BLOWING IRON:  Hollow iron rod, about 1.6 m long (3.28 feet ), the glass blower's main tool.

CRACKING-OFF: Action which consists in removing the upper part of the glass attached to the blowing iron.  

CULLET: Glass waste recycled in a mixture of materials before melting.

DEVITRIFICATION: A defect in glass which causes it to loose its transparency and vitreous characteristics. The amorphous structure crystallizes if the material is heated for too long or if there is an inadequate dose of melting agents and stabilizers or if they are not of the right kind.

ELECTRO-EROSION: the part is ground down by an electrical spark emitted by an electrode.

ENGRAVING: Done with a wheel, acid or pantograph.

FEEDERS: Devices supplying molten glass to the machines which automatically drop glass beads of constant weight into molds.

FERN: Plant which has the characteristic of absorbing potassium from the ground. Its ashes, rich in potassium, were used as a melting agent (flux).

FITTING: This is a manual adjusting operation for assembling 2 elements.

FROSTING: Done by sand-blasting, with acid or a wheel to obscure the transparency of the glass.

GATHERER: An assistant who gathers the glass with the blowing iron.

GATHERING: Action which consists in taking the molten glass from the pot with the blowing iron (the lump of molten glass is called the 'gather')

GLASS: A vitreous material used in the form of a leaf whose thickness varies between 2 and 5 mm. It consists of a forming oxide (silica) and modifying oxides (melting agents, stabilizers and dyes). Its name varies according to the use to which it is put, its composition and the way in which it was made.

LATHING: This is a technique for cutting a part (generally metal) which is made to rotate at high speed and then shaped with a fixed tool. The same technique is used for a wood lathe used to make chair legs for instance.

LAYERING: Successive deposition of crystal layers, including a coloured one. The process has been known since ancient times.

LEHRS: Annealing or 'cooling' ovens, around the melting oven.

MELTING AGENT (FLUX): Basic oxide (soda, potassium, lime, lead oxide, etc.) catalyser for melting silica (sand).

MILLING: the opposite of lathing as the part to be shaped is fixed and it is the tool or trimming cutter, which turns. Used in this way to make prismatic parts.

PARISON: First bubble shape given to glass by blowing.

POLISHING: Technique used to make glass transparent and done in an acid bath or by rubbing with a soft material.

PONTILOR (Also known as a punty iron or punty):. Glass rod to which a piece of glass is attached (putting on the punty) to grasp an object temporarily.

POT OR CRUCIBLE: Clay container used to melt the glass.

RIM: Name of that part of a glass which is touched by a person's lips.

ROUGH-CUTTING : First cutting operation.

SILICA: Accounts for 60 to 75% of glass, in the form of sand, sandstone, pebbles, quartz.

STAMPING: This involves stamping with a tool at a specific point, either to mark the material or to pierce it.

TEASER: A work who keeps the fire going. The Master teaser filled the (melting) pots.

TEMPERED GLASS:  Glass hardened by sudden cooling.

WOODEN BLOCK: A wooden tool which shapes the hot glass into the required form. (Much in the way an ice cream scoop forms a ball.