Video player not working?0:000:000:00SettingsQualityAutoAudioSpeed1×CaptionsOffHow Marbles Are MadeDula TVFunny videos since 2008Thumbs up0Thumbs down0 Share1.5K views Jan 2009See how recycled glass is melted and shaped into marbles, then watch a craftsman build colorful, intricate marbles by hand using layered glass. Show transcript0:01People have been playing with small balls of stone, clay, or marble since ancient Egyptian and Roman times.0:08Today's marbles are actually made of glass and used for industrial tasks as well as games.0:13Glass is not only inexpensive and durable, but also quite beautiful.0:25To make marbles, this company melts recycled glass with marbles made earlier but rejected for being the wrong size.0:36All this goes into a kiln heated to 2200 degrees Fahrenheit.0:43After 16 hours, they open a door at the bottom of the kiln, and the molten glass flows out.0:51A shearing device cuts the stream every half a second, forming segments called slugs that become marbles.0:59To make different sized marbles, they adjust the device to cut at shorter or longer intervals.1:07The slugs slide down shoots landing between grooves on spinning cast iron rolls.1:13The spinning keeps the slugs from sticking. They'll need 72 hours to cool completely, but their final appearance is already set.1:22That was determined back in the kiln, when the airflow drove the heat to melt the glass and mix the colors.1:31These channels separate the good from the bad. Openings along the way weed out the ones that are too big or too small, and collect the ones that are just right.1:40Right.1:46More intricate marbles are handmade.1:52This craftsman first preheats some clear glass in a small oven.1:57Then he breaks off a piece of colored glass.2:02After the clear glass has melted in the furnace overnight, he gathers some on a steel rod, then picks up a chunk of preheated color glass with it.2:11He forms a knob and works the mass into a long string that's up to 16 and a half feet long and thin as a noodle.2:22He'll use them in various colors to decorate the clear glass cores of the marbles.2:28He gathers a clump of melted clear glass on the rod and shapes it with wet newspaper, which won't stick to hot glass.2:36After shaping the end, he rolls the clump on several preheated colored glass strings.2:44Then it's back in the furnace. He repeats these steps up to 3 times and rolls the clump on a metal table to even out the surface between each trip to the furnace.2:55Then he adds a layer of clear glass on top.3:01With another tool now, he stretches the clump to about 1 and a half feet long.3:06He'll use this to make several cores.3:09To make the second layer of the core, he rolls a 2-inch long segment onto colored glass slivers called ribbons.3:18After rolling them in the furnace to melt them, he flattens the ribbons with pliers and snips off the excess at the end.3:34He wraps the core and the ribbons in a layer of clear glass, then hand shapes it.3:42Now he rolls the core on more glass strings, then it's back in the furnace to meld them.3:51He adds one more clear glass layer, and the inside is finished.3:56That's a total of 6 layers for this marble. Other models have fewer or more.4:03The craftsman shapes the glass with several metal and wooden tools.4:12He measures the diameter with metal calipers and gradually sculpts a sphere.4:17He'll make up to 5 marbles from this segment, ranging up to the size of a golf ball.4:25After scoring the glass with a knife, he places it in the open end of a pipe to hold it.4:32Then he gently taps the rod, which breaks the glass and releases the sphere.4:37He melts away the bump left at the spot where the glass broke.4:42Next, the marble goes into an oven at 986 degrees Fahrenheit.4:46The oven slowly cools overnight to strengthen the glass. Clearly a cut above, this eye-catching handcrafted marble is already an object of art.
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