This summer I had the pleasure of attending Haystack Mountain School of Crafts for a two week course in jack and tweezer making lead by the great Shin Nagai of Maruko tools. Nagai San was an incredible instructor. He worked with us to refine our craft and taught us some of the methods he uses to make the world’s finest glassblowing tools. Kotone Ninagawa @kotone_glass did excellent work translating his Japanese and made the communication effortless. At the end of the session in Maine, we made a studio visit to my Pawtucket workshop before heading over to MIT for a jack-making demonstration and discussion of metallurgy with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering facilitated be @pbhouk . This work will be continued as we try to expand on Nagai San’s curiosity regarding the way certain alloys interact with hot glass in sometimes non-industrially-utilized applications. Big thanks to the universe for making this happen for us and I’m really looking forward to showing y’all how this will continue to impact my work. Considering changing my name to “Nabe San” at the recommendation of my sensei @marukotools45c
Presenting the “Pluto Orbiter”, a new kind of electric glass furnace for a new era of sustainable glasswork. It’s mostly not rocket science… mostly. We developed this design over the past two years utilizing innovative aerospace insulators and efficient electric power. Slick, “tic-tac” inspired shell fabrication and ergonomic door design will fill the room with Italian-space-program vibes. Follow along as we aim to bring this sweet little glass furnace to production and fill a critical hole in the market.
105lb crucible, 60a 16,000w wire melter technically in the kiln family of melters, but with the feel of a mid sized moly melter. On average this pulls about 33 amps and melts a nice nugget. We’re excited for you to meet it.
We couldn’t have done this without Joe Upham. Joe’s guidance, advice, expertise, sage wisdom, friendship and physical labor all contributed to our success. We are looking forward to working with him on the next stage of this - Version 2 - which will be really cool and innovative and further change the way people melt glass at this scale with a secret weapon.
Dante Marioni got to try out some of my jacks while up at Pilchuck this summer - the video cuts off at the end but to be abundantly clear, he says “definitely” lol. It’s nice to hear this particular review - because it’s definitely what I’m going for with the look, feel and action of the tools. I’ve been carefully modeling from original Venetian tools, like Dinos and making sure to capture the essence of vintage Italian styling that make those jacks in particular universally comfortable and highly functional. Grazie mille maestro @dante_marioni
Thanks to @lizz.redd for dragging my quiver around Pilchuck and making people try my tools. Lizz and I met up at Haystack this summer in the class with Nagai San and became fast friends, she made some beautiful jacks with some really cool brazed inlay - say hi to her next time you’re in LA!
Two sets of jacks - 10” standard and goblet. Black patina, leather wrap with walnut handle insert, cork and archival linen for nice hand feel. I usually tuck the leather tails on these handle wraps so you don’t see or feel them, these are hanging free for now just for fun.
Squishmael making light work of a logo stamp. I got this stamp from Henry Evers in Rhode Island and it’s a great setup. The arbor press came from this old timer who made mouth pieces for brass instruments. I bought a work table from him at some point and saw this in the corner of his shop - I told him to think of me when he got tired of squishing things with it. It only took him a few weeks to call me back up. I’ll probably move to the fly press for stamps at some point but this works great for now.
Tuscan raiders out the door to their new owner. These jacks are hybrids, part standard, part goblet and part vintage factory anomaly. The blades are exceptionally smooth and have a nice full body that is reminiscent of the Mandolino style and more teardrop shaped. The tips come together like goblet jacks and the strap has a three point bend that’s reminiscent of a vintage factory set I have from Tuscany. I have financing options at the checkout on the website so you can pay for them in a way that’s more comfortable for your budget.
The tools are starting to make their way out into the world - let’s hear some reviews when they show up
The website is live if you have a minute to check it out! Watanabe Glass Tools made to order! Link in bio!
Coming soon…
“Shockingly buttery” “extremely smooth blades” “Dino would have to hire an assassin if he were still in the game.” -satisfied users
