ocloud7389]

Love your videos as always, keep up the great work

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@miszcz310]

Great! I was waiting for you, thank you.

[@TheArchaeologyOfAncientMagic]

Absolutely awesome!!! Thank you for letting as participate in your amazing work and for sharing your experience! I love your videos :-)

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you! :) Im so glad you enjoyed it!

[@RealisticCookingIRL]

Love seeing your channel growing :) binged all your videos

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@josephhammond6738]

I've made something simular to your spirit lamp. It's fun to try and use it even though I don't have it all worked out yet.

[@RandomGuy0987]

Really great video, great footage of you making your new lamp, great narration. So interesting and cool. Makes me want to make one myself.

[@evanalmighty9444]

good camera work! You show all the steps well, without any camera shot overstaying their welcome.

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@ameliafox9429]

This vid is amazing!! I work in an analytical lab and it's so cool seeing the early forms of things we still utilise being used so skillfully!!

[@ReedSwitchTube]

Excellent video on historic lampworking.

[@yotamgosh]

This is absolutely one of the more exciting channels out there for me! Not knowing exactly what you're doing but having the enthusiasm and curiosity to fumble forward until you figure it out is not only fascinating and helps to understand the process much better, it also is much more accessible for someone like me without a lot of skill or expensive tools! So I'm absolutely delighted your channel is doing well, and don't worry about an upload schedule - if you keep up this quality and learn as you go, you'll be one of the channels that I simply watch whenever they upload something new. By the way - now that you have a system for higher pressure - do you think you should look at decreasing the diameter of the nozzle again? I wonder if increasing the pressure further would have an effect on the flame. Also - I don't know how to create laminar flow in air, but maybe look into it and see if that does anything? The air right now seems to be quite turbulent

[@HavanaWoody]

I really have enjoyed watching your work and the continued Refining and exploring this basic tech that would otherwise be lost. You Have inspired me to make one.

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you! Best of luck!

[@user-vx6wu4yy9q]

Thank you so much for sharing your amazing creation. Love your channel

[@kimberlydrennon4982]

Woohoo a new Fraser builds! Wondering if adding a rest for your work to steady it in front of the flame might help keep it even. I'm also a big fan of the CMOG channel. Something I've picked up from Bill Gudentath's videos is that you should never work glass while it is not spinning if you want it round. Thanks for making my Friday!

[@Skaldewolf]

On the danger of leading you down a path leading to madness, might I suggest reading up on organ-building? The system of bellows and a self-regulating air-reservoir might be a solution to providing a steady stream of air.

[@necromaster998]

Every upload's a mint, best channel rn

[@jscancella]

@24:39 - why not a double action bellows? Blacksmiths use those to supply air on both sides of the pull stroke (as you pull it forces one side of the bellows to blow air while inflating the other side. When you stop pulling gravity forces the other inflated side to blow)

[@ringsystemmusic]

Thank you for the always excellent videos!

[@Karebear9001]

So fun! Thanks a lot for all your work. Looking forward to your eventual alchemist shack 🤣

[@samurguybriyongtan146]

A fantastic video! So fascinating and educational.

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@mylodressler2323]

Very well done! You are certainly an inspiration!

[@frommypointofview7173]

I find your videos fascinating and very informative watching someone who is very passionate about what they are doing is extremely refreshing

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@thealmightyaku-4153]

Hey Fraser - I've only just recently diacovered your channel, and love it a lot. In regard to the pressure/air supply problem, I have a suggestion: Ctesibius' water organ. It used bellows to blow air under water, where it was pressurised to be released using a keyboard. Perhaps you could use something like that? Two foot-pumps to periodically (or continuously) pump air into a reservoir like that, and use a 'key' to open the valves as needed?

[@Dretnep]

That is a very satisfying desk object, great video!

[@gfr2023]

keep posting, great content and great style

[@PsylomeAlpha]

"T.P. Danger" is one hell of a name

[@laggerd55555]

I love ur videos and projects and ur commentary so much

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@fmdj]

beautiful craftsmanship

[@davidbumpus3457]

good work. Keep having fun at learning new skills. I'm working on refining my space to be able to incorporate some small smithy and perhaps glass blowing capacity in the future.

[@Awesomo49]

Always love your work, keep it up!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@JReilly9945]

Great video man!