How are marbles made?

How are marbles made?

There are several different processes by which marbles are made.

Handmade marbles can be made by one of two fundamental processes:

Cane- or Rod- Cut

A cane or rod of glass is made that contains smaller rods of glass (swirls), flecks of color (end of day), mica, or nothing (opaques and clearies). The of the rod is heated and then rounded in a hand held device. The marble is then cut off of the end of the rod with a glass scissors. As the end of the rod is rounded, it is twisted, producing the helix effect in the marble.

Single Gather

A glob of glass is built in successive layers on the end of a punty. The glob is rounded to produce the finished marble and then cut off the end of the punty.

Earthenware marbles are made by rounding bits of clay in device and then firing them in a kiln or oven. Little "eyes" or rough spots appear where the marbles touch each other, or the ground, in the kiln.

Machine made marbles are generally made by feeding a stream or streams of glass out of a furnace, through a small opening. As the stream emerges from the small opening, a rotating scissor cuts off the exact amount of glass necessary to produce a marble. This piece of molten glass falls onto a device which is counter-rotating helical rollers. The glob fits in the the groove between the two rollers. The rollers are inclined and as they rotate, the marble travels down the rollers and forms into a sphere. It is cool by the time it reaches the end and then falls off into a bucket.