Volunteer Interest Form

A place of constant activity and high heat, the hot shop is where the process of “glassblowing” occurs. Here, molten glass is manipulated and annealed (cooled slowly) after it is finished. Our shop is equipped with two glass furnaces each stocked with over 700lbs of Spruce Pine Batch, four glory holes, five annealers, pick up kilns, and a variety of hand tools.

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• To rent in the Columbus Glass Art Center Hot Shop, a renter must have taken Hot Glass I and Hot Glass II classes or completed an apprenticeship with a glass blower or coursework in glass blowing AND be approved by the facilities staff in order to rent Hot shop time.

• Members may not rent during unstaffed hours for 1 year after completing Hot Glass 2

• No fuming or similar techniques.

• Hot shop tools are to be signed out with a member of staff.

• Ladle casting outside of casting class requires special approval and certification. Ladle casting prices start at $50 per day per kiln and $2 per pound of glass.

• Guests (especially children) must sit on the bleachers and stay off the blowing pad. Any visiting artist or other guest on the pad must have a signed waiver on file.

  • If Columbus Glass Art Center is putting on a Public Demonstration members are to remain off the blowing pad unless their involvement in the demonstration has been previously arranged.

• Do not adjust the Furnace or Glory Holes for any reason. If you are working on something specific and need the Glory Hole adjusted Members need to get assistance from the Facilities Staff. Adjusting the equipment without help will result in a $50 fee if the next user has problems with equipment. Adjusting the Furnace(s) will result in a $100 fine.

• Schedule your rental time at least 48 hours in advance on the website.  No exceptions.

  • Advance scheduling is necessary in order to provide sufficient glass, of the highest possible quality, to all members. To keep rates affordable, the studio must match the frequency and cost of batch and charging with the hours that the studio is booked. At the discretion of management, “walk-in” usage of otherwise unused, or unscheduled time may be arranged.

• Type your unique member code on the PIN pad of the restective glory hole to start AND stop the equipment. Usage times are automatically logged. (Time is rounded to the nearest quarter hour) H1 45 min warm up, H2 30 min warm up, H3 1 hour warm up, H4 1 hour warm up times.

  • If Members are booked back to back it is expected that the second member will enter their code within 20 minutes after the first member swiping off and the second member will not receive warm up time.

• Even if members are booked back to back, members are still expected to come in at least half an hour before their blowtime to make sure that they are set up and the glory hole is lit for the appropriate warm up time for their start time.

• It is expected that if members are booked for a certain time they will show up an hour before the booked time frame to set up and light the glory hole.

  • ex: If Jim has booked the hole from 2-4 he will come in at 1 to set up.

• Members are only booked for the time that they have booked online, you may not extend, change or alter this time frame without checking with a member of staff before your slot.

• There is a 2-hour minimum for glory hole usage

  • This means that if you are booked for 2 hours but don’t use the whole time, you will be billed for 2 hours.

  • If you are booked immediately after another user there is still a 2 hour minimum.

• If you take a break during the time you are renting a glory hole, you are responsible for paying for that time. A warm up time is included at no charge, however, if a glory hole is lit and left unused for a longer period, you will be charged for that time.

• Glory holes are rented by the hour, regardless of whether you are using glass or not. If you do not need a glory hole, you must still rent time in the shop in which you will be charged the cheapest glory hole rate per hour. Any use of Hot Shop or glass requires rental time regardless of equipment used with the exception of ladle casting.

• Annealer space is allotted based on how many hours you rent the glory hole:

  • 2-hour slot: 1/3 of an annealer or ½ of the bottom of annealer 2

  • 3-hour slot: 1/2 an annealer

  • If you need more annealer space, notify the Columbus Glass Art Center staff in advance of using that particular blow slot, and you will be charged for extra annealer space. Charge will be based on the amount of additional space you request. One half of an annealer is $25.

  • If you are using hole 3 or 4 to make larger pieces then you may use ½ of annealer 4, you must still notify the Facilities staff or you may pay for the whole annealer if available.

• If it appears that you have used over 10lbs of glass per rental hour, the staff will weigh the annealed glass and you will be charged $5 per pound over the limit.

• O2 rental available at $10/hr. Hours count as the amount of time set up at your bench, regardless of use. Log hours on the provided clipboard and log sheet. Artist provides propane.

• Members who are approved by the Columbus Glass Art Center staff to make production for Columbus Glass Art Center will receive 1 hour or blow time for every 2 hours of production time.

  • All Production must meet the standards of Columbus Glass Art Center's production in order to receive this credit.

Hot Shop Rates

• Bench 1- 7″ - $47/hr

• Bench 2 - 10” - $47/hr

• Bench 3 - 16″ - $53/hr

• Bench 4 - 14.5″ - $53/hr

Annealer Size (w x l x h)

• Annealer 1 - 21.5″ x 47.5″ x 18″ (Top Load)

• Annealer 2 - 21.5″ x 47.5″ x 18″ (Front Load)

• Annealer 3 - 31.5″ x 43″ x 24.5″ (Front Load)

• Annealer 4 - 31″ x 43″ x 19″ (Front Load)

• Annealer 5 - 46″ x 80″ x 18″ (Top Load)

All rental includes warm-up time, glory hole, furnace with glass, hand tools, pipes, and annealer. Rules do apply, read our Studio Policy for more information. You must be a current member to rent our equipment.