Started warming my jacks in the kiln before use

Margaret Gibson · 2026-03-07T02:00:41.599145+00:00

I used to just grab my jacks off the bench when I needed them. Lately I've been putting them in the kiln to warm up first, and it seems to help with sticking less to the glass. Is this a common practice, or am I just wasting time?

val8227mo ago

Wow, Shane's hot water tip just changed my whole view on this.

5

shanewells7mo ago

Remember hearing an old timer talk about keeping his jacks in a bucket of hot water between uses. Seems like temperature is the whole game with them. My pair definitely grabs less when they're not stone cold from the bench. Makes sense when you think about it, the glass is over a thousand degrees and the steel is maybe sixty. Probably not wasting your time at all.

1

kevin_schmidt976mo ago

So we're just preheating our tools now? Next you'll tell me you keep your punties in a toaster oven and your graphite pads on a radiator. I'm waiting for the day someone shows up with a heated tool belt, like a glassblowing fanny pack plugged into a car battery.

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