Glass Trip: Day Two

Loading the ladle

Day two kicked of with a very cool, but extremely hot visit to Paul Wissmach in Paden City.  Though we were initially under the understanding that we would not be able to visit the production floor or take pictures, Carl was gracious enough to convince the owner, Mark, to give us an up close and personal experience. What an experience it was.

Pouring the glass onto the press

We were some of the very few people ever to get to be on the production floor, and at 125F and up, it isn't a very hospitable place to be.  Much like any other old glass factory, their was a bank of furnaces   for melting glass.  That is where most similarities ended.
Molten glass was transported in much larger quantities in iron ladles to the main machine.  This was a set of rollers that pressed the hot glass into large sheets, much like making rock candy.

Glass being pressed into a sheet       

From there it was slide horizontally into the annealing oven where it was allowed to cool slowly.  From there, a team removed the glass, cut it into uniform sheets, which were then ready to be packaged to be shipped to all parts of the world.  Overall, a very unique and special experience.

Cutting the final sheet

Much like other factories, Wissmach traces its roots to the turn of the century or even before.  These factories are using the same ingredients, recipes, methods, and even the original tools that were used over one hundred years ago.  How have these factories been able to remain viable for all these years?  In a world of ever changing technology, how have these factories to not only make an unmatched product, and more importantly, how have they been able to successfully turn a profit?  Be thorough in your answer, once again tying in ALL aspects of glass making.  Finally, what obstacles are these companies encountering, and what future problems might they have?  What do you think the future of handmade United States glass is?