Glass reheating furnace (glory hole)
A glass reheating furnace, commonly called a glory hole in glassworking, reheats an object during forming. Reheating allows further blowing, tool manipulation or fire polishing after the glass has cooled during work.
Different workshop functions
Reheating during shaping differs from melting glass and from annealing completed work. Equipment varies with workshop and production needs. Corning's research library explains that these furnaces have no single standard size. The opening must accommodate the pipe and glass being reheated.
Historic documentation
Identify equipment in old workshop photographs through its construction, operation and associated tools. An opening alone cannot establish its function. Record dimensions and documented workshop provenance. The term by itself establishes neither temperature, fuel, age nor attribution to a Norwegian glassworks.
