Yea, I thought it was a bizarre thing to say to a total stranger as well after being asked that very question by the facility manager of Urban Glass in Brooklyn. However, in the world of glass blowing, “priming your glory hole” merely means to heat the oven to a proper glassblowing temp. In fact, I later found that the art of glassblowing is filled with sexual innuendo and double entendre. You can just imagine the bruised sensibilities of my virginal ears…yea, anyway. Glory hole, stroking and ram-rodding are all commonly used terms I have learned while blowing the gas tanks on my current generation of bikes. The gas tanks are indeed hand blown glass that are set into each frame with spring loaded steel cables and rubber gussets for shock and vibration absorption. The tanks are protected by either a steel ribcage or a chainmail sleeve-like cover. The actual glass is coated with shatterproofing material. I’m trying to push the envelope by using materials not normally associated with bikes or motorcycles. Its an interesting technical challenge that has had varying degrees of success in the beginning, but now is working well. Burning and bouncing up the cobblestones on Crosby Street at 20 miles an hour was all the proof I needed that the tank’s shock absorbers worked. Out of five tanks, I’ve only managed to break one, and frankly thats because I dropped it, not because the system failed, not bad, I’ll take it. I’m only showing you guys the tank at this point because I’ve recently broken down all the bikes with the glass tanks in order to take the frames for polishing and plating. When the bikes get reassembled, I’ll throw up some photos. Right now they’re not quite ready for their close-up…
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4 Responses to “Prime Your Glory Hole?”
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April 1st, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Josh,
I love getting to hear about the step by step process of your work! Keep it coming!
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:32 am
Hilarious! Never knew that glassblowing was such an R-rated art.
April 17th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
R-rated? Glass “blowing” as you call it, is clearly NC-17.
Seriously though, its great to read about your process. Can’t wait to see the bikes!!!
June 21st, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Very recently, I was resting on my holiday, Shavout, the Holiday where we accept the 10 commandments. I dosed off and had a dream. I was riding my bike and this older woman, a stranger, I never met before stopped me and asked me for a hug. She had a great posture, dark hair and eyes and was dressed simple but classy in old-fashioned clothing and oddly she looked a bit like your mother, more like your mother than your aunt. She had such a warm smile so I stopped my bike and gave her a hug. I felt her slip something in my back pocket. When she left I checked and it was a wad of bills. As I won’t touch money on holidays I wanted to return it to her, but she was gone. If she was your grandmother or someone related to you. I don’t want her money and I don’t want any from anyone in your family either. I stopped praying for you since, since we have both moved on and I personally don’t pray for Jesus it is time you start praying for yourself. Oh and I was wrong, my great-grand father and the rest of my family are very proud of me, and I am not sure they support your ventures. Take care