Have you ever played with glass balls? That is, marbles, the kind with patterns in them.
Every New Year,Mad Pill can always pick up some toys that he once loved, and the colorful marbles are one of them. In my memory, when I was a child, I was no less addicted to "bouncing" than now playing "Glory of kings" black, drawing a circle on the ground and fighting with my friends for an afternoon.
But while playing, have you ever thought about the same question as Crazy Pill: How did the pattern inside the marbles fit in?
The popular science program THE MAKING gives us a good restoration of the manufacturing process. First of all, the material of glass marbles usually comes from discarded glass bottles, which are sorted according to color and then crushed into fine pieces for use as materials:
In this process, the assembly line machine removes items such as paper labels from the glass, including the use of magnets to remove various metal material residues:
After processing and filtration, the waste glass becomes a solid color glass residue, which is transported as a raw material to the assembly line made of glass marbles.
The first step in turning these materials into marbles is to soften them. The marble raw material, that is, glass slag, is discharged into the dissolving furnace after entering the assembly line, where the temperature is as high as 1200-1400 degrees Celsius, which can soften the material just right, so that it can both flow and cut.
Speaking of the structure of the dissolving furnace, it is very similar to the combination of water dispenser + septic tank, after high temperature softening, the unwanted raw material residue will float or sink, and the really usable material will flow into the outlet from the middle section and discharge outward.
The material is then cut. The discharged glass material requires mechanical help to cut it to a suitable, uniform size:
Each portion will be cut very evenly, and the cutting process looks very comfortable... Even a little bit of a gluttony:
The cut marble material needs to be molded and cooled. The molding is well understood, and the sheared marble material is not spherical and requires further processing. Common machines are the following:
This is a conveyor consisting of two continuously rotating tanks. The marbles are constantly rotated and polished in the gap between the two tanks, while the machine transports them to the next assembly line:
Of course, the marbles are cooling throughout the process of grinding and transporting:
After the marbles are formed, it's time for racing. The marbles race quickly in various corners and lower their body temperature even further:
Finally reaching the end of the track, the group flew into the cargo box, and the transparent marbles were made.
So how did the pattern inside the marble come out? This kind of marble, also known as cat's eye marbles, is often regarded as a treasure by friends because of its rare color and appearance, but the production process is actually not as complicated as we think.
To make this kind of marble, it is necessary to prepare from the first step of making marbles, in fact, the pattern inside is also taken from glass, but it is stained glass.
The secret of the production is that the two different colors of glass are placed in different positions when softened. In general, the material of the colored marbles in the furnace needs to be placed in the middle of the transparent marbles, which is the so-called "sandwich":
When the two materials flow outward, they are poured out together, and the material of the transparent glass will be exactly wrapped in the colored material. You can clearly see their layering when cropping:
The two materials will enter the molding and cooling stage together, at this time the marbles will continue to rotate under the influence of the machine, and the colored materials inside will be constantly shaken at the same time, and gradually transformed into our common cat's eye shape before cooling. In this way, the color in the marble is added.
In the end, no matter what kind of marble, it must be inspected, packaged, and then sent to us.
Of course, the marbles that come out of this assembly line are difficult to control the style of the pattern, and if you want the marbles to have a more beautiful pattern, you need to make them by hand.
In simple terms, the production of handmade glass marbles can be understood as a process of continuous softening and shaping. For example, the following demo of the little brother, first of all, the transparent glass material is softened at high temperature, and then it is coiled into a cylindrical shape:
Then cut some desired colored glass cores, such as pure white, and then roll them evenly at intervals like dipping sauce to let the glass cores stick to the glass body:
It is then softened again, making the white glass core and the transparent material one:
Through continuous rotation and stretching, the white glass core is pulled out of the reticulated pattern:
Then soften again and glue another layer of glass core:
Then continue to soften, and then process the shape of the glass core to make it flat:
After softening them again, add another layer of stained glass cores and repeat the previous steps to continue discing it:
At this time, the marble material already has a multi-layer pattern, and the disc is thin and long, especially at the front end, and the prototype of the marble has been disced:
Then break the connection point between the marble and the material to obtain the marble, but at this moment there is a crack above the marble:
Soften directly with high temperature to make the fracture marks disappear:
Finally place cooled, a multi-layer pattern marble is ready:
Of course, different patterns have different production steps and processes when making marbles by hand. The following method is more like making a hamburger, first the core is burned, and then the transparent glass material is sandwiched on both sides:
Finally stretch infinitely, soften, cut and roll on a glass core:
Then start sanding and pan it:
The final molding, cooling, the pattern inside is equally exquisite:
Other highly capable large touches can be carved directly into marbles. For example, this Vicki Schneider, who constantly softens the marbles and then constantly fuses other materials with the marbles:
The result is a glass ball that turns it into a transparent sprite ball:
Another big guy, William Grout, creates an underwater world inside the marbles:
After reading the craftsmanship of the above big guys, I believe you have found that in addition to our common transparent and cat's eye, there are many types of marbles. For example, the handmade work we mentioned earlier belongs to the Latticaino core, which is characterized by a spiral mesh pattern structure in the marbles:
The following type is called Indian Swirls, which is the Indian Vortex, but this kind of marble is not actually half a dime related to India:
(Source of material from Mary Costello)
In addition, in terms of artistic sense, the Winlock Marbles series is also famous. These marbles are like watercolors, and the colors are dazzling.
Fritts art glass is also one of the critically acclaimed pinball collections, with a more delicate pattern and more distorted lines, giving me the feeling of a butterfly wing:
Of course, what has been more popular in recent years is the cosmic marbles. What is it like to hold the universe in your hands? Just look at Satoshi Tomizu's work:
He used other materials such as opals to create various planets in marbles, gold and silver particles dotted with brilliant galaxies, and the effect was not too beautiful when the lights were turned on:
When it comes to cosmic marbles, we have to mention Gateson Recko, who created a deeper and more mysterious starry sky:
This is a dynamic effect, and the small marbles are simply hidden in the sea of stars:
In addition, Mad Maru also found another fairy work on Gateson Recko's official website, and an island was hidden in the marble below:
How, after reading it, do you really want to come to one? Of course, the price of these marbles is also very "immortal", take Gateson Recko's series of works, the price is 400 to 1200 US dollars, that is, the most expensive 8000 yuan.
Feeling a little outrageously expensive? But for rare marbles, these numbers are nothing at all. For example, the classic lutzes marble below. It was created by the well-known marbles company Christensen Agate, which is known to have been auctioned for $25,000 because of its extremely rare color and certain age value, making it one of the most expensive marbles in the world.
That's right, a small ball is worth more than 160,000 yuan. Therefore, those who have marbles in their hands should not forget to tell each other not to abandon them easily, after all, it is possible that one of them is a unique product, and it depends on it to get rich.
bibliography
[1]https://www.imarbles.com/makingmarbles.php
[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_(toy)
[3]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8JKnubjnJo
[4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSjd1opk3i4
[5]https://gazettereview.com/2018/09/top-10-most-expensive-marbles/
[6]http://www.winlockmarbles.com/single_marbles.htm
[7]http://www.frittsartglass.com/gallery.html
[8]https://universemarbles.bigcartel.com/product/desert-island-marble-skull-island-4
This article is reprinted from Crazy Pill Science (ID: kuangwanplay) with permission, if you need to reprint it for a second time, please contact the original author